Recommendation for Tour of Calanque National Park

[sjmbruce]

By boat, by land, doesn't matter. Please recommend a tour company. 

[edinburgher]

7 hours ago, sjmbruce said:

By boat, by land, doesn't matter. Please recommend a tour company. 

Unusual post, OP,and rather puzzling too,  as it isn't possible to tour the calanques by road, only by boat, and as  "tour companies" do not usually own their own boats, at most I suspect they would book a tour group onto boats owned by others and simply shuttle you there and back.

 

The most popular boat trips of the calanques near Cassis leave from  the harbour in Cassis and you will find a number of boat companies advertising their sailing timetables and costs online. You could either pre-book or take a chance by turning up on the day.Theey are seasonal so do check the timetables carefully.

 

The other option you would have  if you are docking in Marseille, is that a smaller number of boat companies offer tours of the Cassis calanques from Marseille.  Due to distance, they are longer and cost a little more but you don't need to travel o and from Cassis, so in a way, more convenient.  Be aware that out of Marseille, tours of both the calanques of Cassis and the calanques of Marseille are offered  and although I have not personally sailed the calanques of Marseille, my understanding is that the calanques of Cassis are superior (but you could check online reviews)

 

There are several opportunities for different boat trips from Marseille so you might want to check these too.

[marazul]

13 hours ago, sjmbruce said:

By boat, by land, doesn't matter. Please recommend a tour company. 

edinburgher - I beg to differ on this one.  The calanques are part of the Calanques National Park, but the park is a very large area inland from the shore with an area of 200 sq. miles.  It is very popular for hikes and its great views. 

 

If the OP has only one day, she might have to decide between the boat rides or the inland hikes.

 

Here is some info:

https://www.lelongweekend.com/calanques-national-park-marseille-cassis/

https://www.marseille-tourisme.com/en/discover-marseille/nature/the-calanques-of-marseille/which-calanques-to-discover/le-parc-national-des-calanques/

Edited September 25, 2023 by marazul

[sjmbruce]

2 hours ago, marazul said:

edinburgher - I beg to differ on this one.  The calanques are part of the Calanques National Park, but the park is a very large area inland from the shore with an area of 200 sq. miles.  It is very popular for hikes and its great views. 

 

If the OP has only one day, she might have to decide between the boat rides or the inland hikes.

 

Here is some info:

https://www.lelongweekend.com/calanques-national-park-marseille-cassis/

https://www.marseille-tourisme.com/en/discover-marseille/nature/the-calanques-of-marseille/which-calanques-to-discover/le-parc-national-des-calanques/

Thank you for the information.  I don't mind if it's a hike, a boat ride, or an e-bike tour. I'm just struggling to find a company that caters to cruise passengers.  One boat company leaves an hour after we dock, but we'd be responsible to get to their pickup point 30 minutes away.  It feels like if we're not the first people off the ship it would be cutting it too close. 

[marazul]

11 minutes ago, sjmbruce said:

Thank you for the information.  I don't mind if it's a hike, a boat ride, or an e-bike tour. I'm just struggling to find a company that caters to cruise passengers.  One boat company leaves an hour after we dock, but we'd be responsible to get to their pickup point 30 minutes away.  It feels like if we're not the first people off the ship it would be cutting it too close. 

Email Laurent of Provence Amazing Tours.

https://provence-amazing-tours.com/

This is one of his "set" tours:

https://provence-amazing-tours.com/tour/between-land-and-sea-8-hours/

It goes to the Chateau d'If and the calanques.

Or you can go on the tour to Cassis that includes the boat ride:

https://provence-amazing-tours.com/tour/cassis-france-tour-4-hours/

The prices are per tour, not per person.

Edited September 25, 2023 by marazul

[edinburgher]

On 9/25/2023 at 2:28 PM, marazul said:

edinburgher - I beg to differ on this one.  The calanques are part of the Calanques National Park, but the park is a very large area inland from the shore with an area of 200 sq. miles.  It is very popular for hikes and its great views. 

