Benerville-sur-Mer / Mont Canisy / Villers

Starting from the seafront, you will pass by the Clairefontaine racecourse, Mont Canisy, Clos Mallet and the Villers marshes.
Return via the Mont Canisy batteries and the seafront.

Details

137380
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 13.19 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 4h 15 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 175 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 170 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 110 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 3 m

Photos

Description of the walk

(S/E) Car park by the traffic lights, Route de Villers D513. Head south, taking care when crossing the D513, then head towards the racecourse via Avenue du Général Leclerc.

(1) Take Chemin du Tocq on your right as you climb. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead along Chemin des Rollets (it may be a little wet) and continue for 300 metres.

(2) Turn right at the bottom of the hill. Cross a tarmac road and continue straight ahead. After a level crossing, you will come to a T-junction.

(3) Turn right onto Chemin du Lieu Mallet, then cross a railway line. Join the D118a.

(4) Turn left and follow the railway line.

(5) Continue along Chemin du Lieu Chesnay to the right, then after 300 metres turn right and follow the path through the marshes, keeping to the right

(6) Turn right, following the campsite, then the equestrian centre and the buildings to reach the road. Turn right, following the marsh, and return to the same crossroads on the D118a.

(4) Turn left onto the road. After the bend, take Allée des Bréoles on the right to reach Rue de Belfort.

(7) Turn right to go up Rue de Lassay. Pass two streets on the left and at the three-way junction, turn left onto Chemin de la Fontaine Marie, which climbs towards Mont Canisy. At the top, take the path on the left, which offers a view of the marshes and the sea.

(8) Go around the old batteries on the left and continue until you reach a tarmac road. Turn right off this road and follow theGR®223(white/red) path for 600 metres to reach Chemin de Touques.

(9) Turn left for 100 metres, then turn right onto Chemin de la Fontaine Marie to walk alongside Château Gabriel (formerly owned by Yves Saint Laurent).

(10) At the D513, turn right for 100 metres, then cross carefully to take the small Chemin Rideau which descends towards the sea.

(11) Walk along the seafront for 300 metres on the right, then turn right onto Rue Victor Caillau, left onto Rue des Lais de Mer and right to return to the car park where you started.

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 8 m - Starting point car park
  2. 1 : km 0.59 - alt. 10 m - Chemin du Tocq on the right
  3. 2 : km 2.12 - alt. 78 m - Turn right
  4. 3 : km 3.49 - alt. 16 m - On the right, Chemin du Lieu Mallet
  5. 4 : km 4.27 - alt. 4 m - Crossroads on the D118a
  6. 5 : km 4.99 - alt. 5 m - On the right, Chemin du Lieu Chesnay
  7. 6 : km 6.93 - alt. 3 m - On the right, walking along the campsite
  8. 7 : km 9.14 - alt. 35 m - Rue de Lassay on the right
  9. 8 : km 10.54 - alt. 107 m - Go around the old batteries on the left
  10. 9 : km 11.44 - alt. 93 m - Turn left for 100 metres
  11. 10 : km 12.29 - alt. 27 m - D513 on the right
  12. 11 : km 12.61 - alt. 5 m - Seaside on the right
  13. S/E : km 13.19 - alt. 8 m

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4.6 / 5
Based on 20 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.5 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.6 / 5
Route interest
4.8 / 5
JJD14
JJD14

Hello
Thank you for your comment
We wish you all the best on your future hikes.

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Fabibi14
Fabibi14

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 22, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A beautiful hike.
Popular around the marsh

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kar76
kar76

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 14, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant walk.
We enhanced this route with a visit to Calouste Gulbenkian Park

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rothranv
rothranv
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 27, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The 15 participants thoroughly enjoyed the hike despite the very muddy paths at Tock and Rollets, but seasoned hikers had no trouble. It was impressive to see how well secured Château Gabriel is. Be sure to take the discovery trail around the ponds of the Villers-sur-Mer marshes.
Picnic on tables and under a gazebo before climbing Mont Canisy.
It is easy to reach and offers a superb, magnificent view of the sea, Le Havre... The batteries...
An easy hike to do again and again.

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Edith B.
Edith B.

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 12, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike; the arrival at the top of Mont Canisy is moving... thanks to them, we are free... This hike is best done outside of tourist season... For us, it was pure joy... just one small downside: the car park!everything around here is pay-to-park! We managed to park in a small street leading to the racecourse. Luckily, we only had four cars. THANK YOU!

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maryse14
maryse14

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 01, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

a beautiful route with varied landscapes, but best avoided during peak season as the marshland section gets very crowded (it's the Rosalie circuit and you walk alongside a horrible mobile home campsite), or you have to skip the Villers marshes section. There's a very beautiful section on Mont Canisy and the path from Bénerville to Villers is also magnificent. BUT the explanations are unclear, and we made two mistakes: in the residential area on the way up Mont Canisy (extension) and at the top of Mont Canisy (as a result, we walked along a very busy road and missed the descent to Bénerville, which was supposed to be beautiful and peaceful). In short, we ended up with our phones in our hands to follow our position step by step, which was very unpleasant. I will do this route again in the autumn.

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benoitrando
benoitrando

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 04, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very enjoyable hike, a route true to its creator with flat terrain and elevation gain...

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Sandra arnoult
Sandra arnoult

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 07, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very nice hike, I recommend it. Clear description, but that didn't stop me from getting lost. I'm going to do it again to understand my mistake. Really nice hike. It goes up, it goes down, it's flat. Great!

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jbcouget
jbcouget

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 19, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Lovely walk. Worth doing again

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gmevel
gmevel

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 05, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

We skipped the marsh section by going directly from point 4 to point 7 because we wanted to visit Deauville.
Apart from the marshes, which we didn't see, the rest of the hike was interesting and took us through some beautiful places.
We had a picnic on Mont Canisy, with a magnificent view of the sea and a clear blue sky. What more could you ask for?
The historical aspect is also interesting, and it is easy to imagine what this place must have been like in the 1940s and during D-Day.
Thanks to the author.

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michelmarieandree
michelmarieandree

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 27, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

very beautiful hike, historical interest of Mount Canisy, magnificent views of the sea and Benerville-sur-Mer

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dominique.boncorps
dominique.boncorps

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 04, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

The starting point is difficult to identify. But after that, there are no more problems.
A very beautiful hike.

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grospapy1947
grospapy1947

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 05, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Superb to do again with the same sunshine.

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JJD14
JJD14

Hello
Thank you for your comment
see you soon

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coco93
coco93

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 18, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

some difficulty following the route on Mont Canisy

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