Marseille - what to do?

[Beth and Bailey]

I know I should be researching the wonderful posts but I'm in the midst of a whole house remodel and I'm drowning.. so need this to be easy. Sorry for my laziness.

 

Arrive in Marseilles with Symphony of the Seas for our 9/30 cruise.

 

What should we do? Someone suggested taking either a taxi or the shuttle in to town and grabbing the hop on/hop off bus.

I've done that in Barcelona and it was very enjoyable.

 

Just myself (65) and adult daughter.

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

Beth

[Floridiana]

Sounds like a good plan.

[Beth and Bailey]

Sounds like a good plan.

 

 

Ah, very good. I wasn't sure there was a hop on/hop off bus in Marseille.

[Hlitner]

What to do with a port day in Marseille could be the topic of an entire book. Consider that Marsille is also a "gateway" port to the southern part of Provence....one of the most popular regions in all of France. From Marseille it is easy to get to nearby places such as Aix en Provence or even go afar to places such as Avignon, Nimes, St Remy de Provence, Les Baux, the Luberon, or even Avignon. And of course there is also Marseille...although be advised that this is not often thought of as a great tourist center. But Marseille does have its charms although we do not think it compares well to many other spots in Provence.

 

Hank

[mskaufman]

Hank, as always, has good advice. Provence is a great place to visit. Last trip we went to Arles, Avingon and Les Baux

[Nimloth]

We had a half day in Marseille, so not a great deal of time. We took the ship's shuttle directly to the Old Port, which is really pretty. We had a walk around for an hour then took the le petit train, which leaves from the Old Port, getting off at Notre-Dame de la Garde on top of the hill. A beautiful cathedral with amazing views over Marseille. We spent some time up there before the train came around again and we rode back down to the port. We finished off with some shopping. :D

[Beth and Bailey]

Thanks much for the advice and guidance.

[NayaSantaFe]

We had a half day in Marseille, so not a great deal of time. We took the ship's shuttle directly to the Old Port, which is really pretty. We had a walk around for an hour then took the le petit train, which leaves from the Old Port, getting off at Notre-Dame de la Garde on top of the hill. A beautiful cathedral with amazing views over Marseille. We spent some time up there before the train came around again and we rode back down to the port. We finished off with some shopping. :D

 

I am wondering how easy it is to catch the train to Notre Dame, does it run often? We would like to take it to the Cathedral and back to port. How close to port did it drop you off?

[marazul]

"Le petit train" is a tourist road train and it is popular in a number of French cities during tourist season. There are other language versions in other countries.

If you google "petit train Marseille" or any other city, you will find the schedule and route maps.

 

And if you google "tourism name of city" you get the tourist boards websites.

[Langoustine]

If you have time, go to a restaurant for Marselle's famous bouillabaisse. Le Miramar in the Vieux Port and Chez Fonfon in the little inner city port of the Vallon-des-Auffes are two highly-recommended places, though I warn you neither is cheap.