Noves between history and landscapes

This route will take you on a journey of discovery through Noves, exploring its natural and historical heritage. From church to chapel, hill to viewpoint, you will walk through the streets of the town, along the paths of the small Rougadou forest, and through the little Crau, following in the footsteps of the oratories, crosses, flora and fountains that marked the highlights and symbols of the town's history.

Details

465755
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 13.19 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 4h 00 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 67 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 64 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 103 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 39 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Located in the town centre on Boulevard de la République, Noves Infos (former Tourist Office) can provide you with information if you have any questions. You can park on the boulevard (note: blue zone) or in the town hall car park (both are free).

(S/E) From Noves Infos, head north on Boulevard de la République/D30. At the roundabout with the fountain, turn left onto Rue de la 1ère Armée (formerly Porte de Courrèges, which no longer exists). Then turn right onto Rue Jean Moulin. Take the second left, Rue Bournissac, which leads to the pretty, shaded Place Lagnel, and turn right. At the end of the square, turn right onto Rue du Marcat, which leads to Place de l'Église.

(1) On the left, you will see ramparts with a medieval gate, known as the Tour d'Aurose: pass underneath it. After this gate, turn right and continue to the roundabout (cooperative wine cellar on the left). Continue straight on Avenue Agricol Viala. After the retirement home, turn left towards Notre-Dame du Puech (marked as Pitié on the map). Go around the retirement home on the right and you will reach the chapel.

(2) Follow the small hill on the right, which is lined with the Way of the Cross. Continue along the dirt road towards the west, descend briefly along Chemin du Puech and reach the cemetery roundabout. Continue straight ahead on Chemin de la Fabrique.

(3) At the intersection, turn left onto Chemin de Derrière l'Église, then continue along Chemin du Jeu de Mail. Continue straight ahead and cross a small bridge. Then turn left onto Chemin du Pont des Dindes. At the fork, go left.

(4) Turn right and walk along the bottom of the castle esplanade (orientation table and view of the village and surrounding area, picnic area) on Rue Marc Mielly. At the next intersection, turn right twice. Follow Route d'Eyragues to the bridge over the Anguillon.

(5) Cross this bridge, turn right onto Montée du Rougadou and ignore two small streets on the right and a turn-off on the left.

(6) At the intersection, turn right and continue straight ahead until you reach the orientation table.

(7) Retrace your steps.

(6) This time, turn right onto the long climb up Rougadou hill. After a wide bend to the left, follow Chemin des Crêtes for about 1.5 km, heading south-southwest, ignoring all the side roads. At the end, turn right for a few metres (Chemin Roumieux coming from the left).

(8) At the crossroads, turn left onto Chemin des Abbeies. At the next intersection, turn right onto Route d'Eyragues.

(9) At the next crossroads, take the left-hand descent via Chemin Chicard de Pouvarel and pass between the Notre-Dame de Vacquières chapel and its spring (drinking water). Shortly before an intersection with another road, take a dirt track on the right. Continue straight ahead and at the end, turn left onto a small road (Chemin du Grès). At the next junction, turn right. You will come to an intersection with a cross behind the cypress hedge (Croix de Villargelle).

(10) Turn left, cross the stream (Grand Anguillon), and take the first road on your left. Then take the first tarmac road on the right.

(11) At the bend, continue along the tarmac road on the right until you reach the RD30 (approximately 400m).
Cross the D30 and follow it to the left towards Noves until you reach the bus stop called "la Tapy" (opposite the Zaccarelli greengrocer's).

(12) Turn right onto Chemin du Vallat Neuf, then left onto Chemin de l'Eau. Leave Chemin des Ferrages on your right and continue straight ahead. At the next crossroads, turn left to reach La Croix du Mas de la Croix.

