I'll be in Lyon for a week in May and as I've been there before I am also hoping to do some day trips out. Is it doable to train from Lyon to Marseille and return to Lyon in a day? Does the train let you off at a central location in Marseilles?
Recommendations for good shopping in Marseille for antiques, textiles: boutis, indiennes, quilts, etc.?
The fastest trains from Lyon to Marseille are TGV trains that make the trip in about 1h45m (as with all TGV tickets, they get more expensive as you get closer to the date). The slower TER trains make the trip in about 3h45m.
Marseille St-Charles station is located fairly close to the Old Port, where most first-time visitors are likely to want to visit; it's about a half-hour walk to the Old Port, or just two stops on Marseille's metro, which has a stop at the railway station.
I think it's up to you to decide whether it's worth the travel time and potential cost -- I think the only practical way to do it as a day trip would be to do it via TGV (traveling nearly 8 hours round-trip on TER trains in one day does not seem pleasant), so you'll have to consider if you are willing to book ahead of time for cheaper TGV tickets or be willing to pay the higher last-minute fares.
Its doable, however; we, The Wife and I, decided not to do it, even though textiles is a major interest for my wife. Its going to be expensive cause you'll have to take a TGV train as your only realistic option. Its about 2 hours each way. I can't think of anything on your list you'll find in Marseille, 2nd largest city, that you can't find in Lyon, 3rd largest city. Even though we were in both Lyon and then, much closer in Aix, the pro/con list never balanced out in favor of a day trip to Marseille, and The Wife looked up all the fabric stores in both Lyon and Marseille. Nothing in Marseille reached a level of a must do. :)
If Marseilles calls to you, and you don't mind nearly 4 hours on the train, why not?
I'd probably visit a few of the Rhone Valley towns, Arles, Nimes, Avignon, Orange, but that is a matter of interest and taste.
Personally I'd probably do it, but only if I knew far enough in advance which day I wanted to travel on so I could get the cheap fare. I see a Ouigo train route on a random Weds in May that leaves Lyon at 7 am getting to Marseille about 9 am; leaving Marseille 6:45 pm and getting back to Lyon about 8:15 pm. Total cost €20 (special non-refundable, no exchange fare). Ouigo is like budget airlines charging add'l for extra luggage etc, but for a day trip with just a carry on (backpack or purse) it's cheap. Why not, if you really want to go.
Last minute walk up rates would probably be so high it wouldn't be worth it to me.
Rick Steves has a walk from the Marseille train station to the port and more, outlined in his book. I think Avignon is a little closer to Lyon via TGV and might offer another perspective.
I am planning day trips from Aix-en-Provence... so many choices!
Well what are your plans for the rest of the week? A week in Lyon where you have already been - you must have some reason for going there. And is your reason for considering Marseille just for the shopping or do you have an interest in seeing the city itself. As others have told you the train/cost options I'll just say that walking from the train station down to the port is interesting and easy but consider the metro for the return trip (train station is on a hill). The old town section (the 'right' side of the port as you approach it) is very interesting to wander around, as is the port itself. Here's my trip report which covers Marseille - https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/blog/2019/10/marseille-france
Have you considered other day trips from Lyon such as Dijon or Perogues? No shopping in Perogues but a fascinating medieval town and the (extremely tiny) town museum had a lot (relative to its size) on textiles.
I think Marseille is too long and too expensive for a day trip from Lyon. There's plenty of antique and textile shopping in Lyon - Lyon was traditionally one of the centres of the French textile industry and you can still buy (very expensive) handmade cloth.
Antique boutis and true Indiennes are not easy to find anywhere in Provence these days, but a day in the port could be interesting. Here is a link to the antique area, and if you can time your visit to one of the brocantes or nocturnes so much the better:
https://www.tourisme-marseille.com/fiche/quartier-des-antiquaires-de-marseille/
When I checked the oui.sncf booking website, there were some Ouigo fares that looked pretty good, but they will sell out, I expect.
Thank you everyone for your enlightening contributions to my plans. I love this forum!
Just an explanatory note, to provide further illumination on this statement by Francis:
I can't think of anything on your list you'll find in Marseille, 2nd largest city, that you can't find in Lyon, 3rd largest city.
Not to comment on the first clause, but to focus on the second. It's true that Marseille is the second largest city in France, if one is only speaking about the population within the actual city limits and ignoring the larger metropolitan area, which (in my view) provides a better indication of how vital and important a city is.
For example, using the 2019 edition of INSEE's publication Tableaux de l’économie française as a reference (INSEE is France's national statistical agency), Paris has a municipal population of a little less than 2.2 million people. That's not very large by international standards and would substantially understate the importance of the Paris metropolitan area globally, which has a population of 12.6 million, and is ranked as a global "Alpha+" city, behind London and New York, but at the same ranking as cities such as Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai.
Similarly, it's true that municipal Marseille, at 862K people, is larger than Lyon at 516K people, but that would be misleading as to the two metro areas' relative importance, because Lyon's metropolitan area, at over 2.31 million, is quite a bit larger than Marseille's at a little less than 1.76 million.
Part of the reason for that is that the largest suburban city in France is not adjoining Paris, but Lyon: the city of Villeurbanne, with a population of nearly 150,000, is the largest suburb in France, and seamlessly forms the central eastern part of the Lyon metro area.
This relationship between Marseille and Lyon is likely to widen in coming years, because the Lyon metropolitan area is growing nearly 3 times faster (1.1 percent annual growth) than the Marseille metropolitan area (0.4 percent).
Getting to the question posed by sthkrakow, I'm sorry but I don't know anything about fabrics, quilting, or the other items you mentioned, but I will second the others' comments that (1) Lyon has long been a fabric production center and has the museums and other appurtenances to go with that history, and (2) while a day-long round trip from Lyon to Marseille is indeed doable -- and I've done it numerous times for work -- it's not particularly enjoyable nor necessary if all you want to do is shop . One could do that in Lyon.
If, on the other hand, you wanted to do sightseeing in Marseille or visit a specific place that's only in Marseille, then it's certainly possible to do if your interest is strong enough.
These are 2 amazing cities that I think deserve more than a 1-day trip. I would just stick to Lyon this time and then come back and give Marseille a few more days. I am definitely on team Marseille. It is such a unique city,
Yes, there's a direct train (2h) and you want to visit the Calanques and to do so you'll need to hop on a tour boat.
