This was a lovely walk up the mountain with a superb view at the end, however definitely not recommended for the unfit or unstable as it involves a lot of climbing and uneven ground.
From Montpellier the direction is the village Cazevieille, on the road it is marked and easy to find. It takes about half an hour to get there. Parking is just at the beginning of the trail. Take your running or hiking shoes and start to wander. It is recommendable to take a water bottle as it can get very hot. But do not go with flip flops or ballerinas because the way is full of stones and pebbly. If you are quick you need one hour up. On the top you have a 360 degree view. It is really worth the trail.
If you are in the area and want to have a nice couple of hours outside, going up the Pic St-Loup is worth the trip. Althought not really high, the pic provides with an awesome view of the coast line to the south and the cevennes to the north. The climb via the south is pretty easy, whereas the north access requires climbing experience and gears.Best to do with clear sky weather, but be carefull in summer as it can get really hot there and not so much shade around.
The whole area around St-Loup is heavenly. Vineyards and mountains. This place gets even better at sundown.
This Pic is visible from most of the region and is set within a series of limestone outcrops. We trekked up a well-marked path (mostly part of GR6) from the St Matthieu side and took about 90 minutes to reach the top in 30c temperatures (take water!). We were regularly passed by orienteers. Easy to find, simple parking near to the start and a great sense of achievement for the rest of our holiday whenever we saw this impressive Pic from a distance
Getting there without a car is not impossible, as some say, but it's a bit of a challenge. The bus from Montpellier drops you "in the middle of nowhere", which is about an hour (brisk) walk from Cazevieille, the village at the foot of the mountain. The climb itself is a challenge, but doable, even for a moderately obese person such as myself. Don't expect a regular sort of 'path' either: the way up is very roughly hewn out of the rock, so most of it is very rough gravel/rock. Wear proper shoes! Remember that afterwards, you have to walk back to Mas de Londres (or you could try to hitch a ride from your fellow hikers) and catch the bus (only goes one way) to Saint Martin De Londres (beautiful village which you can also visit, if you still have the energy!) to get the last bus back to Montpellier around six. I'd say it was more than worth it!
We signed up for a wine tasting tour at the Tourist Information Bureau in Place de la Comedie. It was great! We had our own personal tour guide who was extremely knowledgable about wines. We visited 2 wineries- one small family owned and another bigger more commercial type. The wines were all excellent in my opinion (I'm not a wine expert) Our guide brought us to his B & B Villa for lunch. It was amazing. The food was expertly prepared, fresh and so tasty! And the atmosphere was BEAUTIFUL to say the least. We felt like we were on a movie set. Dining at a small French country villa was certainly the highlight of our week. Highly recommend l'Ostal du Pic Saint Loup. Ask for Bertrand.
I went with my two daughters, aged 10 and 12, along with a friend and her two children of the same ages. I had no idea what kind of climb it would be but my climbing companion had said it was not overly difficult.It turned out to be a marginally good workout. It is not a super steep climb, (just in the last 25-30mins of the climb to the summit), but the terrain of the trail is the challenge. It is a very gravelly path (rather than packed soil), with largish rocks and bigger than average gravel rocks. This gives an extra work to the ankles and feet, (of course to the overall body too), so be sure to have good sturdy footwear on. We took about 2 hours to ascend and it was well worth it - despite some "are we there yet" complaints along the way. Lol.We brought plenty of water, (which we consumed much of on the way up), and some fruit and small cakes for the summit.The views are tremendous and well worth the climb, all along the way. Especially once you reach "Le Pic"!It's a good afternoon hike for a family, and we passed several families with younger (little) kids than ours, so quite possible for a variety of ages. Plan for 4.5 to 5.5 hours overall, if you take your time along the way, and a snack rest at the top. Depending how long your ascent takes. Not to mention this region is also a fine wine growing area. Living in Montpellier we are fortunate to have tried several Pic Saint-Loup varieties. Lucky us! :)
great wine lovely welcome and beautiful region of France with lovely picnic areas and restaurants etc...
Although it was cloudy and we couldn't see anything from the top - it was still a lot of fun climbing up there and totally worth it.