. I may be wrong again, but my understanding is that there is a popular hiking trail from Cassis.

 

As sjmbruce gave minimal information in the question and didn’t specifically mention hiking as an option, I mistakenly assumed that the references to “land” and “a tour company” indicated a tour which would be at least partly by land and most likely involve driving, but it appears I was wrong with that assumption. I also knew that the calanques are best viewed from the sea, hence the popularity of boat trips.  I don’t consider being shuttled to and from a boat trip departure point a “tour”, although others may,and I did actually suggest that being “shuttled” in this way may be the only option unless other options could be found by researching online.

 

However, sjmbruce on your behalf  marazul has gone to some effort to provide you with the links above and these do actually offer a combination of driving and boat trips which may suit you well.

 

As we are usually based in la Ciotat and Marseille when on land holidays, I am actually familiar with all of the suggested tours above and will offer a few thoughts to make up for my misinterpretation of your driving v hiking interests..

 

Link #1 mostly relates to hiking and I have no comment on that option as we are not “sportif”!.  I expect you will find information on hiking trails/routes and how to access them if you research online with key words. And you may also find tips on equipment such as suitable footwear and whether or not walking sticks would be useful..

 

Link #2 offers a boat trip to the Iles de Frioul, with a stop at the Chateau d’If although it doesn’t specify a visit into the prison (think Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo)  Ifit cannot be accommodated on the tour, you can visit it from a boat tour from Marseille and it is a popular thing to do  (I advised on departure points from both Cassis and Marseille for calanques boat trips, also advised that some boat trips from Marseille offer alternative destinations and Iles de Frioul or Chateau d'If are two of the options)

 

There is also a mention on link #2  of driving up to Notre Dame de la Garde (“la Belle Mere” de Marseille) for the views, and a visit to(or views of) a little fishing port such as Le Vallon des Auffes” which lies just off the Corniche Kennedy and is really picturesque.  It is also home to one of the longest established and most highly rated restaurants for bouillabaisse, "Chez Fonfon".where we were privileged to dine just once.

It also mentions in Marseille itself,the areas of Noailles, good for African themed open air markets, and le Panier, the oldest area of Marseille which we have walked around exploring for  2 or 3 hours. Narrow streets mostly suited to pedestrians, but some are accessible by vehicle.  Lots of street art and quirky shopping here. I expect they would drive in from the entrance across the street from the Cathedral of Marseille, as another entrance just behind the Old Port is extremely steep and really only for pedestrians.  We were happy to be exiting downhill this way, having entered across from the Cathedral on level ground.

 

I think this has the potential to be a really enjoyable tour with some highlights of the city and a nice mix of land and sea as its title suggests.

 

Link#3 has le Castellet, Cassis (optional boat trip) and la Route des Crêtes the latter running high up between la Ciotat and Cassis (and vice versa of course)  Nowadays le Castellet still has a lovely appearance from a distance, and location, but sadly is now no more than an open air craft market with dining options.And inundated with tourists most of the time.   Not a patch on what it used to be but many visitors like that.  We much prefer la Cadiere d'Azur which still retains some authenticity and where we treat ourselves to delicious fougasse. Two approaches to le Castellet, one a scenic route between the vineyards behind Bandol, the other a less scenic route from upper la Ciotat passing through a forested and park-like setting.  If into motorsport, this route passes by the Paul Ricard Circuit.

 

Despite the above only being a personal opinion, hoping some of it is useful to you and might help you decide.  You can of course read other online info and reviews, such as Tripadvisor.,

Edited September 26, 2023 by edinburgher

[edinburgher]

On 9/25/2023 at 2:28 PM, marazul said:

On 9/25/2023 at 1:26 AM, sjmbruce said:

By boat, by land, doesn't matter. Please recommend a tour company. 

sjmbruce, I only now noticed I didn't "quote" you on my post #6 which means you would not have been notified that there had been new posts added to your thread, and unless you randomly checked would not know they are here. Reading them might be worth a couple of minutes of your time.

Edited October 7, 2023 by edinburgher