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Hlitner "Live from...." Rare

Hlitner

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You can take the cruise line shuttle into town and walk to the train station, or take a taxi direct from the port to the train station. There are direct trains that run at least once per hour (many times they are a lot more frequent) and the ride takes about 1 hour each direction.

 

Hank

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Cruise Junky

Cruise Junky

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What would be your suggestions on how to get from the port in Marseille to Aix?

 

 

Apologies, I'm such a twit...I meant to research the trains for you and get back to you, but my phone rang at work and I totally forgot. Glad someone else stepped up to the plate.

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Nanatravel

Nanatravel

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We used Catherine who owns Tour Designer of Provence: tour.designer@provence-travel.com. She is a historian and very knowledgeable person. We joined 6 others (on our roll call) and had a wonderful day at Aix and Lourmarin. Catherine will be glad to help design your tour for a day, also.

 

Bon Voyage

Nanatravel

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dbh62ark

dbh62ark

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My cruise is stopping in Marseille for one day. Should I go into "Old Town" for shopping and cafes or go to Provence Aix?
I think by "Old Town" you mean the Vieux Port area. I've been there and like it, but I've spent a lot of time in Provence on ground trips as well as three cruises, and I like some of the other options in this port better. Aix-en-Provence is only one of your options for the day. You can search for Cassis, Les Baux, Arles, St Remy.

 

We spent a nice day from the port of Marseilles going to Aix by train (I understand that the bus is easy too) and then spending a few hours in Vieux Port, but my favorite in this area is Les Baux. I can recommend a good and affordable private driver if you decide to find some others on your roll call to split costs to see more of the area in one day.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

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whattodo

whattodo

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dbh62ark, I would like to know about the private driver in Marseille. Is he/she a guide or just a driver?

 

A company quoted me driver-only rate and a guided rate. The cost difference is significant. We're a family of 5 and want to go to the Les Alpilles area including Les Baux and Saint Rémy de Provence. We're trying to weigh the pro and cons of a guided tour or driver-only excursion. Or go with a ship excursion to Luberon Villages which cost the least.

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jmb4534

jmb4534

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We saw some of the sights around Marseille then hired a taxi in Marseille at the spot where the little tourist train departs to take us to Cassis for the remainder of the day. There were 4 of us and I don't remember how much he charged, but it was not much. It is a beautiful drive along the coast to get there. He stopped along the way for us to take photos. It was really a very nice day and we had a great time.

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dbh62ark

dbh62ark

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dbh62ark, I would like to know about the private driver in Marseille. Is he/she a guide or just a driver?

 

A company quoted me driver-only rate and a guided rate. The cost difference is significant. We're a family of 5 and want to go to the Les Alpilles area including Les Baux and Saint Rémy de Provence. We're trying to weigh the pro and cons of a guided tour or driver-only excursion. Or go with a ship excursion to Luberon Villages which cost the least.

We had a great day with Olivier of http://www.rendez-vous-provence.com last September and highly recommend. Olivier is a great guide (also a great driver :)) and took us to the Palace of the Popes in Avignon, to Les Baux-de-Provence, and to Arles. Olivier is a very knowledgeable about the history and culture of this area of France so provided great commentary for our group. His charges were very reasonable, and his cancellation policies are also very reasonable (passengers are not charged for events beyond their control such as change in ship's schedule due to weather unlike other tour operators in the area who will charge you if you are a no-show through no fault of your own, etc.).

 

It sounds like you have a nice itinerary planned for your day. There are so many wonderful options from this port. We've spent some time on ground trips in the area as well as a couple of port calls to Marseilles, and Les Baux is my favorite of all the options listed (so far) on this thread. Regarding the comparison between driver vs. driver/guide (my opinion), the villages are lovely and small so are easy to see on your own, so I don't necessarily think that you need a guide. But Olivier's guide prices are comparable to driver costs from other companies, and his commentary did add a lot to our day. If you decide to add a stop at the Palace of the Popes, you can rent an audio guide to hear the history there.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

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MaggieS

MaggieS

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We used Catherine last year and can't say we had a better private tour anywhere. She is extremely well educated and knowledgable. Her husband is a psychiatrist. I second the vote for Les Baux. I spent several days there in a hotel at the base of Les Baux. We also went to Ile sur le sorge, Arles, and Les Baux with her. Cadiz is fun too and a cute village. You can take a boat out to the Calanques. We had the entertainment of some young French boys "mooning" us on our boat trip. Aix is a college town and is jokingly known as Sex in Provence. It does have nice shopping but I go more for the smaller places and mingling with the locals. Outside of Arles is the convent/hospital where Vincent Van Gogh spent much of his last year and painted so many of his famous paintings. Well worth a visit.

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JERMEY

JERMEY

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We had a great day with Olivier of http://www.rendez-vous-provence.com last September and highly recommend. Olivier is a great guide (also a great driver :)) and took us to the Palace of the Popes in Avignon, to Les Baux-de-Provence, and to Arles. Olivier is a very knowledgeable about the history and culture of this area of France so provided great commentary for our group. His charges were very reasonable, and his cancellation policies are also very reasonable (passengers are not charged for events beyond their control such as change in ship's schedule due to weather unlike other tour operators in the area who will charge you if you are a no-show through no fault of your own, etc.).

