We found a cruise with an interesting Western Mediterranean itinerary which was doing a round trip from Marseille and pounced upon it. We had initially thought to board in Italy or Spain but found that it was actually easier and more economical to get a flight from Montreal to Paris. And from there simply take a TGV (Très Grande Vitesse – Very High Speed) train into Marseille which we had hoped to visit.
While we had heard (granted many years ago) that Marseille was a rough town and mostly an industrial port without much charm, we actually really enjoyed Marseille, and we are happy to say that we do not agree with that assessment at all!
This trip was a bit special as we had my mom coming along with us. We were careful to help make the plan so that we would slow down so as not to tire her out.
Getting there
Like many of our previous trips we had planned it out well in advance securing flights, finding hotels, and working out itineraries. The train however is only available a few months in advance and wasn’t available at the time we secured the other parts of the itinerary.
I guess we waited too long because by the time we looked again to secure our seats, (still a good 6-8 weeks prior), the first-class cabin was sold out, and the economy seats were the price we usually pay for first! These were comfortable too but instead of a 2+1 configuration it was a 3+1 which still left plenty of room.
Leaving from Montreal, the Paris flight is just 6.5 hours. That made for a short night of sleep. We landed at about 8am and while we expected to do the new European entry/exit system (EES) with biometrics, the machines were still not operational. Next, we walked directly to the T2 train station conveniently located right in the airport to have breakfast and await our train.
Marseille, France
Marseilles is actually the second-largest city in France behind Paris. It has a population of just under 1 million residents in about 90 square miles (240sq km) area. When you count the broader Marseille area with its suburbs the population of this coastal city is closer to 2 million.
Marseille was founded around 600 BCE by the Greeks, and it is considered France’s oldest city. The Greeks called it Massalia and even then, it was a busy and active port. The city was eventually taken by the Romans.
It is now the capital of the Bouches-du-Rhône and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions and the largest port in France. There is a nice Old Port, where we would be staying, and a huge industrial port that accommodates ferries, container ships, and cruise ships. Our Western Mediterranean cruise with MSC would be leaving round trip from here as well (see our cruise write up here).
We were happy to be spending one night before our cruise and two nights after the cruise in Marseille before heading back to Paris for our international flight.
See our post: Mediterranean Cruise: Round Trip from Marseille
Marseille pre-cruise stay
Arriving we had booked the IHG Hôtel Dieu Intercontinental. It is in the heart of the Old Town, and this proved to be a fabulous spot which we would recommend highly.
We were also fortunate to take advantage of our ambassador status and associated perks and benefits (including a multi-category upgrade giving us a postcard-like view of the Basilica from a private terrace. Very cool indeed!).
The hilltop Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde is the iconic site in Marseille and is literally visible from everywhere. The 19th century basilica is affectionately called “la Bonne Mère” (the Good Mother) of the city.
Old Port of Marseille
The Old Port itself (le Vieux Port) has been the center of the city of Marseille for over 2,600 years. There is a daily fresh fish market where fishers setup their stands proudly displaying their catch on ice. While we didn’t buy any fish we were told at dinner that the local restaurants do in fact buy their daily catch right there in the mornings. I’m surprised we didn’t see more cats.
We also found a local artist that made prints of sea creatures including octopus and seahorses and things she was inspired by while snorkeling. To encourage her we bought a few prints of creatures we really love.
The first night upon arrival, while we saw there were lots of waterfront cafes and restaurants around the Old Port, we were all tired from travel and opted to eat at the hotel (also as a thank you for the nice upgrade we had received).
We knew that we’d be back in Marseille for a few more nights soon giving us the opportunity to sample the fresh seafood and crepes right by the waterfront.
Le Panier district of Marseille
Right next to the Hôtel Dieu Intercontinental is the Panier district (Basket district). This is the oldest quarter in Marseille and filled with narrow alleyways winding up and down the slopes.
