We had another massive drive ahead of us from Barcelona to Marseille. We managed to do it over two days. The reason we were heading to Marseille was not actually for Marseille itself, it was for one of the most stunning national parks we have ever been to… Parc national des Calanques. It is to date, one of the best days we have had on our trip!
The Calanques National Park stretches the coastline from Marseille to Cassis and has endless inlets, incredibly blue water, towering limestone cliffs, and countless secluded beaches to chose from.
We set off early in the morning with a packed lunch and some good walking shoes. We had a plan! The park consists of multiple different walks however we decided to walk the track that leads to Calanques de Sugiton.
Unfortunately, that plan totally changed when we reached the entrance of the Parc only to be stopped by Park Rangers (that carry serious firearms!!). They told us the Parc was closed due to high winds. High winds in high season = high fire risk. We were absolutely gutted. I actually had tears in my eyes!!! We had planned a lot of our trip around this national park and had dedicated one full day to walk the park. We were told there was nothing we could do and that we should have checked the website before we arrived …. we left totally deflated and sat on the curb while we tried to work out what on earth we were going to do. We were told that every day at 6 pm they post on their website (in French by the way) if the park is going to be open or closed the next day. We decided to take a gamble and rearranged our itinerary once again and stay an extra in Marseille in hopes the park would be open the next morning. It was a long day waiting around but fortunately, we got the news the park would be open the next morning!
We repeated the process from the previous morning and arrived super early. We started our hour-long walk and arrived at Calanques de Sugiton by 9 am. It was absolutely stunning. The walk-in was breathtaking. Every turn we took, you’d see the water from a different angle. The limestone cliffs honestly didn’t look real! There were very few people there so we managed to get ourselves a great spot before the masses showed up a few hours later. We spent the best part of the morning in and out of the water and laying on the little beach. It was magical.
We decided to carry on walking and check out a different spot. We climbed a huge ladder up the side of the limestone cliff (sorry mum!) and carried on waking over the top of the cliff. The view from here was amazing. I think the photos speak for themselves really. We couldn’t resist and sent up the drone!
We found a new spot, Calanque de Morgiou to hang out for a few hours. Yeap, you guessed it. We were in and out of the water again. The water was the clearest we had seen so far on this trip so we couldn’t get enough!! By this stage, it was about 5 pm and we were shattered from swimming and walking all day – hard life, I know! We made our way back through the national park via a different route this time which also offered endless beautiful views.
We had the most amazing day exploring the Calanques National Park. It was a massive highlight for us on this trip! I would highly to anyone if you are ever in that area of the world! Just remember to check the fire warnings before you go!!
