Provence
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Provence - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Musée d'Histoire de Marseille
Vieux PortWith the Port Antique in front, this modern, open-space museum illuminates Massalia's history with a treasure trove of archaeological finds and miniature models of the city as it appeared in various stages of history. Best by far is the presentation of Marseille's Classical halcyon days. There's a recovered wreck of a Roman cargo boat, its 3rd-century wood amazingly preserved, and the hull of a Greek boat dating from the 4th century BC. The model of the Greek city should be authentic—it's based on an eyewitness description by Aristotle.
2 rue Henri Barbrusse, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13001, France04–91–55–36–00Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free; €6 (special exhibits), Closed Mon. -
2. Navette Maritime
Vieux PortIn keeping with the Vieux Port's substantially spiffed-up image, the Marseille regional transportation service now offers efficient public ferry service, with hourly departures from the eastern side to Pointe Rouge (8 am–7 pm), L'Estaque (8:30 am–7:30 pm), and Les Goudes (8:50 am–7:50 pm). The nominal ticket charge (€5, available only on board) is well worth it for the fun and convenience of crossing the port by boat.
Pl. des Huiles on Quai de Rive Neuve side and Hôtel de Ville on Quai du Port, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13007, FranceSight Details
Rate Includes: €5 (free with métro pass) -
3. Unité d'Habitation Cité Radieuse
Considered at the time a radical experiment in collective living, Le Corbusier's masterpiece "habitat system" was completed in 1952. The mammoth building, set in the middle of a green park with unobstructed views of the sea, contains 337 apartments with 23 different floor plans that were groundbreaking in their simplicity, functionality, and practicality. Each came with views; light; and on-site access to a restaurant, a bar, shops, childcare, a rooftop jogging track, a playground, and a stage. The tourist office's guided tours (reservations can be made online) of the UNESCO World Heritage site take you to a model apartment, the rooftop, and several common areas. The Cité also now houses a restaurant, bar, hotel, and the MaMO arts center—all open to the public.
280 bd. Michelet, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13008, FranceSight Details
Rate Includes: €10, Closed Sun. -
4. Abbaye St-Victor
Rive NeuveFounded in the 4th century by St-Cassien, who sailed into Marseille full of fresh ideas on monasticism that he acquired in Palestine and Egypt, this church grew to formidable proportions. With a Romanesque design, the structure would be as much at home in the Middle East as its founder was. The crypt, St-Cassien's original, is preserved beneath the medieval church, and in the evocative nooks and crannies you can find the 5th-century sarcophagus that allegedly holds the martyr's remains. Upstairs, a reliquary contains what's left of St-Victor, who was ground to death between millstones, probably by Romans. There's also a passage into tiny catacombs where early Christians worshipped St-Lazarus and Mary Magdalene, said to have washed ashore at Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer, in the Camargue.
3 rue de l'Abbaye, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13007, France04–96–11–22–60 -
5. Bar de la Marine
Vieux PortEven if you've never read or seen Marcel Pagnol's trilogy of plays and films Marius, Fanny, and César (think of it as a three-part French Casablanca), you can still get a sense of its earthy, Old Marseille feeling at the bar in which it was set. The walls are blanketed with murals, and comfortable café chairs fill the place—all in an effort to faithfully reproduce the bar as it was in the days when the bartender César, his son Marius, and Fanny, the shellfish girl, lived out their salty drama of love, honor, and the call of the sea.
15 quai de Rive Neuve, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13007, France04–91–54–95–42 -
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6. Cathédrale de la Nouvelle Major
Le PanierThis gargantuan, neo-Byzantine, 19th-century fantasy was built under Napoléon III—but not before he'd ordered the partial destruction of the lovely 11th-century original, once a perfect example of the Provençal Romanesque style. You can view the flashy interior (think marble and rich red porphyry inlay) of the newer of the two churches; the medieval one is being restored.
Pl. de la Major, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13007, France -
7. Château Borély
PradoA gracious 18th-century château houses the collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, de la Faïence, et de la Mode (Museum of Decorative Arts, Faïence, and Fashion). The bright exhibition rooms feature brilliant lacquered ceilings and installations by French artists and designers, all the better to show off the gorgeous tapestries; furniture; Marseille faience pottery dating from the early 17th century; 18th-century hand-painted murals; and fashions from the 15th to 21st century. Touring the museum, taking in the château's large park, and grabbing a bite to eat in the café is the perfect way to spend an afternoon in this lovely part of the city.
