Martel trail Best hiking trail in France
It’s a pleasant hiking trail in France with the Verdon by its bed. Along with beautiful views from the beginning to the end. Sentier Martel is not difficult for hikers who are used to it, but you need to be careful and not afraid to walk.
Departure
Departure is from the Chalet de la Maline, in La Palud-sur-Verdon. For this, we park at the Point Sublime in Rougon (arrival point of the hike). We had planned to take the first bus at 8:15 a.m. to reach the Chalet de la Maline, which is the start of the Martel trail. However, in spite of the rather early hour, it is hardly 8 am, many people begin to arrive and a man explains to us that the day before, he did not succeed in going up in the bus (which can contain 60 people maximum) nor in the one of 9h15. So he booked a cab and is looking for 2 people to share the 33 euro fare.
Searching for the Martel Trail Shuttle
After a short moment of reflection on the risk/money ratio, we decided to follow him and we did well because in the end, we paid the same price as if we had taken the bus (6 euros/person because we were 5 + 2 children) and we arrived before the bus, which allowed us to avoid the crowd for the beginning of the hike that we started around 9 am. So thank you Michel.
The hiking trail in France
The Martel hiking trail in France is less difficult than the Cavaliers trail we did earlier. So this route is perhaps a little more diversified, sometimes in the undergrowth, sometimes along the Verdon, sometimes up, sometimes down. Although, passage to the Imbert ladders (6 ladders, 252 steps) is impressive but easy on the way down.
We strongly recommend you to make the round trip to La Mescla, it is really very nice. Arrival at Point Sublime around 3:30 pm.
Need a tour guide?
Taking a guide on the Martel trail or other trails such as the Imbut trail or to discover the vultures is a good idea. By following this link you can discover all our hikes with guide in the Gorges du Verdon.
Surface area: 15 km²
