Marseille

[Demelza]

I thought I was going to have to cancel my trip away with my daughter because of Mr D's eye operation but he's now fine so it's on. We're going very soon though and the only thing booked is a flight out to Marseille! The plan is to send 4 days there, then get the train to Paris for a couple of days before getting the Eurostar back to London.

I need to find a hotel – I've never been to Marseille so any tips on areas and things to do would be hugely appreciated. The only thing I know we definitely want to do is visit Aix (we were hoping to visit Cezanne's studio but it's shut for refurb). We like museums, bookshops, cafes and just generally wandering around.

Thank you!

[SunnyMum]

I'll be back to this later, but wanted to ask when will you be here? The Olympic flame arrives here on Wednesday.
I won't be much help for hotels, but I'll ask around. Zoomer will probably be more help than me.

[SunnyMum]

You can't come to Marseille and not visit Notre Dame de la Garde. aka La Bonne Mère.

You need to take le Ferry Boat to cross the Vieux Port, it costs 50 cents, I think. Its fun and part of local history. It claims to be the shortest maritime liaison in the world.

If you're into boat trips, there's one which will take you out to the château d'If.

[SunnyMum]

The MUCEM. The building itself is worth a visit, you can wander about for free. There are exhibitions inside which you need to pay for. https://www.mucem.org/en/the-mucem

La Major(cathedral) https://www.marseille-tourisme.com/en/d ... cathedral/

The Modern Art Museum https://www.marseille-tourisme.com/en/d ... n-2791920/

On the 18th of May there's the big night of museums : from 7pm to midnight almost all the museums are open and free to visit.

[Zoomer]

I haven't lived in Marseille since 2013, so my experience is 10+ years out-of-date.

For hotels, I'd advise you to avoid what they're now calling "the financial district" - anywhere with postal code 13002 or 13001. Unless it's changed radically, it's dodgy AF at night. 13008 or 13006 would be better to stay in. If you find a hotel you like the look of, let me know and I'll tell you whether it's a good area or not .

The MuCEM is well worth a visit and you can easily get a bus to Aix from around the train station for more museums there. The Cours Julien and surrounding pedestrian streets is worth a visit too. Have lunch in one of the resaturants on the Cours Ju one day. It's a very trendy area amongst the young folk.

[SunnyMum]

Just in case you don't know, but the airport is way out of the city! It's actually in Marignane. But there is a very regular shuttle bus from the airport into the city centre. You can also get a shuttle from the airport to the Vitrolles train station which is 5 minutes away.

Going to Aix is easy too. There are regular buses from Saint Charles to Aix town centre. There are also trains from St Charles to Aix. For general wandering about Aix is good.

[SunnyMum]

I moved out of Marseille in 2005, and never lived in the centre (I was in the quartiers nords). I do work in 13002 / 13001 a few days a week and I confirm these arrondissements are best avoided after dark! They're fine in the day time and the Panier is quite picturesque.

[SunnyMum]

There used to be a big old book / record market down the bottom of Cours Julien, I don't know if it's still going, but that can be fun if you like that sort of thing.

[Rebel Pebble]

The train line that runs along the Cote D'Azur is scenic, if slow. It largely follows the coast (Toulon, Cannes, Antibes, Nice) although it goes inland for a while in the middle.

[Demelza]

Thank you all - that’s really helpful and I’ve added those places to my list of potential things to do! We’ll just miss the Olympic flame and museum night as we’re there the week after. I was looking at hotels in the Vieux Port area (will check postcodes now)

[Zoomer]

Here is a helpful guide to the Vieux Port for hotels.

Yellow highlight = ok area, red pen = dodgy.

vieux port.PNG

[Zoomer]

Also, any restaurants facing on to the Vieux port itself are tourist traps. The food in some of them may be ok, but probably best to just have coffee/ice-cream/dessert there and actually eat elsewhere if you are interested in good food.

[Demelza]

We're looking at one just to the right of your yellow line so hopefully that's ok rather than dodgy! Thanks for the tip about restaurants too – daughter is veggie so I've told her to do some research into places to eat.

[SunnyMum]

Being veggie can be complicated in Marseille.

[Zoomer]

Cours Ju and around there is probably the best place to get veggie meals, tbh.

[SunnyMum]

Rebs has reminded me that there is a (slow - approx 1h30 - but very) pictoresque train that goes from Marseille to Miramas via la Côte Bleue. It really is a railway on a sea front corniche going through little fishing villages of Niolon, La Redonne, Carry Le Rouet, Sausset les Pins, La Courronne. It then goes trhough some more industrial places like Istres and Fos. When you get to Miramas you can then get a faster train back to Marseille (the one that goes through Rognac). This one is not a scenic route, but will get you back to Marseille in about 40 minutes.

[Zoomer]

What's the story with the Calanques now, SM?
I would usually advise visitors to go out there for a look, but I've heard they're all closed in season now, even the Marseille-Cassis coast road?

The last time I was in Sormiou, we picked up a load of hitchikers on the way back - my friend could drive down as resident, but it was closed except for pedestrians for almost everyone else!

[SunnyMum]

You have to book on line to go to the Calanques.
They're limiting the number of visitors to try to preserve the faun and flora.

I'm unsure of the car situation. I did hear recently something about the Marseille-Cassis road being closed. How on earth that will be feasible is beyond me.

[SunnyMum]

Blimey. They have indeed made it difficult to get to nowadays.
https://www.marseille-tourisme.com/en/d ... calanques/

Bus or boat is the best bet.

I for one wouldn't leave my car parked at La Cayolle or Les Baumettes !