Buoux rock climbing and Bouldering

The rock climbing at Buoux is situated over the river Aiguebrun in a beautiful gorge not far from the town of Apt in southern France. In the 80’s Buoux was synonymous with top quality sport climbing where the standards were constantly being pushed. The rock climbing here is still very popular today; especially now the historical access issues have been resolved.

The routes at Buoux range from 25m up to 100m long (3-pitches) on vertical or overhanging rock. The climbing is on a mixture of grey limestone and sandstone rock offering great technical and intense climbing, with many of the historic routes from the 80’s becoming cult lines. There are technical slabs, short roofs and steep overhangs, all with lots and lots of pockets. 

At Buoux there are over 1,100 well-bolted sports routes that range from F5 to F9a with enough routes to have a superb rock climbing holiday, whatever grade you climb at. As well as sport climbing Buoux also offers some great bouldering.

Close to Buoux are several other crags offering a wide variety of sport climbing ranging from Lourmarin with many routes in the F7’s and F8’s to Pont Julien that is very welcoming and is ideal for family climbing with many easy routes (F3 to F5).

The best time to visit Buoux to go rock climbing is the autumn and spring, though the winter is also good if not a little cold at times.  In the summer it is just too hot and is best avoided.  Buoux is split into 3 main areas, west face, south face and the east face, so it is always possible to find the sun or the shade.

There are 2 guidebooks that cover the climbing at Buoux. The Buoux Sport Climbing Guidebook is the most comprehensive guidebook describing over 1,100 routes from F5 to F9a at Buoux. It also covers 7 other crags close to Buoux including Loumarin and Pont Julien.

The Rockfax guidebook called “France Haute Provence” details over 400 routes at Buoux, along with 13 other major crags in the Provence area.

These rock climbing guidebooks for Buoux can be bought from our shop.

The majority of rock climbers base themselves Apt or Bonnieux, where there are several campsite, gites and hotels.

Flying into Grenoble, Nimes, or Marseille airports are several low cost airlines; with the travel time to Buoux no more than one and a half hours. Buoux is located to the east of Avignon and north of Aix-en-Provence and Marseille.

With regards to other rock climbing areas close to Buoux, within a couple of hours drive away there is some extensive climbing around Avignon plus the other world class areas of Ceuse and Verdon.