Below: |
Difficulties |
Hiking Season |
Hunting Season |
Insects |
Readers' Comments |
The South of France has got to be one of the finest places in the world for hiking. I make this controversial statement because of the tremendous number of hiking trails, the tremendous variety of trails, and the proximity of the trails to wherever you are in this region.
You can start in the city of Nice and hike out on the Grande Randonnée GR5 -- all the way to Amsterdam. Or branch off to other Grande Randonnée trails to Italy, or Switzerland, or other parts of France. If Nice isn't convenient, you can do the same thing by starting on the GR4 from Grasse, or the GR51 from Cannes.
The Grande Randonnée GR51 is called the Balcony of the Côte d'Azur, and it's just that. Following along the southern slopes parallel to the coast, you hike along a "balcony", without an excessive amount of climbing (except for the start), with a magnificent view along the way.
If the maze of clearly-marked Grande Randonnée trails criss-crossing France and Europe seem a bit too much for you to start with, there are more local trails (usually marked with bright yellow dabs of paint) that can be found in most towns, villages, hamlets and even completely unpopulated sites around the back country, Beyond the French Riviera.
Difficulties
Most of the hiking trails in the region, Grande Randonnée (GR), Petite Randonnée (PR) and other local trails, can be hiked by normal people without special equipment. The only "difficulty" is usually a matter of how steep the climbs are, and you can get that from the contour lines on the maps or the hiking guidebooks. Trails are usually well marked and, by design, great for hiking, often through the shade of the trees. Trails on steep hillsides zig-zag up or down to reduce the incline. Trails are designed for walking; having to clamber over rocks is very, very rare, and the use of ropes or other special equipment is not necessary. One possible exception is when the trails go over high passes (cols), perhaps over 2000 m altitude, in the "winter". Passes can be blocked by snow for a very long season, from Fall to late Spring. The Gendarmerie or Office de Tourisme for the mountain towns will have that information (phone numbers are listed in Beyond).
Hiking Season
July-August is the peak tourist season, but 90% of the tourists are crowded on the beaches. You will have to call ahead to reserve in the Gites or the Refuges for overnight stays, or you can carry your tent and sleeping bag with you.
Hunting Season
We're talking about the hunting season because it's of concern to many hikers. We personally feel less comfortable hiking during hunting season, but don't want to rule out one of the prettiest times of the year in the woods. Whether you agree or not with hunting, the vast majority of French hunters are sensible, careful and polite. Accidents do happen every year, but they are few, and usually occur between the hunters themselves.
In the South of France hunting season begins in mid September. The boar (sanglier) hunting begins mid August.
Flies and Mosquitoes
We haven't had serious problems with mosquitoes, but always carry repellent anyway, and it sometimes comes in handy. There are certain areas, such as the Camargue, where you'll want a lot of mosquito repellent.
We've had some problems with flies, and haven't found a good solution to combat them. We've never run into blackfly, that is apparently a serious problem in other parts of the world. One of our readers and serious backpacker, Jan Volker, contributed a particularly bad experience (below).
Reader's Comments
Comments contributed by Rudy Penczer, Nov 2000
We did go to Provence hiking in November and had no weather problems and no hunter problems. The "November" problems that we had, did impact us and I would not return in November because of them. Sunset at 5:30 and breakfast at 8 leaves a short day. Many hotels and restaurants were closed either for the season or for November.
Comments contributed by Jan Volkers, 8 Oct 1999
There are little flies called "Arabies". When they sting you don't feel much but.......the day after!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still got the scars. When it happened it was beginning of April, 1999. Took tons of penicilline to get rid of the inflamations. But....otherwise, exept Gordes (which is a posh little enclave of posh foreigners), it was very nice. I came from Fontaines and ended in Bonnieux, where I had to stop. These flies interfered.
|
