Marseille

Marseille is the second largest city in France.

It was founded in 600 BC by the Greeks and is located on the southeast coast. The city has so much to offer with its beautiful cathedrals, great museums and stunning waterfront. Make sure to take the trip up to see Notre Dame de la Garde, which is a beautiful church with stunning views. Marseille isn’t just France’s largest city it’s also the oldest. With its rocky hills and thousands of boats docked in its clear blue waters Marseille is well worth a visit.

Notre Dame de la Garde Marseille

When eating out Marseille like most French cities it’s full of Michelin Star restaurants. You will find many to choose from serving traditional cuisine to national dishes. Mediterranean food with a strong Italian influence and of course seafood specialities seem to be popular with the locals. Petit Nice Passedat restaurant was awarded three Michelin stars in 2008 and is very popular. Some of the other restaurants that are popular are Peron, Four des Navettes and Pizzaria Etienne which is known to serve the best pizza in town.

One of the things you must do is take a walking tour of Calanques which are steep sided valleys formed after many years of water erosion. The Calanques is a great place for hiking and mountain climbing; the views of the ocean are just stunning. Another great thing to do is pop on the Petit Train de Marseille, which is a cute little train, but also an efficient way of getting round and taking in what the city has to offer. The Palais de Longchamp is also a must to see as it remains one of Marseilles most majestic and historic sites.

At night Marseille has a dynamic live music and club scene. The best known places are Vieux Port, Place Thiars and the Escale Borely which are all right by the sea. You might want to check out Cours Julien which is a square lined with café’s and restaurants that open late. Marseille is also full of theatres and cinema clubs all with a great choice of shows if the busy music scene isn’t your thing.

Marseille offers some of the best shopping experiences with its main shopping streets being the rue Paradis, rue Saint Ferreol and rue de Rome. All these streets have great designer stores to visit. Marseille also has lots of great markets to choose from, two of the favourites being the fish market at quai des Belges and also the les Puces flea market. Marseille also has a wonderful shopping mall the Centre Bourse which is just behind the old port above the underground car park.

Calanques Marseille