Dave Hilbert's
SoftSeatTravel
Cassis Hiking and Biking South of France
Cassis is a welcoming harbor and a great place to spend the day sitting in a dockside restaurant or
at the beach. Located  southeast of Marseilles on the Cote d' Azure, is the first of many beach and
resort villages which include St Tropez, Cannes and Nice.
Cassis is noted for white wine of the same name, Cassis, and for its hiking on fjord-like inlets on the
steep rocky coast.
Cassis also has a  14Th Century castle (not open to the public)that dominates the
cliffs above the beach and village and makes for a great photo.
Cassis casino gambling keeps the
nightlife lively.  
The sheltered harbor of Cassis has cove-side restaurants and a small beach to the left as you look
out to the Mediterranean and another to the right.
Tour boats that make trips to the secluded inlets have varying levels of fees depending on the
number of coves visited. Hikers can book a trip to go ashore to explore the steep cliffs.
Hikers can also walk from Cassis along the shore and over the cliffs to the right of the village as you
face the water.  According to the guidebooks, Winston Churchill visited and painted in Cassis,
staying at the White Rock Hotel to the right of the harbor as you look seaward.
Fishing with gill net and long line is till part of life in Cassis but the harbor is nearly all given over to
pleasure craft and tourism and includes a gambling casino that attracts large numbers of visitors from
Marseille.
Tour boats for under 10 Euros take visitors from
the village docks and out along the sheer
limestone cliffs into the fjords known as Calanques
where boaters, divers, kayakers, hikers, and
swimmers spend their day.
Behind Cape Morgiou, near Marseille, a
prehistoric cave used 27000 years ago was
discovered by Cassis diver Henri Cosquer in 1985.
The entrance to the cave had been above water in
prehistoric times before the end of the ice age
caused sea levels to rise. Ancient painters left their
art on the walls of the cave..
Cassis Hiking: Hikers out of Marseille can  make a twelve hour trip along the cliff trails to the
port of Cassis
Cassis on the Mediterranean has a great little harbor rimmed by waterside
restaurants where you can board a tour boat for the Calanques
Cassis Hiking and Biking: Renting a House
or Vacation Rental In Provence for Hiking,
Biking,and the Culinary Vacation
Hikers out of Marseille can  make a twelve hour trip along the cliff trails to the port of Cassis
SoftSeatTravel
Boats leave the harbor of Cassis and take climbers and hikers to various places along the coast where
the passengers can go ashore to hike the cliffs and fjords.  The first inlet out of the harbor is Port Miou,
or in Provencals: "Well sheltered from the wind".
Nudist sun themselves on the rocks below the cliffs where the Chapel of Notre Dame gives thanks for
the end of the plague locally in 1649. Above the one mile inlet, the walking trail ,GR 98, passes as it
goes the 12 hour hike from Cassis to Marseille. Boats moor for the season in the calm waters..
A quarry in the inlet provided cut building stone until 1981 including stone for the Suez Canal and
the Statue of Liberty
The tour boats continue along the coast and enter the coves or Calanques as these fjord-like inlets
are called, eight in all that the tour boats visit. The third in the line is perhaps the most notable for
climbing, En Vau, In the Valley, This cliff face rises 90 meters high on one side and 130 on the
other.
The other notable climbing area,
Devenson Creek, is circled by 150
meter-high cliffs and attracts
experienced technical climbers.
The last of the creeks as you head
towards Marseille, Morgiou Creek,
is a fishing port of Marseille-style
cottages called
Cabanons.  
Restaurants at dockside serve the
local Pastis, a licorice like liquor
made from anise.
The eight Calanques in order as you travel from Cassis to Marseille: Port Miou, Port Pin, En Vau,
L'Oule, Devensen Creek, L'Oeil de vere, Sugiton, and Morgiou.
The tour boats return to the port of Cassis, dropping off and picking up hikers as they stop in each creek.
Check ahead of your trip, many areas of Provence close the woods to hiking in the Summer, July, August
due to fire hazard