Driving to Aix en Provence and Cassis

[SF]

We will be renting a car and driving to Aix en Provence and Cassis for the day while our ship is in port.

 

Would like to know where the best place to park is while visiting both towns?

 

Also what are the main sights to see in both Aix en Provence and Cassis?

[Hlitner]

I could write a book for you on Aix (do not know as much about Cassis) but you can easily gather tons of info by simply Googling the city names with "tourism" on Google. You will see the local tourist offices (and other related sites) and can print out tons of info. In addition, we recommend looking at tripadvisor.com where you will find some good info on each city (also look at the related forums on tripadvisor). As to parking, the situation is similar in both places (and most of France). There is on the street parking in many places and they will usually have parking meters. The meters are the type where there is usually one machine on about every block. You park your car, walk to the machine and buy a timed ticket (you insert Euros) and then display that ticket on the inside of your windshield. There are also numerous paid parking lots and garages which you can quickly find by following the large blue "P" signs posted on the streets in the major tourist areas. We would suggest that you plan on having a nice lunch in Aix and further recommend that you look at the various restaurants/cafes along the main part of the Cours Mirabeau. We always suggest that folks just walk along the street and browse the chalk boards (or posted menus) to see what they have as daily specials (always the best deals). We also tend to favor places that seem to draw crowds of French. If a restaurant is empty at meal time there is usually a good reason :)

 

Hank

[AngloinProvence]

Parking in Aix is considerably easier than in Cassis as there are numerous large underground car-parks right in the city centre. You can also park in a parc-relais (park and ride) facility out of town. See the section on cars and taxis on this page http://www.marseille-provence.info/aix-en-provence/practical-information-aix-en-provence/162-how-to-get-around-aix-buses-cars-petits-trains-bikes-diablines-.html for details of park and ride and a link to a list of Aix's inner-city car-parks.

 

Cassis is another matter. There is very little parking space in the town centre and you should really not try to park there if you are going in the middle of summer. You'll need to leave the car at Les Gorguettes, a park and ride facility way out of the town centre and take the shuttle bus. Again, more details of this, and the shuttle bus timetable here (near the bottom of the page): http://www.marseille-provence.info/places/towns/344-cassis.html

 

By the way, I don't recommend parking on the road in Aix as tourist hire cars are especially vulnerable to opportunistic break-ins. Better to park in a guarded car-park.

[Hlitner]

While we would agree with the previous post that its not a good idea to park on the street with valuables left in the car, we have no problem when on a port day drive since we leave nothing in the car.

 

Hank

[SF]

We planned on parking in one of the garages near the center of town in Aix-en-Provence. Besides we aren't going to be leaving anything in the car so hopefully we'll encounter no problems.

 

As for Cassis, we won't be going until November so tourist season will be over. We will be on a tight schedule as we are hoping to take in other areas prior to stopping in Cassis on our way back to the port so parking somewhere else and having to wait to drive to the city center and then repeating this at the end of our stay really isn't time effective for us. Are there no parking garages or areas to park closer?

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Cassis is not much more than a cute little harbor with outdoor restaurants and lots of boats. The highlight is to take one of the tourist boats for a two hour tour of the Calanques, tall marble cliffs with beautiful beaches in the middle. I don't know if those boats run in Nov., and if it is cold, there won't be much to do there.

 

In the summer, it is just beautiful.

[SF]

Cassis is not much more than a cute little harbor with outdoor restaurants and lots of boats. The highlight is to take one of the tourist boats for a two hour tour of the Calanques, tall marble cliffs with beautiful beaches in the middle. I don't know if those boats run in Nov., and if it is cold, there won't be much to do there.

 

In the summer, it is just beautiful.

 

So instead of Cassis what are some other places not to far from the port to visit? We would have already been to Aix-en-Provence having rented a car a few weeks prior.

[Hlitner]

If you are interested in again renting a car you have quite a few options for Provence. You might consider taking a route that includes both Arles and Les Baux and you could also make a brief stop in the village of St Remy. If you have a long port day and want to go a bit further you could even go as far as Avignon and perhaps Pont du Gard.

 

Hank

[buggins0402]

So instead of Cassis what are some other places not to far from the port to visit? We would have already been to Aix-en-Provence having rented a car a few weeks prior.

 

We had a cruise in November a few years back and for a while I worked on trying to do Cassis. But, got the same advice - November would not be the best time for Cassis, so we skipped it, even though someone said that since we were there on a weekend there would be some signs of life.

 

Previous land trip in Provence was also in November. Arles was strangely quiet - it was like a abandoned movie set. Think we might have liked it better just a month earlier. All the rest of the towns that Hank mentioned were still active - Arles was just wierd (closed cafes, looking forlorn whereas in St. Remy the street cafes were alive and vibrant).

[Hlitner]

We had a cruise in November a few years back and for a while I worked on trying to do Cassis. But, got the same advice - November would not be the best time for Cassis, so we skipped it, even though someone said that since we were there on a weekend there would be some signs of life.

 

Previous land trip in Provence was also in November. Arles was strangely quiet - it was like a abandoned movie set. Think we might have liked it better just a month earlier. All the rest of the towns that Hank mentioned were still active - Arles was just wierd (closed cafes, looking forlorn whereas in St. Remy the street cafes were alive and vibrant).

