In April we're traveling with my two kids 6 & 8 around the Marseille area. We will have just finished a canal trip on the midi, with 2 days to spend before flying home. I'd love some advice for what we shouldn't miss! We prefer cute little towns with good cafes to visit anywhere from Beziers to Marseille, no further than 1 hour east of Marseille. Beach towns or inland are both great, but we realize it won’t be too warm in April. We’re hoping to see Calanques, either hiking or boat. We may spend an afternoon in Marseille, but don't want to miss any gems nearby. Thanks for any advice you can share!
Posted by
Paris
7304 posts
I would spend those two days in Marseille proper: most of a day for Calanques (can squeeze to half a day if you just take a boat tour), 1 day for the city.
Speaking about hiking in the Calanques: beware, the terrain is very uneven. Proper footwear is required. The one exception being the hike to Calanque de Sugiton and to the lookout above it, where sneakers would do the trick (it's a fire road most of the way). And there is no drinking water available.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10633 posts
I agree with Balso but for a slightly different reason. You don't give your dates, but in April from the end of the school day on April 7 or 8 until April 23rd the Paris region and a lot of the south, west of Marseille, are on spring break. Villages will be jammed as Parisians look for the sun. I would have suggested Cassis, otherwise. But in addition to Marseille, you could go to Aix-en-Provence, a lovely town that can absorb the crowds.
Posted by
Savannah, GA
1384 posts
Marseille is a treasure trove of places. There are some start of the art museums (the plague of Marseille's history at Regards de Provence is fantastic). Le MUCEM is also amazing. I recommend staying in the Vieux POrt and enjoying Marseille. Notre Dame de la Garde is truly a must see. Marseille is truly one of my favorite cities in France and it's unlike any other city I've been to.
Posted by
OP
Pacific Northwest
3 posts
Thank you all very much- this is so helpful. We are in the Marseille area April 20 & 21st and its very good to know about their spring break!
Posted by
Washington DC
28096 posts
I went to MUCEM in 2017, not too long after it opened; perhaps not all the exhibits had been finished. I was extremely underwhelmed. Based on that experience, I'd recommend checking the website to see what is being shown now. As I recall, it was a bit of a walk to get there.
Posted by
OP
Pacific Northwest
3 posts
Bonjour everyone,
Since my first question starting this post, We decided to go to Cassis, and it was incredible. We stayed at Hotel le Golf (RS recommendation) and upon arrival we immediately took a 4pm boat tour of the Calanques (90 minutes) from the port in Cassis. The town has great souvenir shops and we really enjoyed walking around, to the beaches and we hiked some trails a small ways to the Calanques the next day. My kids did some geocaching too. We ate at Atelier Gastronomique and L’Oustau de la Mar- both were so good. We could have stayed longer than one day and look forward to going back. We did go to Marseille for a couple of hours and walked Port Vieux but it was disappointing. It is a gorgeous city but had lots of graffiti and seemed run down, not well maintained. We can’t wait to go back to the south of France, the region is incredibly gorgeous.