Along one of the most beautiful stretches of the coastal path, walk in the footsteps of the smugglers of Banyuls and their municipal and smuggling republic between 1780 and 1850.
Route details
Description
Take the coastal path which runs along the beach of the former Héliomarin centre (Sana beach for Banyulencs).
Further on, notice this proud and haughty rock tower called Castell de velut (velvet castle). It owes its name to the discovery by customs officers of a piece of Genoa velvet hidden by smugglers in an excavation of the rock. The path winds along the cliff and overlooks the cove dels tamarius (tamarinds) then the cove of the pistoline and its remolinats (whirlpools).
Further on, just before Cape Ullastrell, the cove of the felouga where the customs felucca the Lynx was set on fire with thorns by the Banyulencs in 1833.
The path arrives at Fourat (the hole), passes in front of houses (old fishermen's houses) and the beach.
To reach the Paulilles site where the Nobel dynamite works and the workers' village were installed. Today, you can visit a museum, a Catalan boat workshop, an exhibition room and the director's garden with its exotic trees and flowers.
The coastal path continues on the north side to Argelès-sur-mer and on the south side to Cerbère, on the other side of the border you pass on the GR92 to Roses and beyond.
Further on, notice this proud and haughty rock tower called Castell de velut (velvet castle). It owes its name to the discovery by customs officers of a piece of Genoa velvet hidden by smugglers in an excavation of the rock. The path winds along the cliff and overlooks the cove dels tamarius (tamarinds) then the cove of the pistoline and its remolinats (whirlpools).
Further on, just before Cape Ullastrell, the cove of the felouga where the customs felucca the Lynx was set on fire with thorns by the Banyulencs in 1833.
The path arrives at Fourat (the hole), passes in front of houses (old fishermen's houses) and the beach.
To reach the Paulilles site where the Nobel dynamite works and the workers' village were installed. Today, you can visit a museum, a Catalan boat workshop, an exhibition room and the director's garden with its exotic trees and flowers.
The coastal path continues on the north side to Argelès-sur-mer and on the south side to Cerbère, on the other side of the border you pass on the GR92 to Roses and beyond.