Calanque d’En-Vau

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Location

Cassis
France
43° 12' 7.9416" N, 5° 29' 54.1608" E
FR
General info: 

Calanque En-Vau is perhaps the most beautiful calanque in the French Riviera. This astonishing inlet is 400 meters deep and dominated by large limestone cliffs on both sides.

The emerald blue water and white sands under cliffs make this bay a tropical paradise not far away from civilization. As the sun hits the bay the sea sparkles in an extraordinary colour.

When visiting the calanque, remember to take everything you eat or drink with you, there is nothing there expect the nature.

Getting there: 

There are different kinds of boat tours organized from Cassis to Calanque En-Vau. They often visit also other calanques and on some of the trips you can drop off at the beach, some just take you there to see it from the boat.

Another option is to hike there. The closest place to leave car and hike to the calanque is the parking of La Maison Forestiere de la Gardiole. From there you have to walk around 3000-4000m to reach the calanque. During the dry season the hiking is however prohibited due to risk of forest fires.

Costs: 

If you hike, there are no charges.

If you choose the boat trip, you can see the latest prices in the harbor of Cassis. As an example, a boat tour that visits 8 calanques, no possibility for swimming, lasts 1,5 hours, can be around 21€.

Interesting places nearby

5 ski tows and a modern 4-passenger chairlift with 20 km long wonderful runs makes the heart of the young and the old skier alike leap. Snowboarders are welcome and can romp about to their hearts' content.

At the gates of Queyras and the Guil valley, sat on the edge of a mountain overlooking Mont Pelvoux and the Massif des Ecrins, the ski resort of Risoul.

Ristolas has a small ski area with three parallel drag lifts, but is close to the larger village of Abries, with which it is jointly marketed, that has a larger ski area including a new six seater chair lifts.

A traditional hillside village with three separate ski areas in the mountains above together providing a good mix of ski conditions and gradients. There is a huge modern hotel complex at Aremogna (1625m) with doorstep skiing.

BASE: 3608ft
SUMMIT: 5249ft
VERTICAL DROP: 1640ft

NO. OF. LIFTS: 4
Gondolas: 0
Chairs: 0
Surface: 4

BASE: 2952ft
SUMMIT: 5085ft
VERTICAL DROP: 2132ft

NO. OF. LIFTS: 2
Gondolas: 0
Chairs: 0
Surface: 1