The Calanques

The Travel Pages visits the Calanques, the dramatically beautiful valleys along the coast south and east of Marseille, and reachable by bus or on foot.

They call it the end of the world of Marseille, but it’s the start of another unique part of the Provençal coast: the Calanques. The Calanques are best described as being a little like Provençal fiords, rugged valleys that cut through the rocky limestone cliffs here and plunge into the sea. They were formed by rivers cutting through the rocks and flowing into the sea, and then after the Ice Age when the level of the Mediterranean rose, the rivers were submerged and what had been the upper slopes of the river valleys turned into these Calanques.

They are a dramatic part of the coast here, and very photogenic. In some of the Calanques little villages now nestle, while others have beaches, and on some you will see rock climbers clinging to the rock faces like limpets.

Callelongue

The closest to Marseille after the little village of Les Goudes is the Calanque de Callelongue, with its offshore island, the Île Maïre. Although you can get here by bus from the centre of Marseille, it’s another world entirely and there are Bonelli’s eagles, foxes, lizards, giant orchids, and the Montpellier snake (a grass snake found throughout southern Europe) to watch out for.

La Grotte

In Callelongue itself is a renowned fish restaurant, La Grotte, one of the best in the whole area. Cactus grow around the harbour, there are vivid blue morning glories, and you might see lizards scuttling across the beach. The deep blue sea and clear-as-crystal waters enticed the famous diver Jacques Cousteau to go snorkelling here, which you can do too, but you’d need to take your own snorkel.

La Madrague

There are also good restaurants at La Madrague, including Au Bord de l’Eau at Madrague Montredon, where you can enjoy the fresh catch of the day from the terrace overlooking the little fishing harbour.

Getting there

From Marseille

You can get a glimpse of the Marseille end of the Calanques by using public transport. Take the 19 from Marseille to La Madrague, where you then change onto the number 28 for Callelongue, at the same stop and using the same ticket. Both buses run approximately every twenty minutes.

If you want to walk then from the Vieux Port to Callelongue will take you three hours, without stops. It’s two hours to La Madrague, so you could take one or other of the buses and walk the rest. Or walk there and bus it back.

From Cassis

The best way to visit the Calanques is from Cassis, the fishing village about 30kms south of Marseille on the far side of the Calanques. From here just walk along the harbour and choose one of the many boats making trips out to the Calanques. Some only take you to 3 of them, some to as many as 8, so it depends what you want to do and how much time you have available, though most trips take only from about 45-90 minutes.