Marseille in the South of France is a must-visit if you like hot climates, history or both. The city is said to be over 2600 years old and the heritage bursts from every corner.

Like many major European port towns (including Rotterdam or Stavanger), Marseille is a popular spot for Cruise Ships, and we saw 3 in dock over the weekend.

Marseille captured the romance of France, but was much less polished or glamorous than Cannes or Bordeaux. It brought together French and Arabic cultures in a thoughtful way. It was in many ways a classically divided city – the people who “have” and those living in poverty lived in a stone’s throw of each other. This made those divisions hit you in the face as you walk around especially the less touristy parts of the city.

Am I glad I went? Absolutely. Would I go back? Unsure. I felt like I ticked off many of the big ticket items, but still feel like we didn’t really scratch the surface. There were a lot of restaurants left to discover and lots of quirky museums to be uncovered.

Whats in “Marseille, France”

Tips for your trip to Marseille

A City Pass is well worth getting for Marseille.* It covers public transport in the city as well as entry to many of the major tourist landmarks. There is one catch. You can buy it online, but you have to go to the tourist information office to collect and activate the pass. This isn’t an issue per se, but it’s worth knowing. The transport allowance also does not cover going to the airport.

To get from the airport to the town centre we got the A1 Bus. It was super cheap (€10 each way) and easy to access from the front of the airport.

Logistics for our trip to Marseille

We stayed at the Ibis Marseille Centre Euromed.* The room was small but clean and the staff were very helpful. There was a shopping center behind the hotel and the harbour in Marseille was only 20 minutes walk. There was also a tram stop outside the hotel (and tram travel was covered by the Marseille City Pass.* The hotel was also fairly inexpensive so it was a win all-round.

What we did in Marseille

Took the little train up to the Basilica

The Basilica* is a magnificent church that sits proudly at the top of the hill outside the centre of Marseille. The church itself is free to explore, and it is truly worth taking the time and immersing yourself in its splendour.

A personal highlight was the fierce-looking nun with a gold cross and scrolling on her phone selling tickets for the museum part of the Basilica. We decided to pass on this section. To get to the Basilica, you can walk from town, however I really wanted to be a naff tourist so we got the little train from the harbour to the church. It was a lovely way to get to the site as it wound through some really cute towns.

Visited the Mucem

The Mucem in Marseille is apparently one of the 50 best museums in Europe. This was enough to lure us in. It is located on the far edge of the harbour and is set in a medieval building – the courtyard you can see below.

The exhibits in the Mucem are a combination of collections of objects from across the Mediterranean and politically charged art. I’ve not shared a photo of the drawing of a woman pushing the earth out of her, but that will probably give you the jist!

Took an imaginary deep sea dive to see a pre-historic cave

The Cosquer in Marseille is one of those sites you’ll get FOMO if you don’t visit, but won’t quite know what to make of it if you do.

In truth, the Cosquer is a feat of modern marketing. The website talks about how you are taken underground to a pre-historic cave.

In reality, it’s a plaster reconstruction of a cave found by the diver, Cosquer. You are taken around on a weird form of golf cart. It’s also one of those classic ancient reconstructions where the curators have made a lot of stuff up. Because, candidly, no one knows what people 20,000 years ago meant by the lines they carved into a cave. Some are more obviously made up than others, but it got to the point where we just could not stop laughing.

We felt as if it was something that wouldn’t be out of place at Chessington World of Adventures.* Except without the bubbles.

The citadel

The citadel looked fabulous. It was however closed. This is pretty normal for us on a trip.

Got lost in the main shopping centre

This one is a little embarrassing. We were trying to find the tourist information point, but my inability to use google maps or navigate anything meant we got lost. In a shopping centre. We were looked at weirdly by the people in the local city museum space.

Admired the yacht harbour

The yacht harbour in Marseille was without a doubt one of my favourite things. It wasn’t the biggest attraction or as expansive as the harbour in Cannes. Or even the most peaceful boat harbour. But a nice sandwich, an iced coffee and staring out at it was a wonderful way to spend an hour.

Explore Marseille cathedral

Marseille cathedral is an imposing building near the waterfront, next to the Mucem.

The interior boasts a splendid gold-leafed roof, immaculately planned side chapels, clean mosaic tiles. In such a bustling area, it’s a wonderfully calm place.

Raided the Carrefour

Not sure what it is about a Carrefour, but I always love a visit. Actually I do know, it’s the stationery. I cannot resist it. We witnessed a fantastic argument between two workers in the Carrefour who clearly couldn’t stand each other. We didn’t know what they were arguing about, I decided one had stolen the other’s boyfriend. The winner however was the Cote d’Or chocolate.

Took a tour of Marseille’s football stadium

If you’ve read this blog before, you’ll know one of us likes football. A lot. Whether it’s Manchester, Rotterdam or Atlanta, we’ve found our way to at least a merch shop.

When Anna saw there was a glimmer of going to Marseille, it was a no-brainer to visit the Marseille Football stadium. Like all good football stadiums, it was really easy to get to on public transport.

This is where I need to state what could be the obvious but… none of the staff speak English. You’re given some instructions in French when you enter the area by the hospitality boxes and are left thinking “Will this be it?”. Well thankfully it wasn’t.

It was really well thought out as a visitor experience. You get a good view of the pitch, the opportunity to kick a ball about. The merchandise shop by the stadium was closed. This felt like a real miss to us!

Find somewhere to stay in Marseille

Save Marseille, France for later

*Denotes an affiliate link. This means if you make a purchase, I get a small commission, at no cost to you. I only recommend activities I have done and enjoyed.