The best calanques to visit

Which Calanques are the best?

En-Vau, Sugiton, Sormiou and Morgiou on the mainland, and the Riou islands offshore. Which is best for you depends on whether you arrive by boat or on foot.

Every main calanque, west to east. "By boat" means a tour boat passes it; landing rules vary.

What are Callelongue and Les Goudes like?

The western end of the calanques: a village port at Les Goudes and, just past it, Callelongue's tiny harbour with fishermen's cabanons and no beach.

Les Goudes still feels like a fishing village inside the city limits. Callelongue, at the end of the road, is where the coast path starts. Marseille Tourisme describes cabanons, a bar-restaurant serving Marseille dishes and a drinking fountain. There is no beach; you climb down the rocks to swim. Marseilleveyre, a walk further east, has a small beach of sand and fine pebbles.

Getting there: bus 19 to Madrague de Montredon, then bus 20. In summer 2026 the RTM sea shuttle ran from Pointe Rouge to Les Goudes (30 May to 30 August). On closure days the road to Callelongue shuts to cars from 7:00 to 19:00.

Sormiou or Morgiou: which is better?

Sormiou for a beach day; Morgiou for its harbour and deep, sheltered water. Both are about an hour's walk from the nearest bus.

Sormiou is the largest calanque in Marseille, with a beach of sand and pebbles, cabanons and turquoise water. It is supervised in summer. The park counts up to about 3,000 people there on a peak day. Take bus 23 to La Cayolle, or bus 22 to Les Baumettes, then walk about 45 minutes to an hour.

Morgiou is long and deep, with a small harbour of wooden fishing boats. Near Cap Morgiou, 37 m below the sea under the Pointe de la Voile, is the entrance to the Cosquer cave, painted between about 33,000 and 19,000 years ago. You can't visit it, but its replica, Cosquer Méditerranée, is next to the Mucem. The 13 calanques cruise from Bandol points out the spot.

What about Sugiton, Devenson and L'Oule?

Sugiton is the easiest classic on foot from Marseille. Devenson and L'Oule are best from a boat: high cliffs, and L'Oule has no path down at all.

Sugiton has two small pebble beaches, a small islet and very clear shallows. From the Luminy bus stop it is about 30 minutes to the lookout and 45 to the water, with at least an hour to climb back. On busy summer days in 2026 you needed a free reservation, capped at 400 people a day; see the Sugiton reservation post.

Devenson is a wall of cliffs and needles close to 250 m high. L'Oule, Provençal for cauldron, is one of the coves the park lists as reachable only from the sea. The Cassis 5-calanques boat runs past both, and the water off the cliffs is a no-take zone.

En-Vau, Port-Pin and Port-Miou: is En-Vau the best calanque?

En-Vau is the most spectacular, with a pebble beach between sheer white walls. You see it from a boat, or you walk or paddle there.

En-Vau (vau means valley) is the picture on every postcard. It also gets about 1,000 people at once at peak times, falls into shade in the afternoon and has no bins. Boats have not been allowed to land on the beach since the 2000s, and since 2021 they may not anchor or drift there either. Port-Pin, next door, has sand and pebbles under Aleppo pines and the same anchoring ban. Port-Miou is a long harbour inlet, nearly 1 km deep, where the coast walk from Cassis starts.

Our take: see En-Vau from a boat on a weekday, then judge whether the walk is worth it to you. If you want to swim there, paddle in from Port-Miou.

Paddle from Port-Miou into En-Vau with a guide and spend an hour on the beach no boat may land on.

★ 4.8 · 3.5 hours · from $67

Explore the paddleboard tour to En-Vau → Tour details

Are the Riou and Frioul islands worth it?

Yes, for swimming. The Riou islands have some of the clearest water in the park; the Frioul islands are the easy trip from the Vieux-Port and stay open on red fire-risk days.

The Riou archipelago is uninhabited: Riou, Maïre, Jarron, Jarre, Calsereigne and Plane, plus a scatter of islets. Landing is allowed only on Riou island, from sunrise to sunset, between the calanques of Fontagne and Monastério. Most boats stop offshore for a swim instead. The eastern half is a no-take zone, and shearwaters and storm petrels nest on the cliffs.

The Frioul islands are about 4 km off the Vieux-Port, a 20 to 30-minute crossing on the year-round Frioul-If Express, which also stops at the Château d'If. They are outside the land closures, so they stay open on red days. The sunset schooner anchors there for a swim and dinner; it doesn't go to the mainland calanques.

What is the best calanque to visit?

En-Vau if you see only one. For a swim from a boat, the Riou islands. On foot from Marseille, Sugiton. With small children, Port-Pin.

• One calanque, one hour: En-Vau, on the Cassis port boat or the iconic boat tour from Marseille.
• A long swim: the Riou islands. The picnic catamaran stops there, and so does the schooner day.
• On foot from the city: Sugiton, from the Luminy bus stop.
• A beach and lunch: Sormiou, outside July and August weekends.
• Kids under 8: Port-Pin, about 30 to 45 minutes from Cassis on an easy path.

En-Vau and the cliffs from the water, a swim in a calanque, back in Marseille in a few hours.

★ 4.7 · 3 to 4.5 hours · from $89

Explore the iconic calanques boat tour → Tour details

Are the Calanques worth visiting, and where is it quieter?

Yes, they are the best stretch of coast near Marseille. For fewer people, go early, go outside July and August, or pick the sea-only coves and the islands.

The park counts about 3 million visits a year, mostly on spring weekends, in July and August and on fine weekends. Mornings help. Weekdays in May, June and September help more, and the water is already 17 to 22°C.

The quieter corners: Marseilleveyre and La Mounine at the western end (Marseille Tourisme recommends La Mounine for snorkelling), the cliff path above Devenson, and anywhere you can only reach by sea, like L'Oule or the far side of Riou. For the off-season, see boat trips in autumn and winter.

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