Start: In Donville-les-Bains, park at the beach car park, Rue de l'Ermitage, near the L'Ermitage campsite and the thermal baths.
Please note: This trail is not marked.
(S/E) Facing the sea, go left on the path that runs along the promenade handrailing the beach, following the GR®223 Red and White waymarkers. At a first aid building, notice an information board about the Panorama of the Donville coast on the left.
(1) Before the end of the beach, join the road parallel to the promenade. Follow it to the right for a few meters as it climbs bearing left. Then immediately take some steps on the right, on the left side of the picnic tables. Then, take the path that joins Rue de la Douane a little further up and take it on the right.
(2) When the street bears sharp left, at the picnic tables, leave the GR® which continues on the road, and carry straight on a path to walk between the cornice and the cemetery. Soon find a gate and enter the cemetery, head straight then right to find another gate. Leave the cemetery onto a technical service courtyard and turn right alongside an old greenhouse to enter the Christian Dior Garden.
(3) Head to the right to find the first perfume boxes, continue through the pond, then the rose garden overlooking the cornice. As you carry on in the same direction, you will soon find stairs on the right, with GR® markings. Go down then, at the bottom of the stairs, follow the Promenade du Plat Gousset on the left.
(4) As you reach a swimming pool in the rocks to the right, which can only be seen at low tide, notice, between two buildings of the first aid building on the left, the beginning of stairs which the route takes on the way back. For now, continue straight ahead. Arrive in the centre of Granville at the casino.
(5) Pass in front of it, and turn right, immediately find stairs and an information board about the Historic Site of the Upper Town, and go up.
(6) At the top, continue following the path furthest to the right which runs along the cornice towards the Pointe du Roc. Continue on this path, still along the edge of the cornice. At a GR®223 waymarker and a beautiful stone house, the path moves away from the cornice, bearing left. On the small cobbled street, turn right, leave the church on the left and go under the porch.
(7) Just past it, at a small car park on the left (the Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs), turn right to find the cornice and continue on the path to Pointe du Roc. At the very end of the point, the coastal path is closed due to landslides. Turn left to pass in front of the lighthouse then head left towards the orientation table.
(8) When you walk on the lawn, head towards the blockhouse and the Rond-Point (roundabout) des Français Libres marked with a stele. Take the road for a few meters which goes down to the right then climb a few steps to the left and continue on the path uphill. Find, shortly after, a sign for the Coastal Path and toilets. When the path begins to overlook the port, ignore the steps going down to the right. Arrive at the statue of the corsair Pleville le Pelley and turn left to continue on the promenade along the road, towards the right. Take the third street on the left, at the end of this street, turn right.
(7) Walk under the door, then go up to the right to pass the left side of the Notre-Dame church. Turn right immediately behind the church and, at the beautiful half-timbered house and tower, continue left, Rue du Midi, again overlooking the port. This street narrows down to lead to Rue Cambernon. Go a few meters to the right to pass under the gate and have, on the other side, a view of the ramparts.
(9) Go back through the door and, at the corner of the Museum of Art and History of Granville, go up, on the right, the steps of Rue Lecarpentier. At the end of this street, arrive in the garden of the Museum of Modern Art. Turn left to find an orientation table and a panel on the the Promenades of the Roc, then walk a few meters behind the orientation table to find the stairs taken on the way out.
(6) Go down to leave the Upper Town. At the bottom, turn right then take Rue Paul Poirier on the left, a lively shopping street. Ignore a pedestrian street on the right and arrive at a junction of several streets. Note the Tourist Office opposite on the left. Continue left along Rue Docteur Letourneur and ignore two streets on the right. At the end of the street, turn left then take Rue de la Libération on the right. Turn left to arrive near the casino.
(5) Leave the city centre by taking the Plat Gousset promenade along the seafront, already taken on the way out.
(4) At the first aid building and a Coastal Path sign, walk between the two buildings and take the stairs to climb the ledge via the Sentier des Minquiers. Arrive on a street and follow it to the left (GR® Red and White markings), towards the Christian Dior Garden (Jardin Christian Dior sign for pedestrians). Further on, continue in this direction taking a path on the left of the "Le Lude” house. Arrive in the Christian Dior Garden at the top of the stairs taken on the way down. Head to the right to pass not far from the main entrance to the garden (information board on the Garden and the House, with GR® markings), then head towards the house (visit it if you wish), pass to its right, then turn right to exit the garden through the door used on the way in to enter.
(3) Take the same path as on the way back to the car park, Rue de l'Ermitage (S/E).