There is a magical place where forest areas border calanques and turquoise water – and to add to the fun, that place is accessible to all. We’re taking you for a hike round the Giens peninsula, on the coastline path, to discover the wild and preserved coast of Hyères.
Discovering the peninsula on foot
With our trainers on, we are good to go … off to walk round the peninsula like explorers, on the lookout for yellow waymarks to guide us through this coastline path. This peninsula has great surprises in store for us: from hidden creeks to calanques (coves) shaped by nature, as well as the formation of caverns that can only be accessed by the sea. We have chosen a very specific section of the peninsula, the easternmost part.
We’re taking you to breathtaking viewpoints like: Le Pain de Sucre (sugarloaf), La Calanque du blé (wheat cove), La Pointe Escampo-Barrio, with its steps carved into the rock.
Signage set up by the Coastal Conservatory double the waymarking and point out viewpoints and their distances, and the walking expertise required (athletic route or basic route).
All set for hiking
Starting at the pointe des chevaliers (Knights’ Point), the first section of the hike goes from the pine grove to the beach, where we meet families, hikers, and – bravest of all – joggers. Everyone is moving according to their own desired pace, and we need time for photo stops, picnics, swimming breaks…
We continue along the coastal path, in the soothingly cool shade of the pine grove and oaks, an ideal haven for our summer choir of cicadas. It’s crique after crique now, and we’re on the lookout for the THE creek that will let us pretend to be Robinson Crusoe, for a moment at least.
We recommend
Download the itinerary of the pointe des chevaliers
Pack good hiking shoes and water – not recommended for young children
