GR51 Balcony of the Cote d'Azur

Sports > Hiking > Grandes Randonnées > GR51      

Below: | Online Information | Maps |

Length: 508 km    Hightest altitude: 970 m

NOTE: The trail is still there (2009) but the FFRP guide is no longer available (since at least 2000). There is/was apparently a conflict with a segment of trail on private property that precluded publishing the trail. The FFRP GR51 guide was last published January, 1993.

This hike follows the international GR51 (Grande Randonnée) trail roughly east-west along the coast.

The eastern end begins at the train station of Menton-Garavan (a 15-minute walk east of Menton). There's a good steep climb at the beginning, but once you're up there where the cool air and the view is, it's pretty much flat, except for the occasional drop down to a valley and back up again. Beyond's GR52 Menton hiking page.

Some of the villages the GR51 passes through are:
[map] Ste. Agnes (above Menton), St. Martin de Peille (above Monaco);
[map] Drap (above Villefranche and Beaulieu-sur-Mer), Tourrette-Levens, Aspremont, Colomars, Gattières, St. Jeannet;
[map] Gorges du Loup, Gourdon (just below the village);
[map] le Bar-sur-Loup, Cabris, Auribeau-sur-Siagne;
[map] Gorges-du-Blavet (south of Bagnols-en-Forêt);
[map] le Muy, Roquebrune-sur-Argens, Cogolin [map];
[map] Pierrefeu-du-Var;
[map] Toulon;
[map] Cassis and Marseilles.

Online Information

For the Alpes-Maritimes department, the Comité départemental Alpes Maritimes website (http://www.cdrp06.org/) has information on hiking, among other things. One page in particular [http://www.cdrp06.org/sentiers.php] has the latest trail information, indicating parts of trails that may be closed for various reasons.

Maps

Scale 1:50,000 maps are a good compromise. Detail is acceptable and you don't need to carry too many maps for the whole hike. We like the Didier Richard (1:50,000), below, but we no longer find them everywhere.

• #26, Pays d'Azur shows the trail from Menton past Cannes to Le Muy.
• #25, Maures Haute-Pays Varois shows from Le Muy/Cogolin to Pierrefeu/ Hyères.
• #24, Collines Provençales shows the western part, between Toulon and Marseilles.

We like the 1:25,000 map detail, but you would need to carry over a dozen for the entire trail. If you want the detail, here are the 1:25,000 "blue" IGN maps required for the length of the GR51 trail, listed in order from east to west:

• 3742 OT (Nice, Menton) (see our GR51 Route page for the first 4 map sections)
• 3642 ET (Vallée de l'Estéron)
• 3643 ET (Cannes, Grasse)
• 3543 ET (Haute Siagne)
• 3544 ET (Fréjus - St Raphael) La Napoule, Théoule-sur-Mer; across the Esterel, Col Notre-Dame, Col de Baladou, Mont Vinaigre; cross the autoroute by the Barrage de Malpasset; pass south of Bagnoles-en-Foret.
• 3544 OT (Le Muy - Lorgues) Colle de Rouet forest, Le Muy, Roquebrune-sur-Argens; short loop east and south on the 3544 ET map; south east across the forests, including Col de Valdingard and near Vallaury.
• 3545 OT (St Tropez - Ste Maxime) Grimaud, Cogolin; near Cavalaire-sur-Mer
• 3445 OT (Cuers - Pierrefeu-du-Var - Collobrieres) northwest through the forests between Collobrieres and Pierrefeu-du-Var; past Puget-Ville
• 3345 OT (Signes - Tourves) past Col de la Bigue, Bellgentier
• 3346 OT (Toulon) Sollies-Ville, Le Revest-les-Eaux, Ollioules
• 3245 ET (Aubagne - La Ciotat, Ste-Baume) pass between St Cyr-sur-Mer and La Cadiere-d'Azur, Cassis
• 3145 E (Marseille) Cassis, les Calanques, to la Madrague southwest of Marseille.

The IGN also has a series of 1:100,000 maps for France. Two of these IGN "Topo 100" maps cover the Mediterranean coast from Marseille to Menton:

• Top100 067 (Marseille-Carpentras) From Marseille (west) to Toulon (east).
• Top100 068 (Toulon-Nice) From Toulon and on east to Nice.
• Top100 061 (Nice-Barcelonnette) from Nice to Menton and the Italian border.