 

It sounds like you have a nice itinerary planned for your day. There are so many wonderful options from this port. We've spent some time on ground trips in the area as well as a couple of port calls to Marseilles, and Les Baux is my favorite of all the options listed (so far) on this thread. Regarding the comparison between driver vs. driver/guide (my opinion), the villages are lovely and small so are easy to see on your own, so I don't necessarily think that you need a guide. But Olivier's guide prices are comparable to driver costs from other companies, and his commentary did add a lot to our day. If you decide to add a stop at the Palace of the Popes, you can rent an audio guide to hear the history there.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

 

Donna, How did you findout about Rendez-vous tours. I was thinking of using them, but can't find much info. Do you think that from Marseille, we could do Arles,Aix and Les Baux in one day? Thanks Chris

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dbh62ark

dbh62ark

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I found Olivier on these boards and was so glad we did. Another one of the tour operators (previously mentioned on this thread) was significantly higher in price and did not have what we considered to be reasonable cancellation policies. If it helps any, please note that we've been fortunate to have cruised Europe 15 times (20+ cruises total) and have used a lot of private drivers over the years to compare; I can gladly give you the highest recommendation for Olivier, and you won't go wrong if you decide to use his services.

 

Arles, Aix, and Les Baux may be possible in one day, but Olivier will know for sure. I'm sure he'll want to know what your goals are for each of those stops. If you want to see the Palace of the Popes in Arles, we did a short walking tour in Arles and then spent approx 1.5 hours at the Palace. Les Baux is very small, and one of the attractions of visiting there is the spectacular scenery in the area. You would want to spend at least an hour at Les Baux. Aix is lovely, and I would guess that you would want to spend at least 1.5 hours walking around there. So the remainder of your time would be time driving between those three (which can vary greatly, but a good driver will come up with a plan) and lunch. One of the things that we've done the last few years that works well for us is to make one of the stops longer (2.5 hours) to allow those in the group who want to have a leisurely lunch to do that but those who want to have more time to walk around and eat a quick bite can spend their time "wisely" doing what is important to them.

 

That's all my opinion, and I hope it helps. :)

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

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CAforever

CAforever

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We are sailing on the same cruise. My daughter and son-in-law are going with us. Maybe we could meet later on the ship and share a few thoughts beforehand. I reserved the ship's tour of Marseille as the Provence one seemed too strenuous. I may be sorry. I hope our weather will be nice, cool but not rainy. We spent time in Venice one November and it was fine. Have you experienced this time of year in the Med? I would welcome any suggestions. My email is dixon@pacbell.net.

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NAS-KARR

NAS-KARR

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Like a previous reply mentioned--we headed to the fishing town of CASSIS. It was a beautiful ride along the coast and the town itself is a picturesque coastal town with shops, working marina, sidewalk cafes, multi colored buildings and plenty scenery......very relaxing.

Good for sipping on a "red" while people watching.

 

 

CIAO,

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dbh62ark

dbh62ark

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If you want to see the Palace of the Popes in Arles, we did a short walking tour in Arles and then spent approx 1.5 hours at the Palace.

Donna

I'm sorry--I realized that I misspoke here. The Palace of the Popes is in Avignon and not in Arles.

 

So for clarification, Olivier took us on a short walking tour of Avignon and then we went to the Palace of the Popes (for those who are interested in Avignon, and this was very nice).

 

Olivier also took us on a walking tour of Arles where we saw the Roman theater (similar in appearance to the Colosseum in Rome) and other sites. Olivier's commentary on Arles was very interesting, and there was an open market near the theater that was nice too.

 

Happy travels,

Donna

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  • 2 weeks later...
wiselindag

wiselindag

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Two years ago I was on an MSC cruise that stopped in Marseilles. Although originally scheduled for one day, we ended up spending two days because of a strike in the port of Barcelona. We traveled the first week in November and the weather throughout the Med was spectacular. Gorgeous sunny days and great touring/walking weather.

 

Since we had two days we went to Aix one day and spent one day in the Vieux Porte. Loved Aix and would definitely recommend it! We took the train (shuttle to town and walked to the train station -- you could cab it more easily, but we love to walk although it is uphill to the station.) Easy enough to take the train and loved walking around Aix (you can walk right into town quite easily from the station). Aix is a great walking town -- lots of lovely buildings, great little cafes, fountains, trees, charming shops... met all my expectations.

 

We also enjoyed the port area of Marseilles where we shopped and had a great seafood lunch overlooking the yacht harbor. They have a little tourist "train" (actually pulled by a tractor) that goes around and shows you the sights. We did both the one that goes uphill to the Cathedral and the other that stays in the port. We liked both, but the one to the Cathedral was better if you only have time for one. We had some interest in going out to Cassis, but the boats weren't running there every day by this time of year, so be sure to check.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

Linda

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