132 av. Clot Bey, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13008, France04–91–55–33–60Sight Details
Rate Includes: €6, Closed Mon. -
8. Château d'If
In the 16th century, François I recognized the strategic advantage of an island fortress to survey the mouth of Marseille's vast harbor, and he built this imposing edifice. Indeed, it was such an effective deterrent that it never saw combat and was eventually converted into a prison. It was here that Alexandre Dumas locked up his most famous character, the Count of Monte Cristo. Though the count was fictional, the hole through which Dumas had him escape is real enough, on display in the cells. On the other hand, the real-life Man in the Iron Mask, whose cell is also erroneously on display, was not imprisoned here. It’s worth taking a trip here if only to ride the Frioul If Express boat ( €10.80 04–96–11–03–50) from/to Quai des Belges and to take in the views from the fortress's broad terrace.
View Tours and ActivitiesMarseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13001, France08–26–50–05–00Sight Details
Rate Includes: €11.10 -
9. Cosquer Méditerranée
Vieux PortMove over Lascaux and Chauvet, France's newest underground odyssey takes you back 33,000 years and 121 feet "undersea." In 1985, diver Henri Cosquer discovered a mostly submerged cave with chambers containing more than 500 evocative images of bison, horses, deer, ibex, aurochs, seals, jellyfish, and human hands. On this simulated visit at Marseille's Villa Mediterranée, groups of six, equipped with headsets, are taken by cable car though a near-perfect replica of the cave to learn the story of these mysterious drawings, the original artists, and their relationship to the animals they depicted.
Promenade Robert Laffont, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13002, France04–91–31–23–12Sight Details
Rate Includes: €16 -
10. Cours Julien
La CanebièreThis center of bohemian flânerie (hanging out) is a lovely place to relax by the fountain, in the shade of plane trees, or under a café umbrella. Its low-key and painterly tableau is framed by graceful 18th-century buildings, and the warren of streets surrounding it is full of young fashion designers, vintage shops, and hip boutiques.
Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13006, France -
11. Icard Maritime
Tour–SightNote that boats make round trips several times a day to the Calanques de Cassis from Marseille's Quai de la Fraternité (Quai des Belges). This company offers a 3½-hour round trip.
1 quai Marcel Pagnol, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13007, FranceSight Details
Rate Includes: From €29 -
12. Jardin du Pharo
PharoThe Pharo, another larger-than-life edifice built to Napoléon III's epic tastes, was a gift to his wife, Eugénie. It's a conference center now, but its green park has become a magnet for city strollers who want to take in panoramic views of the ports and fortifications.
Above Bd. Charles-Livon, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13007, FranceSight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
13. L'Estaque
At this famous village north of Marseille, Cézanne led an influx of artists eager to capture its cliff-top views over the harbor. Braque, Derain, and Renoir all put its red rooftops, rugged cliffs, and factory smokestacks on canvas. Pick up the English-language itinerary "L'Estaque and the Painters" from the Marseille tourist office, and hunt down the sites and views they immortalized. The town is a little seedy these days, but there are cafés and a few fish shops that make the most of the nearby Criée (fishermen's auction), which moved here from Marseille's Quai de Rive Neuve. A novel way to see Cézanne's famous scenery is to take a standard SNCF train trip from the Gare St-Charles to Martigues; it follows the L'Estaque waterfront and (apart from a few tunnels) offers magnificent views.
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14. La Canebière
La CanebièreThis wide avenue leading from the port, known affectionately as the "Can o' Beer" by American sailors, once figured in popular songs and operettas and was once crammed with cafés, theaters, bars, and tempting stores full of zoot suits and swell hats. It's noisy but dull today, yet you might still take pleasure in studying its grand 19th-century mansions.
