Marseilles - getting from pier to train station

[VirtualRain]

Hi, I'm on the Carnival Magic next month that's stopping in Marsailles for the day. I'm renting a car from Hertz next to the Saint-Charles train station.

 

Can anyone comment on where exactly the ship ties up and what this implies for transport options between the ship and the train station? The port looks vast and the distances could be blocks or miles depending on the exact pier used.

 

Is there any shuttle bus service of any kind? Is the pier near a metro station? Is a Taxi the only option?

 

Thanks! :)

[AngloinProvence]

The port area of Marseille is, indeed, quite sprawling. There are good puiblic transport connections from the southern part, where the commercial ferry services operate, but whether you can use them very much depends on the particular pier where your cruise ship docks. Here's a map and details of the metro and tram services: http://www.marseille-provence.info/travel-rail-train-air-sea-road-motorways/boats-sea-ships-ferries-canals-rivers/225-marseille-ferry-port-the-complete-guide.html

[gagirl96]

We were on the Carnival Magic and docked in Marseille on Sept. 3rd. The port provided a shuttle from the ship to the old port (Vieux de Port) for 12 euro round trip. It dropped us off in front of the Hotel de Ville, which looks like its still a hike to the train station. A taxi may be your best bet.

[Hlitner]

The answer to your queston depends on your docking position. In our experience, most of the US Mass Market ships dock outside of town (not the ferry port) in the commercial port area that is not close to public transit. Assuming that happens on your cruise, there will be a shuttle bus service from the pier to the Vieux Port (old port) of Marseille. From that shuttle its still a 10 - 15 min walk to the train station. Another option is to get a taxi from the port directly to your rental car dealer, but that assumes there is a taxi willing to do the short haul.

 

Hank

[VirtualRain]

Here's an update on information I've found for others that may be trying to get from the ship to the train station, or the City Center / Old Port using public transit.

 

The Port of Marseille has a detailed PDF map, which shows where the cruise ship terminals are located (#9's on the map).

 

As I suspected, this is some distance from the Metro area in central Marseille. However, the port map does show that bus #35 services the length of the port terminating at the Joliette Metro station near the ferry port. The Marseille metro website has another bus route map showing the exact route of the bus. It appears that the stop of interest for Cruise passengers is Littoral Gourret on both maps which is about 9 stops from the Joliette terminus. Once at Joliette, it requires a two stop ride on the subway (red line) to Gare St. Charles train station.

 

The #35 bus seems to run every 15min during the week and it takes 10-15 minutes for the trip to Joliette. There is a schedule finder on the Marseille metro site (http://www.rtm.fr) which you can easily navigate using Google Translator. Here's the schedule page translated to English. You can choose the bus route (#35) and see the schedule for the time and day important to you.

 

The cost of the bus is 1.50 Euro for a Ticket Solo that will buy you one hour on the bus/subway. These are sold on the bus.

 

If your ultimate destination is the old port (Vieux Port) instead, you can follow this same plan to get to Gare St. Charles train station and then jump on the blue line metro for two stops to get to Vieux Port. Or, you can just walk a short distance from Joliette to Colbert station on the blue subway line and go one stop to Vieux Port.

 

So there you have it... get from the port to the train station or Vieux Port in about 20 minutes for 1.50 Euro! :)

 

Now, having done all that research, I may still take a taxi to optimize my time, but it's nice to know this option exists.

[rocking-m-cruiser]

Here's an update on information I've found for others that may be trying to get from the ship to the train station, or the City Center / Old Port using public transit.

 

The Port of Marseille has a detailed PDF map, which shows where the cruise ship terminals are located (#9's on the map).

 

As I suspected, this is some distance from the Metro area in central Marseille. However, the port map does show that bus #35 services the length of the port terminating at the Joliette Metro station near the ferry port. The Marseille metro website has another bus route map showing the exact route of the bus. It appears that the stop of interest for Cruise passengers is Littoral Gourret on both maps which is about 9 stops from the Joliette terminus. Once at Joliette, it requires a two stop ride on the subway (red line) to Gare St. Charles train station.

 

The #35 bus seems to run every 15min during the week and it takes 10-15 minutes for the trip to Joliette. There is a schedule finder on the Marseille metro site (http://www.rtm.fr) which you can easily navigate using Google Translator. Here's the schedule page translated to English. You can choose the bus route (#35) and see the schedule for the time and day important to you.

 

The cost of the bus is 1.50 Euro for a Ticket Solo that will buy you one hour on the bus/subway. These are sold on the bus.

 

If your ultimate destination is the old port (Vieux Port) instead, you can follow this same plan to get to Gare St. Charles train station and then jump on the blue line metro for two stops to get to Vieux Port. Or, you can just walk a short distance from Joliette to Colbert station on the blue subway line and go one stop to Vieux Port.

 

So there you have it... get from the port to the train station or Vieux Port in about 20 minutes for 1.50 Euro! :)

 

Now, having done all that research, I may still take a taxi to optimize my time, but it's nice to know this option exists.

Thanks so much for this information. The public transit system is a little intimidating to me. Hopefully there will be English translations as we go. Lol!

[rocking-m-cruiser]

How often did the shuttle run?

[katiestan1]

From the Old Port, we walked to the train station for the bus to Aix and since that wasn't a big deal, we walked from the train station back down to the Old Port. ( Our ship provided a shuttle to the Old Port) We recall the walk being about 20-25 minutes each way.

[kozkruiser48]

We where on the Magic in August and had to wait a while for the port shuttle ( 1 hour) because everybody tried to get on at the same time. You might think about a cab from the ship to train station ( about $25euro)