First Fontainebleau trip- No car advice

Hey y'all not sure if this is the best forum for this if there's a better spot lmk! But anyways I'm taking a trip to Font in late July, early August. I will not be renting a car bc that's out of the budget I think renting a bike could be cheaper so that's prolly what I'll do. I'm looking to camp somewhere reasonably close to some sick boulders, any suggestions? Also it's looking like I'll be solo, is there a good campsite/ restaurant/ coffee shop, parking lot?, etc. that climbers hang out at if I'm looking to meet some new friends?  

Other than that just looking for any recs on good guidebooks, pad rental spots, crags, restaurants, etc. Overall my stoke is through the roof on this trip but I really don't know sh*t about the area lol so any beta is much appreciated. Thanks y'all! 

https://www.fontaineblhostel.com/ Cheap camping, climber's only hostel - great way to meet folks. You can rent pads if you stay here and walk to the grocery store and to some of the bouldering. There are guidebooks at the hostel too. 

Sweet thanks! Do you know how close that is to the closest train station? Anything within 5 miles should be good since the bike will open it up a little bit. 

Luke Commandeur wrote:

Sweet thanks! Do you know how close that is to the closest train station? 

Let me google that for you... To be slightly less arsey, I'm assuming you're travelling via Paris.  Fontainebleau-Avon station has trains from the Gare de Lyon. 

If the hostel doesnt work for whatever reason, La Musardiere campsite near Milly is popular with climbers and also walking distance to a lot of good bouldering.

Map: I have found gmaps adequate alongside the two websites below. 

Guidebook: Boolder.com is rapidly rendering them redundant. |t does not have comprehensive coverage yet but bleau.info does.  

Impossible to recommended climbs without knowing a bit more about the grade you climb and styles you favour. bleau.info lets you search according to location, grade, style, and other factors. You can tailor your choices so, for example, five star 7As excluding highballs ("expo") and traverses narrows you down to only about 50 (!) After you have decided which areas are within travelling distance you'll probably have a reasonable number to consider. 

Edit, in part responding to Mnt File: The circuits are a great way to accustom yourself to the style. Don't take grades and grade conversion tables too seriously, especially at the lower levels and particularly on less than vertical problems. A Font 4 slab can feel like a V4 in the gym. The height of summer is not ideal if you're chasing grades but I visit every July and still have a great time. Start early and finish early. It is schools and colleges vacation and there will still be a lot of climbers about. 

During the Olympics Paris Metro prices will increase from €2.10 to €4 for a journey. Don't know if this will also apply to suburban commuter trains which are the ones you might be concerned about. Paris to Fontainebleau-Avon is usually €5 so it won't be a big deal if it's €10 during your visit. I guess there might be knock-on effects on camping and hostel availability.  The campsite we usually stay at has hiked their prices across the board this year but July/August is not relatively more expensive than in previous years. 

Oh shit yeah I didn’t even think about the Olympics at all thanks for pointing that out! This trip is out of opportunity: I have a family reunion in the Netherlands in early July and I want to climb somewhere after but I have to be back home come August. Font seemed like one of the more accessible areas without a car but I’m totally open to other options! I do a good bit of rope climbing but won’t have a parter so bouldering areas will probably be best. Thanks! 

Luke Commandeur wrote:

Oh shit yeah I didn’t even think about the Olympics at all thanks for pointing that out! This trip is out of opportunity: I have a family reunion in the Netherlands in early July and I want to climb somewhere after but I have to be back home come August. Font seemed like one of the more accessible areas without a car but I’m totally open to other options! I do a good bit of rope climbing but won’t have a parter so bouldering areas will probably be best. Thanks! 

There is a surprising amount of good roped climbing in the Ardennes in Belgium and Luxembourg that is very popular with climbers from the Netherlands. The main collection of cliffs is at Fryer in Belgium along the Meuse River across from Dinant. The cliffs are limestone and up to 3 or 4 pitches in length. There is a climbers campground and it is very likely that you will meet folks there to climb with ( that's what I did). There are several other smaller but good limestone crags in the region. In Luxembourg, Berdorf is a very atmospheric and good cliff of high quality sandstone, though there are a number of access restrictions, so it is best to do some research before visiting. I don't know about the bouldering options, but there are likely some in both areas.

It would be worth visiting one of the ( often very impressive) climbing walls ( gyms) in the Netherlands for information and to potentially meet partners. The folks there are very friendly and most speak excellent English.

Oh sweet yeah that’s awesome beta right there thank you! I’ll definitely do some research into those areas. I’ll do a little googling but how’s the infrastructure in terms of getting there via public transit? Thanks again! 

It was a very (very) long time ago, so I don't remember the exact details, but do remember that I was dependent on public transportation and don't recall any problems. I was in Brussels, though, so probably a bit more straightforward from there than it would be from locations in the Netherlands. My recollection is that I took a train from Brussels to Dinant (I believe quite frequent) and then hitched the short distance from there to the campground ( which was then located on top of the Fryer crags--don't know if it is still located in the same place currently).