This area used to be a bad neighborhood but has now been transformed into more of an artisanal showcase filled with galleries, street art murals, and specialty shops. We found a weaved basket store on Rue du Panier in the Panier district which we thought was kind of funny.
We also walked by the Vieille Charité (Old Charity Center) which has now been made into a collection of museums. Its baroque architecture dates back to between 1671 and 1749.
Le Panier’s story actually begins in 600 BCE when Greek sailors founded Marseille. The name panier (or basket) comes from what was a 17th century hotel or inn called Le Logis du Panier and served as a meeting point for sailors.
On our arrival with just a day we didn’t have much time to do more but were happy to stroll this interesting area.
More about the Intercontinental Hôtel Dieu
An old hospital with its foundation going back to 1593 it housed patients right up until 1993 and closed its doors in 2006. It opened as the Intercontinental Hotel in 2013 and is just beautiful.
The remains of a 12th century chapel are buried beneath the garden, and you can still see remnants of the mosaics from Roman times in the lobby area.
Marseille post-cruise stay
After the cruise we returned to Marseille for a couple of days, this time opting to stay right in the Old Port area at the Grand Hôtel Beauvau Marseille Vieux-Port where we had views facing the harbor. It was a bustling area, and we were glad the renovated (well still under renovation on our floor at the time) hotel had soundproof windows to shut out the noise.
The rooms were older and smaller but still had the creature comforts we needed and the bathroom was nicely renovated and modern with L’Occitane amenities.
It would do for the two nights we were here and we didn’t intend to spend a lot of time in the room anyway. All the same, its vintage décor was a contrast from the Intercontinental which was modern and new.
Notre-Dame de la Garde
The best way to visit this hilltop basilica is to take the historic Tourist Train. You may laugh when you see it, but it does a nice scenic route and drops you off right at the entrance to the stairs. Whereas the other tourist busses drop you further down the hill.
The Tourist Train has been running in Marseille for over 40 years. It’s actually pretty amazing that this historic train can make it up the steep slopes of the city to the basilica with a load of tourists packed on it.
The views from the basilica are stunning.
And be sure to check out the nautical ships hanging from the ceiling and all the nautical themed decorations in the basilica. Many were donated by sailors and fishers.
There is no doubt about the nautical emphasis throughout the basilica. The ornate ceiling was also amazing, look up!
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde dates to the mid-1800s and was built in a Romano-Byzantine style. In 1870 a giant gilded statue of the Virgin Mary was placed on top.
Cathédrale de la Major
Located on the other side of town in the Panier district the Neo-Byzantine Cathedral Major of Marseille is equally impressive if not more so. It has a beautiful black and white striped façade and inside you can also see rose-colored marble blocks alternating with white.
It’s massive inside and the more you look the more you see. Take some time to sit down and enjoy the intricate artwork throughout.
There are many beautiful (and many modern) decorations including what looked like silver metallic angels as well as a glass statue of the Virgin Mary.
La Major is actually the only cathedral built in the 19th century. At the time, no cathedral had been built for 200 years! The first stone was laid September 26, 1852, by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (Napoleon III and nephew of Napoleon I)! The cathedral is large enough to welcome 3,000 parishioners. It has been classified as a historic monument as of 1906.
Parc National des Calanques
Right in front of the Grand Beauvau Hotel is the boat dock where you can get the ferries or the tour boats to go out and cruise the area of the Calanques.
They also go to the famous fort, the Château d’If where the Count of Monte Cristo was held and presumably escaped. You can see the hole that was dug and is part of the legend.
While we were able to do the cruise to view the Park of the Calanques which did pass by the island-fortress, unfortunately the weather turned on us, and we didn’t risk taking a second cruise out to actually land and explore the Château d’If which was another cruise-tour that was offered there.
It was deceiving as even on our Parc National des Calanques cruise we headed out to sunny skies and smooth seas only to run into some rocking and rolling in what looked like 10-foot seas.
