Provence: Mountains to the Mediterranean

The route has significant ascent and descent.

You will be on a mixture of mountain trails and coastal paths. Provence can be rugged underfoot, so you need to be sure footed.

This tour is graded moderate. Within the tour individual days may vary in difficulty - some might be a bit tougher or easier than the overall rating suggests.

You'll stay in comfortable 3-star hotels throughout, all offering a warm welcome to walkers and traditional hospitality. In Plan-d'Aups-Sainte-Baume, accommodation options are limited and the hotel used here is simple in style, though its restaurant is known for excellent Provençal cuisine. During high season you might be booked into an alternative accommodation not listed in your daily itinerary description, but if so it'll be of the same or better standard.

Yes, solo travelers are very welcome. There will be a supplement because some costs, like transfers, aren't shared. Or if you'd like to book a single room, just ask. These are available for a supplement.

Breakfast is included each day, usually a buffet with sweet treats like homemade jams and pastries, alongside cheeses, ham, eggs and bread. Lunch isn't included, but you can pick up packed lunch items from local supermarkets or a boulangerie (bakery) - still a fixture of everyday life on most French streets - or ask your accommodation to prepare one for you in some locations. A couple of dinners are included while staying in Plan-d'Aups, and elsewhere you're free to choose from local restaurants, with plenty of options in Cassis.

Provençal specialities worth seeking out include bouillabaisse (a rich fish stew), soupe au pistou (a summer vegetable soup with pesto) and moules mariniere (mussels with garlic, onion and herbes de Provence) - washed down with a glass of pastis de Marseille or a chilled vin blanc de Cassis.

You can start this tour any day of the week except Tuesday, between March and May and from mid-September to November. March, April and November are the cooler months, with average temperatures around 15C/59F, while May and October are warmer, ranging from 15-25C/59-77F. The tour isn't available in June, July or August, due to high temperatures and the increased risk of trail closures during wildfire season - and even outside these months, occasional trail closures can still occur during particularly hot spells, so always follow local authority advice if in doubt.

Tours can't start on a Tuesday, as accommodation along the route doesn't allow Wednesday check-ins. Provence is a popular destination with limited accommodation in its smaller villages, so this tour can sell out months in advance - we'd recommend booking as early as possible, and having some flexibility on your travel dates improves your chances of securing your preferred dates.

Your bags will be collected from your accommodation each day and moved onto your overnight accommodation. We ask you to limit your luggage to one bag of up to 20kg/44lbs per person.

Navigation is straightforward using our app which has maps, tracks and daily route info. Simply download the information and tracks for offline use and follow the route on your phone. Once on the trail you do not need signal for the app to work and follow your progress.

You'll fly into Marseille-Provence Airport, from where a shuttle bus runs roughly every 20 minutes to Marseille Saint-Charles train station (about 25 minutes), and a transfer from the station to your first hotel is included. You may prefer to fly into one of the Paris airports instead, making your way into the city to Paris Gare de Lyon, and from there taking a direct TGV to Marseille (3.5 hours). You can also take the Eurostar from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord, then transfer across the city to Gare de Lyon for a direct TGV on to Marseille, a journey of around 8 hours in total, bookable at eurostar.com.

The tour ends at Cassis, from where a train takes you back to Marseille (about 20 minutes). From Marseille, TGV trains run to many destinations across France and Europe, or you can continue home via any of the routes described above.

You'll need good hiking shoes or boots, comfortable hiking clothes, waterproofs, a daypack, and we recommend hiking poles. A portable charger for your cell phone is essential. On booking, our Tour Info will give you a complete packing list.

On certain days you can shorten the route or skip it entirely by using a taxi or public transport.

This tour has been featured in The Telegraph's 'The Secret Med - Best Holidays to Book Under the Radar'.

We highly recommend that you have travel insurance when you book with Macs Adventure. Your policy should cover medical treatment (including repatriation and emergency evacuation by air ambulance or helicopter), injury, death, third-party liability, and trip cancellation