As I mentioned before, I think your best option would be to try a climbing gym near wherever you will be in the Netherlands and try to get more information and, hopefully make contacts there. The Ardennes crags are the closest (by far) outdoor climbing to the Netherlands, so they are very popular with the local climbing population. The folks that let me join them during my visit were Dutch and were wonderful company.

It was over 20 years ago when I spent about a week there in a similar situation without a car. We stayed at the excellent campground at Bas Cuvier which was free and conveniently situated to access the boulders from the multiple easy trails. The was water and trash service and a large grassy lawn to set up tents but no toilet facilities. So unfortunately there was a ring around the campground of feces and paper all over the place. Hopefully that situation has improved but you never know… We managed to hitch a ride from town to the campsite and back and didn’t need a car at all from the site. 

Alan Rubin wrote:

It was a very (very) long time ago, so I don't remember the exact details, but do remember that I was dependent on public transportation and don't recall any problems. I was in Brussels, though, so probably a bit more straightforward from there than it would be from locations in the Netherlands. My recollection is that I took a train from Brussels to Dinant (I believe quite frequent) and then hitched the short distance from there to the campground ( which was then located on top of the Fryer crags--don't know if it is still located in the same place currently).

As I mentioned before, I think your best option would be to try a climbing gym near wherever you will be in the Netherlands and try to get more information and, hopefully make contacts there. The Ardennes crags are the closest (by far) outdoor climbing to the Netherlands, so they are very popular with the local climbing population. The folks that let me join them during my visit were Dutch and were wonderful company.

Will definitely check out some gyms and see if anyone’s interested! Thanks for the advice there 

Flex wrote:

It was over 20 years ago when I spent about a week there in a similar situation without a car. We stayed at the excellent campground at Bas Cuvier which was free and conveniently situated to access the boulders from the multiple easy trails. The was water and trash service and a large grassy lawn to set up tents but no toilet facilities. So unfortunately there was a ring around the campground of feces and paper all over the place. Hopefully that situation has improved but you never know… We managed to hitch a ride from town to the campsite and back and didn’t need a car at all from the site. 

Nice yeah I’ll look into that I think I’m gonna order up the fun bloc and top secret guide books so maybe those’ll have info as well

Hey Luke,

It has been years since my trips to Font, but I do recall some things.

Staying in Font, you can walk to a zone (or two) that had good climbing.  It wasn’t the famous popular BC zone, but was good!  And quiet.   Lots of boulders and circuits, painted with colored dots as usual.

The train is available, with a stop at the famous BC area, if I recall.

Some times we would get a taxi driver to take us out somewhere further away from the town.  We would tip him, and ask him to return at a set time for pickup.  He was always there for our return trip to town.

Have fun!  Don’t forget, the shops for important bouldering food are all separate, as opposed to one stop shopping in US.  Cheese shop.  Bread shop.  Wine shop.  And they don’t open early, so go the evening before if you want an early start bouldering for the day.

Cor wrote:

Have fun!  Don’t forget, the shops for important bouldering food are all separate, as opposed to one stop shopping in US.  Cheese shop.  Bread shop.  Wine shop.  And they don’t open early, so go the evening before if you want an early start bouldering for the day.

This is no longer true. There are several stores in town that resemble small US grocery stores, and will have anything you need -at least one of which opens at 7 (Carrefour)

Cor wrote:

Hey Luke,

It has been years since my trips to Font, but I do recall some things.

Staying in Font, you can walk to a zone (or two) that had good climbing.  It wasn’t the famous popular BC zone, but was good!  And quiet.   Lots of boulders and circuits, painted with colored dots as usual.

The train is available, with a stop at the famous BC area, if I recall.

Some times we would get a taxi driver to take us out somewhere further away from the town.  We would tip him, and ask him to return at a set time for pickup.  He was always there for our return trip to town.

Have fun!  Don’t forget, the shops for important bouldering food are all separate, as opposed to one stop shopping in US.  Cheese shop.  Bread shop.  Wine shop.  And they don’t open early, so go the evening before if you want an early start bouldering for the day.

Awesome yeah great stuff! When you say staying in font do you mean the city of Fontainebleau proper? I was going to try to see if there's a spot a bit outside of town and closer to some classic spots? Also what guide book did you use? I'm seeing like 6 different ones online lol. I do understand that the apps probably work well, call me a snob or whatever you'd like, but I can't bring myself to walk around the forrest constantly checking my phone. Plus when I'm old and grey itll be cool to still have a book from the area, and who knows maybe my phone will have been deemed obsolete by these ridiculous goggle things. Anyways let me get off my high horse about the technology lol. Also good to know about the taxis!

Thanks! 

If you want to do circuits, you will save yourself a lot of time hunting for very subtle painted numbers if you download and use the Boolder app.

The Jingo Wobbly books have their peculiarities but are pretty good at getting you to problems, supplemented as needed with Boolder.

