France Hikes
Browse this page for some very spectacular hikes in France, with General Descriptions, Trip Tips and Hiking Tips.
Use the drop down sub menu under Hiking for other country locations.
ENJOY!
Parc National des Calanques
Marseille, France
Staying in Marseille for a couple of days as part of a road trip through the French Riviera, there has to be a great hike included on the cards right?
If you are an avid hiker and visiting Marseille, the clear priority is to go for a hike at Parc National des Calanques.
While we had Alltrails at my disposal, it was a great idea to go with a local guide and meet other like-minded people from other parts of the world. Get Your Guide was a perfect fit for this. Arthur D. our local guide from Marseille knew Calanques like the back of his hands. He specialised in taking people on a hike in Calanque National Park so we got lucky to to be there on a day when he was hosting a hike there.
The trail head is near the University and is only an easy bus ride from the city. In the group were nine others lovely people, coming from USA, Africa and other European nations. Long the way, Arthur pointed out Rosemary growing on the sides of the trail. The trail was mostly easy except for a section where you need to scramble over rocks to get down to the small beach (and up again later).
As you come up to a gap between the hills to an opening to the mesmerisingly calm, deep blue Mediterranean, rivalled only by the deep blue sky, a very strong wind took advantage of the wind tunnel between the peaks.
Instagram REEL:
Trip Tips
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If you plan to rent a car in France, get the smallest car that fits everyone plus luggage. Parking is hard to find in the bigger cities and very often you will find yourself in very tight spots - especially entering parking garages underneath apartment buildings.
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Typically, such apartment garages have very narrow shared entry and exit lanes, have sharp right angle corners and tiny parking spots. A very good test of your skills, and pray that you do not end up having to reversing the way you came in these tight lanes if there is another car coming the other way!
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Picking a good car rental company in a foreign land can be like rolling a die. We won't name the company that I had a horrible experience with, but in Marseille, we had very good experience booking with discovercars.com, with the car being provided by Alamo.
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Many petrol refuelling stations in Europe are not attended by cashiers. Often your foreign credit card and PIN do not work at the pumps. So have the right amount of cash as the fuel is prepaid and change is not provided, so you need to have some idea about your tank size and be a a bit of a math wizard.
Hiking Tips
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A must do hike, but you need to have basic fitness for the scramble near the bottom.
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Strongly recommend to go with a local hiking guide who could share history and other information about the trail, and you get to meet like minded hikers from other countries.
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GetYourGuide is free to book but prepare cash for a gratuity for the guide.