(13) La Croix du Mas de la Croix (historic monument). Then retrace your steps to Chemin de l'Eau and turn left for 1.5 km to the town centre. Cross the road to reach the town hall square, walk along the building and you will be back in front of Noves. Info (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 41 m - Noves Infos - Noves Infos (point d'information touristique)
  2. 1 : km 0.45 - alt. 39 m - Porte d'Aurose - Eglise Saint Baudile
  3. 2 : km 1.1 - alt. 57 m - Way of the Cross - Notre Dame du Puech
  4. 3 : km 1.8 - alt. 41 m - Chemin de la Fabrique x Chemin du Jeu de Mail
  5. 4 : km 2.42 - alt. 41 m - Rue Marc Mielly on the right
  6. 5 : km 3.13 - alt. 40 m - Bridge over the - Anguillon (rivière) - Affluent de la Durance
  7. 6 : km 3.58 - alt. 59 m - Intersection
  8. 7 : km 3.82 - alt. 68 m - Orientation table
  9. 8 : km 5.78 - alt. 102 m - Chemin des Abeies
  10. 9 : km 6.65 - alt. 97 m - Chapelle Notre-Dame de Vacquières
  11. 10 : km 8.8 - alt. 44 m - La croix de Villargelle
  12. 11 : km 9.24 - alt. 43 m - Fork in the road
  13. 12 : km 10.24 - alt. 43 m - Bus stop "la Tapy"
  14. 13 : km 11.49 - alt. 43 m - Croix du Mas - Croix du mas de la Croix
  15. S/E : km 13.19 - alt. 41 m - Noves Infos - Noves Infos (point d'information touristique)

Notes

The water from the Notre-Dame de Vacquières spring (9) is drinkable.

Worth a visit

Castle esplanade.
Botanical trail route.

Reviews and comments

4 / 5
Based on 11 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.3 / 5
Route interest
3.3 / 5
NinaBlnd
NinaBlnd

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 16, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

The route is excellent, but mandatory because there are no other markings. It's quite nice, the town is very pretty (ramparts!) and so is the forest, but a large part of it is on concrete roads and, above all, the entire end runs along busy roads, including at one point a major road with a speed limit of 80 km/h and no pavements, which you have to cross at one point: very dangerous and a shame.

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Voyageur nature
Voyageur nature

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

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

Too much tarmac, so monotonous, but the village is still worth a visit.

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genevièvelucieisabelle
genevièvelucieisabelle

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 17, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Very busy route : No

Disappointing hike because you can visit the village without following any particular route, and the entire hike outside the village is on small, charmless tarmac roads.

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Julien84800
Julien84800

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 08, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Very busy route : No

Hello,

Unfortunately, we did not enjoy this walk at all. It was mainly tarmac, with a section on the main road... Very disappointed.

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rtarpin
rtarpin

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 02, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A beautiful walk to discover and enjoy NOVES and its surroundings in the Bouches-du-Rhône. However, three quarters of the walk is on tarmac, which is a shame.

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novesinfos
novesinfos

Bonnal Jean-Luc, your mishap has enabled us to note an error in the route. We have corrected it. Thank you for your feedback and we apologise for any inconvenience caused. Have a good Easter weekend.

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novesinfos
novesinfos

Hello. Thank you for your feedback. I will try to see what I can do with the owner of Mas d'Arbre, but I am not sure he has the right to stop you from passing through. It can't hurt to talk to him. Have a nice day.

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BONNAL Jean-Luc
BONNAL Jean-Luc

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 17, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Be careful between points 11 and 12!
This is a private road, and a gentleman came up to us (the owner of the tree farm?) to point this out and did not seem happy that we were passing through. We had to insist on continuing to the A30 motorway.
Nevertheless, it's a very pleasant walk, particularly for getting back into the swing of things.
Jean-Luc

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bernardSalon
bernardSalon

unused

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gazok54
gazok54 ★

Sorry, I thought we could give our honest opinion.

But what did I say that I shouldn't have?

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novesinfos
novesinfos

Hello Lilli-prune. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on our hike. Could you tell me which part you found complicated so that I can see how I can try to make it clearer? Thank you.

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lilli-prune
lilli-prune

Sorry, I thought we could give our honest opinion. There were four of us on this hike. We got lost.

We couldn't find some of the signs.

This was the first time I had ever posted a comment. It will be the last.

We must not be very good at this.

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gazok54
gazok54 ★

Thank you, lilli-prune
It's funny, all the previous comments said the opposite.
If you have any ideas for improving the description, please do not hesitate to let us know.

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lilli-prune
lilli-prune

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 09, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

Hello,

It was a bit complicated to follow and we had difficulty understanding some of the explanations.

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Alain P
Alain P

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 26, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Hello,
A lovely family hike with no particular difficulties.
Best regards

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