Aix, Cassis or St. Tropez

[bartoscowabunga]

Preparing to book shore excursion for an upcoming cruise in May. In your opinion, which would be best to see - Aix, Cassis or St. Tropez and why? Thanks for all replies.

[Can'tstopcruising]

If it's a beautiful day, I would choose Cassis. The boatride through the Calanques is amazing.

 

Aix is a wonderful city.

 

I have never been to St. Tropez

 

Enjoy!

[moyaroo]

If the 3 are options from Marseille, I would drop St Tropez as too far to travel.Then Cassis the ride up the mountain overlooking the bay at Marseille is a delightful trip and the village quite nice -agree on Calanques, but Aix has a special place in my heart and in the longrun has more to offer from cafe scene to Saint Savuer to the Roman baths and plane tree lined streets. I even liked Aix when I was there in March one year.

[Hlitner]

We would recommend Aix (as first choice) and Cassis as a 2nd choice. As to St Tropez, we think its a tired old sea resort better left as a part of history from the days when Bridget Bardot graced it's beaches.

 

Hank

[AngloinProvence]

Avoid Saint Trop. There's not much to see there. Plus, I don't know your dates but if you are travelling on or around one of the French May public holidays, you will take forever to drive there (that route gets very congested with traffic).

 

Cassis is pretty, but again not a huge amount to see. The best way to see the calanques (the spectacular rocky creeks) is on one of the boat trips, but I assume your excursion will be by road.

 

Aix is probably the quickest of the three spots to get to from the cruise terminals as, unlike the other two destinations, you don't need to drive across Marseille, which also can get clogged with traffic (there is an enormous number of building projects there at the moment in preparation for 2013 when it's European City of Culture).

 

Aix is lovely for a day out if you like elegant old buildings, art (there are some marvellous Cezanne sites -- though no paintings) or just browsing the shops, markets and pavement cafes. It's not on the coast, obviously! But if you're coming off a cruise, I guess that's less important. More about Aix: http://www.marseille-provence.info/aix-en-provence.html