How is Marseille doing, safety-wise.
It had a sketchy reputation and then considerable money was spent to clean it up.
Have heard recently (manager of a hotel in Paris who is from there and others) that the city has returned to it's former state - especially after dark.
Anyone been there recently and can report?
Merci!
We were there a year ago and it seemed fine. Rode the local buses, were in the train station, in the old harbor area - it has been substantially cleaned up 20 years ago. It look great. Don't know about after dark.
In June 2015 we stayed at a hotel close to the airport (very nice, with a beautiful swimming pool that we didn't use, and a superb French restaurant), but that was quite some distance from the city itself. The next day, we took the bus into town and spent the entire day there, especially in and near the harbor area. Very safe during the day, no troublemakers hanging around in the bus or train station, the metro was completely safe (more than I can say, unfortunately for the Denver light rail system at the moment), streets, plazas, and sidewalks as good or better than you'll find anywhere in France. We were just there for that day, and headed east to Saint-Remy in the early evening, so I can't confirm the status of every part of Marseille, nor what it was (or is) like at night.
The city was a prime location for part of this year's Tour de France, and looked very appealing on TV!
Goodness yes. I went there solo for 10 days during the Christmas Holiday in 2015 and loved every moment. I stayed in the Vieux Port at the historic Hotel Beaveau. The city offers so many marvelous views and marvelous museums. Like any big city, there's some neighborhoods that are gritty, but I certainly am on team go to Marseille.
I've stayed in the Vieux Porte are on two separate trips and travelled around the city quite a bit. I never had a problem and always felt safe. Just like any city, including Paris, it has areas that I'd consider "iffy" and would stay away from them but the areas where the tourist sites are located should be fine. Marseille is quite different than the rest of France and is an interesting place to visit.