View Tours and ActivitiesMarseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France -
15. La Vieille Charité
Le PanierAt the top of the Panier district lies this superb ensemble of 17th- and 18th-century architecture, which was originally designed as a hospice for the homeless by Marseillais artist-architects Pierre and Jean Puget and which now houses two museums. While visiting the complex, be sure to walk around the inner court to study the retreating perspective of triple arcades and to admire the Baroque chapel with its novel, egg-peaked dome. The larger of the two museums is the Musée d'Archéologie Méditerranéenne (Museum of Mediterranean Archaeology), with a sizable collection of pottery and statuary from classical Mediterranean civilization; unfortunately, descriptions of these items are rudimentary (e.g., "pot"). There's also an exhibit on the mysterious Celt-like Ligurians who first peopled the coast; alas, displays focus more on the digs than the finds. However, the Egyptian collection—the second-largest in France after the Louvre's—is evocative, with mummies, hieroglyphs, and sarcophagi exhibited in a tomblike setting. Displays in the upstairs Musée d'Arts Africains, Océaniens, et Amérindiens (Museum of African, Oceanic, and American Indian Art) are theatrical: spectacular masks and sculptures are mounted along a black wall, lighted indirectly, and labeled across the aisle. The complex also has changing exhibitions that might focus on fine art, photography, filmmaking, or cultural anthropology, among other things.
2 rue de la Charité, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13002, France04–91–14–58–80Sight Details
Rate Includes: Exhibitions from €7 -
16. Le Centre d'Art MaMo
PradoEighteen stories up, atop Le Corbusier's colossal Cité Radieuse—undertaken in 1947–52 to house the displaced of World War II—this sun-drenched sculpture center, complete with a theater and garden, replaces an ugly gym, added in 1964, that had obscured Le Corbusier's original tiled rooftop terrace. Conceived by notorious Paris designer (and Marseille native) Ito Morabito, aka Ora-Ito, the roof of the famous building has been restored to its original glory, complete with Charlotte Perriand–designed details, and now hosts a rotating schedule of sculpture exhibitions in the summer. The building still houses an apartment complex, shops, a hotel, and a well-regarded restaurant.
280 bd. Michelet, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13008, France01–42–46–00–09Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed Tues. -
17. Le Panier
The heart of old Marseille is a maze of narrow cobblestone streets lined by shuttered pastel houses and punctuated by montées (stone stairways) and tiny squares. Long decayed and neglected, the quarter is now a principal focus of urban renewal. In the past few years, an influx of "bobos" (bourgeois-bohemians) and artists has sparked gentrification, bringing charming B&Bs, chic boutiques, lively cafés, and artists' ateliers. Although wandering this picturesque neighborhood at will is a pleasure, be sure to stroll along Rue du Panier, the Montée des Accoules, Rue du Petit-Puits, and Rue des Muettes.
View Tours and ActivitiesMarseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13002, France -
18. Le Port Antique
Vieux PortThis garden in front of the Musée d'Histoire de Marseille stands on the location of the city's classical waterfront and includes remains of the Greek fortifications and loading docks. Restored in 2013, the site, with several nearly intact boats (now exhibited in the museum), was discovered in 1967 when roadwork was being done next to the Bourse (Stock Exchange).
Rue Henri Barbusse, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13007, France04–91–55–36–00Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed Mon. -
19. Les Arcenaulx
Vieux PortIn this broad, elegant stone armory, built for Louis XIV, a complex of upscale shops and restaurants has given the building—and neighborhood—new life. Its bookstore has a collection of art books and publications on Marseille, as well as gifts, perfume, clothing, and local specialties like olive oil, chocolates, and nougat. A book-lined restaurant serves sophisticated cuisine.
25 cours d'Estienne d'Orves, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13001, France04–91–59–80–30 -
20. Marché aux Poissons
Vieux PortUp and going by 8 am every day, this market—immortalized in Marcel Pagnot's Fanny (and Joshua Logan's sublime 1961 film adaptation)—puts on a vivid and aromatic show of waving fists, jostling chefs, and heaps of still-twitching fish from the night's catch. Hear the thick soup of the Marseillais accent as blue-clad fishermen and silk-clad matrons bicker over prices, and marvel at the rainbow of Mediterranean creatures swimming in plastic vats before you, each uglier than the last: the spiny-headed rascasse (scorpion fish), dog-nosed grondin (red gurnet), the monstrous baudroie or lotte (monkfish), and the eel-like congre. "Bouillabaisse" as sold here is a mix of fish too tiny to sell otherwise; the only problem with coming for the early morning show is that you have to wait so long for your bouillabaisse lunch.
Quai de la Fraternité, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13001, France
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