The campsite mentioned by Mtnfile above, is on the outskirts of town, at the edge of the forest. About a mile from shops and about a mile in the other direction from circuits on Mt Aigu 

Mark,  Times have changed!  Not sure if it’s for the better.  I would still rather support the individual stores than a one for all.  

Edit:  I googled the book.  This was what we had used.  I am sure there’s better options now a days.

Cor- I ordered the latest edition of that book as well as the Jingo book Mark recommended. Getting stoked! I think the hostel could be the way that way I won't have to lug a ton of shit around. Thanks everyone for the advice!  

Luke Commandeur wrote:

Cor- I ordered the latest edition of that book as well as the Jingo book Mark recommended. Getting stoked! I think the hostel could be the way that way I won't have to lug a ton of shit around. Thanks everyone for the advice!  

I hope that the current editions of the Jingo-Wobbly guides have better maps and directions for locating the various bouldering areas. On my only visit there, I was using their original book when traveling solo. I took a train from Paris to Bois du Roi, but then spent well over a hour wandering along a very busy road through featureless tree plantations looking for Rocher Canon (or any rock!!!). I was in the verge of giving up, but decided to check out a slight hill I saw up ahead---and I was there. I had a wonderful day--trying to follow some easy circuits but also just trying whatever looked attractive for a solo, pad less boulderer. When it was time to leave I found a very easy and straightforward way directly back to town through the forest, that took me about 15 minutes. I was very disappointed that the book didn't provide such information. Even if it doesn't, make sure to ask around to learn the best ways of getting to the rocks. Fontainbleau is a huge forest area, with the boulders only occurring in certain specific locations.

Alan Rubin wrote:

I hope that the current editions of the Jingo-Wobbly guides have better maps and directions for locating the various bouldering areas. On my only visit there, I was using their original book when traveling solo. I took a train from Paris to Bois du Roi, but then spent well over a hour wandering along a very busy road through featureless tree plantations looking for Rocher Canon (or any rock!!!). I was in the verge of giving up, but decided to check out a slight hill I saw up ahead---and I was there. I had a wonderful day--trying to follow some easy circuits but also just trying whatever looked attractive for a solo, pad less boulderer. When it was time to leave I found a very easy and straightforward way directly back to town through the forest, that took me about 15 minutes. I was very disappointed that the book didn't provide such information. Even if it doesn't, make sure to ask around to learn the best ways of getting to the rocks. Fontainbleau is a huge forest area, with the boulders only occurring in certain specific locations.

Yeah I've heard the Jingo book really just shows photos off a ton of boulders and shows where they are in relation to each other but no directions to speak of. I think the Jo Montchausse books (the one recommended above) have more details in them in terms of how to locate things, as well as maybe some beta on certain climbs. I guess we'll see when the book gets here. The goal for the trip is to go phone-less but if need be there's a bunch of apps that'll direct you around too, or at least so I've heard. 

For a car-less trip you have several options:

-basing yourself in Fontainebleau/Avon near-ish the train station. Le Calvaire is just on the edge of town and pretty nice in itself, but you can also take the train (ligne R, the one that will take you to Font from Paris gare de Lyon - see transilien.com/en for timetables, there's a train roughly every half hour or every hour depending on the station) to Nemours to go to Petit bois, Bourron-Marlotte to access Restant du Long Rocher, Bois-le-Roi for Rocher Canon. Loads

-taking the bus from Fontainebleau to Barbizon (accommodation is likely pricey but who knows?), from which you can easily walk to all of Apremont and even Cuvier is only a couple miles

-taking the bus to Arbonne-la-Forêt, staying at one of the gîtes from which a couple miles walk will take you to Isatis, Bois Rond, Drei Zinnen, Canche aux Merciers, Rocher de la Reine...

For buses go to the bleau.info pages for Isatis and Apremont, it'll tell you how to get to Barbizon and Arbonne.

If you're going phone-less and car-less you probably want to get the IGN map (French equivalent of the USGS) 2417OT. You can also use the IGN app for free (so long as you enable data) or ignrando.fr. The Boolder app is all you need really!

For pads, there's https://fontainebleau-crashpads.com/ , the S'cape climbing shop, I imagine the climber's gîtes like the one in Arbonne will also rent you pads, the Fontaineblhostel gîte mentioned above but La Chapelle la Reine is kinda far from most areas (though Eléphant and Dame Jouanne/Maunoury are doable but hat's it really) and not sure if any buses go there (it's pretty far from the nearest station).

Other than that, beware of ticks, no fires, no bivvying, clean the soles of your shoes... and have fun!

Awesome! Thanks so much for the info, I'm very stoked

I think in terms of accommodation I'll probably stay in a hostel, either the one mentioned above or maybe if there's one in Milly? I'm not sure I'll have to look into it. I think hostels will hopefully give me the best shot at making some new friends :) 

Heard loud and clear on the shoes! If there's one thing I'll remember when in font it'll be not to polish the holds lol!