The Tour des Opies- the Eyguières Alpilles

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Hiking in the Alpilles, starting from the Eyguières bullring.
A quiet start among olive trees and cicadas at the foot of the Opies.
You'll discover the old Romanière sheep pens.
The ascent starts on a beautiful path through the maquis and ends with a little climb to finish at the Tour de Guet where a magnificent 360° view awaits you.
You can also visit the vestiges of Villa Gallo Romaine.

Details

n°41387
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 16.02 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 5h 45 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 411 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 411 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 493 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 91 m
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Photos

The Opies watchtower
panorama of the T our
Vallon des Glauges
panoramic view

Description of the walk

The hike starts at the car park of the Eyguières bullring(S/E).
The path follows the GR6 at the start.
Take the path to the left of the arenas (as you look at them), the path passes between the cemetery and the arenas.
After 100m, ignore the paths on your right and continue straight on.
Cross the bridge a little further on.
When you get to the bitumen road, ignore the dirt road to the Vallon des Glauges to your right(1), and continue straight on for about 100m until you reach the D17
At the D17, turn right and continue on the D17 for 200m, pass the small Garrigues canal and(2) pick up the GR6 on your right, marked with the sign AL236
Follow the GR6 for 4500m, you'll see the Baraques (barracks) after 1 km on your right and the ruins of the Romanière Bergeries (sheep pens) after 2km(3)
Pass the bull enclosure (4)and take the Tardières path (not marked) on your right, leaving the GR6. Continue straight on ignoring the path on your left at 50m.
Stay on the main path for 1000m. At the fork take the right-hand path that enters the Opies(5).
Follow the path for 1600m and you'll arrive at the col marked by a large cairn.(6)
The path for the Tour de Guet starts from your right (hairpin).
Be careful, the path requires a little bit of climbing and can be very slippery in wet weather.
When you arrive at the tower(7), turn around to return to the col.
Descend on the stony path for 1000m(8) and take the rocky path to the right (you'll see the ruins of the Château de la Reine Jeanne opposite you in the distance) which descends into the valley.
Follow the path for 1500m until you arrive in the Vallon des Glauges
Follow the path opposite, straight ahead.
At the barrier, to visit the ruins take the path on the left,(9) The ruins are 400m away.
Otherwise follow the main path that turns to the right.
At the end of the path, turn right. The path follows a power line.
After 300m leave the Glauges path to your right(10) (unless you want to taste some wine).
Follow the path through the vineyards and olive trees, and which turns into tarmac at the end. Once you get to the GR6 (followed on the way), take the return path to the left, the Col du Melet path.

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 92 m - Parking des Arènes
  2. 1 : km 0.87 - alt. 101 m - Vallon des Glauges crossroads
  3. 2 : km 1.28 - alt. 105 m - intersection D17 GR06
  4. 3 : km 3.07 - alt. 130 m - La romanière
  5. 4 : km 5.91 - alt. 151 m - Intersection GR6 chemin des Tardières
  6. 5 : km 7.06 - alt. 192 m - intersection with Les Opies
  7. 6 : km 8.92 - alt. 344 m - Col 344m
  8. 7 : km 9.56 - alt. 493 m - Opies Tower
  9. 8 : km 11.15 - alt. 220 m - Intersection towards Val de Legue
  10. 9 : km 12.51 - alt. 153 m - Intersection of Gallo-Roman site
  11. 10 : km 13.15 - alt. 141 m - Intersection of the Glauges valley - Vignes
  12. S/E : km 16.02 - alt. 91 m - Parking des Arènes

Notes

Take good walking shoes.
Difficult sections to get to the Tour de Guet.
Not recommended in rain and with young children.

Worth a visit

A visit to Eyguières and its fountains.
The Alpilles.
The Baux de Provence.
Calès caves.
Saint Rémy de Provence.
The Camargue
Arles

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.

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Reviews and comments

4.7 / 5
Based on 100 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.7 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.7 / 5
Route interest
4.6 / 5
User 27990660

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 06, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk.
A technical section leading to the Tour du Guet.
Best avoided in strong mistral winds.

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User 3537015

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 12, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Easy hike.
A bit of climbing to reach the watchtower, but accessible to most people who are reasonably fit.
I was lucky enough to see a pair of Bonelli's eagles (at least I think so :-) ).

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Doobleg13
Doobleg13

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 03, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

This is the second time I've done this hike, so my brother can enjoy it too, and I still love it just as much.
Apart from the last section to reach the tower, which is a bit steep, there are no difficulties.

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Beber84
Beber84

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 13, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Pleasant route, not very difficult

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redstorm
redstorm

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 28, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The path is very poorly marked and it was difficult to follow the Visorando directions between stages 6 and 7.

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Clément25
Clément25
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 03, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A family walk with children, a little monotonous at first as the path is open and fairly flat, but once you've branched off just after the bull park you get right to the heart of the matter. No difficulties. The return trip to the Tour des Opies is easy.

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Irène
Irène

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 18, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A nice easy hike, except for the climb to the Opies tower. If you don't like using your hands or have knee problems, stop at the pass before the climb! What's more, the blue markings on the way up are not "impeccable", so it's easy to make a mistake...

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Flo13
Flo13

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 04, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Lovely walk with lovely views 😊
Avoid mistral weather...

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LaMiaDoRé
LaMiaDoRé

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 19, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We were a group of 42 people. Very nice hike. The view from the summit stretches as far as the Etang de Berre and the Mediterranean. On the way down, at point 8, we missed the signposted path. In fact, it's a path. We were blown away by the size of the "path" and our lack of concentration. Nothing to worry about, we picked up the route further down. We didn't return via the GR6 because we were on the bus. Thank you for suggesting this hike.

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Philippe Mie
Philippe Mie

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 03, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A great walk to do in fine weather to enjoy the view, but avoid in summer!
Perhaps avoid the flat part (if you can) between Eyguières and Aureille!

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Flo13
Flo13

A very pretty walk. To be avoided on a mistral day for the summit of the Opies...

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le islois
le islois

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 22, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

nice walk but access to the tower a bit difficult very good overall

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nato13
nato13

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 11, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant route, especially as the weather was very fine. The climb to the summit of Les Opies was difficult because of the difficulty of finding the path and the very steep gradient.
The rest of the walk was extremely pleasant and rich in its environment.

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nanou13430
nanou13430

Very nice walk to do again and again

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Flo13
Flo13

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 03, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very pretty walk.
Do it in fine weather for the beautiful view from the Tour des Opies... But to be avoided on a mistral day.

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