UKC

Going to be in Provence in a rental pop-top camper for a week, and hoping to spend a couple of days walking in the calanques NP.

A brief web search suggests that you are not allowed to sleep/bivvy in the NP, and presumably this extends to vans? 

Has anyone got any experience they can share of visiting the area by van? I'm thinking the Marseille side looks tricky finding somewhere to pitch up after a long day in the calanques, so I'm wondering if there's any good spots, or if I need to drive in and out each morning.

Not against using campsites, but there doesn't appear to be many around.

Any further recommendations for the area very welcome!

In reply to lewmul:

My top tip around Marseille would be leave nothing in the van and leave to doors unlocked so they don't have to break anything to check.

In reply to Ciro:

Is that suggestion based on recent experience or is it from 'back in the day'?

In reply to Fraser:

I guess it's almost a decade since I last saw the Mediterranean car breakin crimewave in action, has it improved then?

In reply to lewmul:

We camped in Cassis which was fine and you could walk to the eastern areas, but we had to drive to Marseilles and walk from there for the more western areas. The middle bits seem quite remote, but I was there climbing rather than walking so didn’t want to spend all day trogging about. 

In reply to lewmul:

If you camp in Cassis you can also get buses to Marseille and from there to Les Goudes (western end) and Luminy (part way along)

In reply to Ciro:

Not sure if I'm honest but I've never seen / experienced / heard of anything happening since I first climbed there in '97. It did have a reputation back then, but the reality never seemed as bad. Maybe I've been lucky and speaking from personal experience, I've found Spain (edit: Costa Blanca) to be worse.

In reply to lewmul:

When I was there five years ago, there was a *lot* of broken car window glass in the carpark (near a uni) and the locals warned us to leave the windows down! I guess maybe it's gentrified since then, but seems unlikely - I'd certainly avoid leaving my camper van there!

In reply to lewmul:

There is an independent hostel right beside the park but actually in the calanques,  you could check with them about parking there and maybe paying a fee or something?

In reply to ewanjp:

That's disappointing to hear but useful, cheers. Had hoped to maybe go back there next year. 

In reply to Fraser:

As I understand it, a lot of the problem is foreign gangs who roam the whole med coast, stopping at busy tourist locations to clean them out. But in the cities you get local crime as well, so you don't get the luck of your visit coinciding with a quiet spell.

When I was doing the van life thing, I used to spend quite a bit of time in the resorts over winter; the gangs don't bother when it's only the full time residents around, but as soon as the tourists start arriving you'd see the gangs back.

In reply to Ciro:

Good to know that, cheers for the heads-up. 

In reply to lewmul:

We stayed overnight on the parking lot between les Goudes and Callelongue, up the sharp right turn from les Goudes, parking in to the right in the left turn thereafter before the road starts to descend again. Visible on google maps, satellite view. No facilities, no water but ok for a night or two 10 years back.

In reply to lewmul: We were there last month; based ourselves in Cassis which is a great spot in itself, wild camped using search4sites, then had 3 or 4 nights on the campsite. There are regular trains to Marseille so may be possible to walk back - the tourist office in Cassis were very helpful.