Luxury holidays in Marseille

The rough-around-the-edges rebel of France’s glamorous south coast, Marseille has undergone a lace-straitening makeover of late – but it’s far from a fully reformed rogue. Once-waning La Joliette wears a well-cultured coat of trendy galleries over its downtrodden-docks DNA; globe-spanning music spills out of bohemian bars in Cours Julien; and the golden-crowned Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica surveys the city from its verdant hilltop throne. Plenty of quieter quarters hide amid the hubbub: snake your way up Le Panier’s storied streets, stroll the Haussmannian-chic Cinq-Avenues, then break for bouillabaisse in an old-world fishing village preserved in the boisterous belly of the city.

Recommended offers

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When to go

Go in the summer months for the warmest weather, but be ready to brave peak crowds and prices. Spring and autumn are pleasantly mild and much less busy – ideal for sightseeing and street-strolling.

From the blog

Tales from our travels

Getting there

  • Planes

    Touch down at Marseille Provence Airport direct from European cities including London, Manchester, Rome, Frankfurt and Madrid, and seasonally from even more. Domestic flights make French-city hopping a breeze – get there from Paris, Bordeaux, Lille and more. From the airport, pop to Vitrolles rail station on the handy free shuttle, then take the train to Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles in the city centre. Alternatively, take a taxi for the 30-minute drive into town.

  • Boats

    Cross the Channel on a seasonal ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre, then hop on the TGV service to Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles. Set sail directly for Marseille from ports in Corsica, Sardinia, Tunisia and Algeria.

  • Trains

    Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles in the city centre is a major continental rail hub; direct trains from Bordeaux, Cannes, Le Havre, Nice and more arrive there, as well as from Geneva, Brussels and other international cities. If you’re travelling from London, ditch the flights in favour of Eurostar. Once there, get around the city via the two metro lines (M1 and M2) and three tram lines (T1, T2 and T3) that connect all the main areas, including Les Cinq Avenues, La Canebière and the Old Port.

  • Automobiles

    Between the chock-a-block traffic and premium-price parking, you’ll want to skip driving here. Taxis, trams and the metro make the city navigable without your own set of wheels.