Living in Southern France has its advantages. For example, you can simply go on a bikepacking trip from home in early November. A great opportunity to test our new gravel bikes. Where is the best place to do that? On the coast of course! From home, we drive in a few days to Aigues-Mortes on the Mediterranean coast. From there, it’s a real treat; you drive through the Camargue, among other things. There you’ll find very beautiful stretches of unpaved road, surrounded by water on both sides. And don’t forget the beautiful flamingos! A lot of flamingos. In other words, graveling in the Calanques of Marseille is a big tip for the next trip. cycling adventure in France
Text and photos: Margriet Ravensbergen
Calanques of Marseille
I once read somewhere that it was in the Calanques of Marseille It would be nice to ride gravel. We therefore decide to stay in this city for 2 nights. With some tweaking and changing of routes we find on Strava, we create a route. A route that we are going to ride as a bikepacking adventure, with the goal of testing our new gravel bikes. Erwin and I are really excited about it.
Our accommodation is located just a stone’s throw from Marseille’s Vieux Port. This is an important tourist attraction. We follow the coastline. From time to time we are surprised by a beautifully landscaped bike path. But it’s a kind of bike path with the French twist. So expect some awkward turns, crossings, and a bike path that suddenly continues on the other side of the street or disappears into nowhere. It’s Sunday morning and it’s very busy; cyclists, joggers, and hikers accompany us on this trip.
Given paths in the Parc de Montredon
The route takes us to Parc de Montredon. Here it starts to look even more like a beautiful gravel route. Parc de Montreden is a super beautiful park with great gravel paths. There is also a slight elevation difference here from time to time. Not serious, but certainly not pancake-flat like in the Netherlands. This route, through the park, is a super fun way to get around the city by bike. After leaving the park, we only have to drive one kilometer to the entrance of the Calanque massif.
The Calanque massif
The resistance of our new bikes can be equally well tested on a treacherous short climb of an average of 12.8%. That is no easy feat. After a short descent follows another tough climb. In French they say “jamais deux sans trois”, which loosely translates to “three times is the rule”. And we are being served at our own pleasure, because not long after that comes another tough climb. Three times is the rule. You almost forget to enjoy it. Almost, because enjoying it is impossible. The trails are perfect for gravel biking and the views of the Mediterranean Sea and the various calanques are breathtaking. Calanques is the French name for the rocky inlets along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
Although it is a beautiful sunny Sunday and there are many hikers and also some other cyclists, the atmosphere is pleasant. Everyone gives each other space and greets each other. And on the steep sections I am often encouraged by others. That gives me a boost in morale. Especially when I do well.
Descending to the sea
Unlike most gravel bikers, we decided not to return to the asphalt at kilometer 30 of our route, so we could drive back to Marseille via the road. I noticed that a number of gravel bikers had already descended from that point to the sea, so they could get out of the town of Cassis. The reason for that is that there are only a few of them. The path here gets much narrower and also more rocky. Eventually it becomes extremely narrow and you’d better continue on foot. The steep gradient of this path also doesn’t help with a safe descent. Perhaps we could have returned later. However, after those few kilometers of pushing on, the path becomes a nice gravel path again and the initial regret quickly fades away.
Crowd in Cassis
It’s lunchtime in Cassis and the terraces at the restaurants on the picturesque harbor are packed. A little way from the harbor we find a sandwich shop where we can have a nice lunch. Here we can recharge our batteries, because between Cassis and Marseille there’s still the Col de la Gineste, a climb of almost nine kilometers, all over the road. It’s a climb with friendly slopes, but the views are correspondingly beautiful.
Col de la Gineste, Cassis, France
• Distance: 7.4 km, Elevation: 236 m, Average grade: 4 %
After just over 62 kilometers and 1,260 meters of elevation gain, we are back at our accommodation. What a wonderful route to start with!
The Gravelen Route in the Calanques of Marseille
Want to learn more about cycling in this region? Check out more routes and inspiration at the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Tourism Office
The route from this story
Questions & tips
Do you have any questions about this route, or have you been there yourself? Share them here. We read everything and usually respond within a few days.