 

We found Arles rather shocking and a great indication of how France is undergoing major change. We had not been to Arles in over 10 years when, a couple of years ago, we rented an apartment in St Remy for 2 weeks. One day we decided to drive to Arles on their market day. When we got to their weekly market we felt like we were in the Middle East of North Africa. A majority of the women were Muslim (and covered) and at least half the vendors were selling non-French products. We asked a few questions and found that the Arles area now has a huge Muslim population who does not have any desire to assimilate into the French culture. For years the French were concerned about their country becoming "Americanized" and they use to even demonstrate at McDonalds. Well, why they were not looking the Muslim population has increased and they are imposing their own middle eastern culture on the French. Somehow its just not the same walking down the street with a loaf of flatbread under one's arm as opposed to a long loaf of French bread.

 

Hank

[buggins0402]

We found Arles rather shocking and a great indication of how France is undergoing major change. We had not been to Arles in over 10 years when, a couple of years ago, we rented an apartment in St Remy for 2 weeks. One day we decided to drive to Arles on their market day. When we got to their weekly market we felt like we were in the Middle East of North Africa. A majority of the women were Muslim (and covered) and at least half the vendors were selling non-French products. We asked a few questions and found that the Arles area now has a huge Muslim population who does not have any desire to assimilate into the French culture. For years the French were concerned about their country becoming "Americanized" and they use to even demonstrate at McDonalds. Well, why they were not looking the Muslim population has increased and they are imposing their own middle eastern culture on the French. Somehow its just not the same walking down the street with a loaf of flatbread under one's arm as opposed to a long loaf of French bread.

 

Hank

 

I think we happened on the same market when we were there (across the road from old town in Arles). More of a flea market selling odds and ends.

Not charming.

 

Also, DH is a runner - there was no where to run there. We originally scheduled two nights but cut it to one and went to the Carmague. Even though we were way off season in Stes Maries de las Mers we loved it there - it just didn't look so forlorn. Someday we'll get back to Arles and give it another chance.

 

Question for the OP - what day of the week is your port day?

[SF]

First time we visit it will be on a Monday. That time we are renting a car and driving

to Aix-en-Provence. Second visit will be on a Saturday. Not sure yet what we want to do.

It will be day prior to disembarking so we really do not want to be out all day.

May just take short ship tour to Cassis.

[buggins0402]

First time we visit it will be on a Monday. That time we are renting a car and driving

to Aix-en-Provence. Second visit will be on a Saturday. Not sure yet what we want to do.

It will be day prior to disembarking so we really do not want to be out all day.

May just take short ship tour to Cassis.

 

Or, perhaps Aix on the second since it's so close and easy by public transportation and putting the car to use for the first visit? The whole of west of Provence is yours with that car:). Saturday is a good market day in Aix http://www.provencelive.com/practical/daily/market/default.html.

[mlbcruiser]

SF, may I ask about where you rented your car? Will you be picked up at the port or do you have to get transportation to their location? And is the location very near the port? We were thinking of driving as we have done so in many other ports, but I keep running into walls w/regard to Marseilles. Additionally people warn of worse traffic than in even more populated cities and lots of construction very near the port that causes driving to be even more confusing. Still, I would appreciate any info. you can give me w/regard to the rental car situation.

 

Thanks!

[SF]

SF, may I ask about where you rented your car? Will you be picked up at the port or do you have to get transportation to their location? And is the location very near the port? We were thinking of driving as we have done so in many other ports, but I keep running into walls w/regard to Marseilles. Additionally people warn of worse traffic than in even more populated cities and lots of construction very near the port that causes driving to be even more confusing. Still, I would appreciate any info. you can give me w/regard to the rental car situation.

 

Thanks!

 

From your post it seems like you are looking to rent a car in Marseilles. Don't think I can help as that is not the port we are renting our car from. We are renting from Toulon. Hopefully someone else will have some information in regards to your port. Good luck...sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[Hlitner]

Regarding Marseille we would certainly not hesitate to rent a car in that port if we had a long port day. Nearly all the majors (and some smaller companies) have offices downtown (many are near or at the St Charles Train Station) which does mean using the shuttle bus or taxi...but it's certainly doable. The key to us would be what we want to do with our day. If we were simply going to a city such as Aix we would probably use the convenient regional buses or possibly the train. But if we wanted to be out in the countryside or smaller towns a car would be a necessity.

 

Hank

[mlbcruiser]

SF, yes, we are docking in Messina. Though we have been to a number of other ports and cities on the Med., we have never been to this one so are not familiar with it at all.

 

Hlitner, if the way to get a rental car would be to take a shuttle bus from the port, would you happen to know the approx. cost to do this? Is the ride very long? Are there different shuttles or do they all go to the same place(s)? Does it go to the train station, or within an easy walking distance to it? Would you happen to know what a taxi from the port would cost? Or if one would even be willing to take us to the train station or a rental car office? I know when we've been docked in Livorno in the past, the taxis absolutely would not take anyone to anyplace nearby (like the town center or a rental car office). They wanted longer fares. Please do not hesitate to add anything else you think might be helpful.

 

Yes, we had originally hoped to drive around to some villages in the countryside - maybe to some perched or generally charming towns. There are villages which are listed as part of itineraries offered by tour companies that must be nice to see, plus some I have heard about on my own.

 

Thanks to both of you for your replies.