As we looked around, we started to see green complexions and then it started. First with the kids throwing up on their moms, and then the adults holding bags. The poor ship’s mate made the rounds taking out a roll of paper towels and plastic bags from her pockets. I guess she had seen this before. We were all fine, except for the smell and fortunately I had a perfume sample vial that we sprayed on our top lips.
Even as we tried to keep our distance from the projectiles the crew were trying to place people to lie down on seats. As divers we know ‘watch the horizon’ is the best way to avoid sea sickness but the tourists here didn’t want to hear anything and continued to lie down on the floor (about the worst place to be actually). The moaning and vomiting continued.
I don’t expect they have this part clearly outlined in the job description for the ships hand (or maybe they do, she did have that roll of plastic bags at the ready) but all the same we could not help but leave a generous tip.
The scenery of the Calanques was quite beautiful with the limestone cliffs and hidden coves and caves. They say there is good (but cold!) diving here with some special nudibranchs that are found only here.
This was also the location where the famous Jacques Cousteau tested out his Aqua-Lung scuba system that is now used in scuba everywhere.
Should we make it back we would definitely try again to see the Château d’If as it does look spectacular.
Citi Bus Hop-On Hop-Off
We ended up also doing the hop-on hop-off tour thinking this might be a good way to listen to a guided tour of the city as we’ve done many times before.
Unfortunately, in Marseille, the city bus tour no longer includes the headphones or the narrative. You must download their app which doesn’t work all that well and while they did offer Wi-Fi on the bus, it wasn’t great. If you do opt for this, be sure to bring your own earbuds.
Fort Saint-Jean
This picturesque fortress is a wonderful spot to walk along the ramparts and get some great views of the Cathedral, the Basilica, and the Old Port.
While the various buildings are now museums it does not cost anything (just a bag inspection) to enter and walk around to get the views. It has served as far back as the 12th century.
If you have time (unfortunately, we didn’t), you can visit the museum where they have an immersive experience featuring a full-scale replica of the Cosquer Cave, a prehistoric underwater cave discovered in the Calanques with paintings dating back over 30,000 years.
On the other side of the harbor there is the Palais Longchamp (now a convention center) with beautiful gardens.
Musée du Savon de Marseille
This small soap museum had a surprisingly large collection of ancient soap making tools and machines with explanations.
We were happy we took part in the soap making exhibition which is held on the hour starting at 11am. You get to leave with the soap you made and stamped yourself. A nice souvenir!
More about Grand Hôtel Beauvau
Built in 1782 and inaugurated in 1816, the Grand Hôtel Beauvau has the perfect location right at the end of the Old Port.
They were doing some renovations on the floor where we were located but it didn’t really interfere with our stay except that we had to walk over sheets laid down to protect the floors as they were painting. Our A/C started making a squeaking sound the first night but miraculously stopped at 1am.
While the hotel was clearly more tired and in need of love than the beautiful Hôtel Dieu Intercontinental it worked just fine for a couple of nights and was conveniently located right across the street from the metro (although we didn’t use it) and the boat launches. It was about a 10-minute walk from the tourist train and maybe 15 from the hop-on hop-off ticket office.
We didn’t take advantage of the restaurant as there were plenty of restaurants and creperies along the waterfront just steps away from the hotel.
Marseille specialty dishes
While we had hoped to try the traditional bouillabaisse in Marseille, we saw it served and it had basically all manner of fish heads, whole crabs and other crustaceans in the mix. I’m sure it must taste good (maybe even better if you close your eyes). Perhaps like the Sardinian cheese we were also quite keen to avoid that is served with live maggots in it! Yuk!
Another traditional dish that we tried is the chickpea-based fritter called, panisses. This was quite good.
Conclusion
Overall, we were pleasantly surprised by Marseille and would not hesitate to revisit and to explore further afield. The Calanques National Park looked incredibly scenic from our tour boat, and we wouldn’t mind coming back and getting a closer look. Perhaps even take a dip or maybe scuba dive in the clear cool water.
The area around Marseille’s Old Port looked a bit tough at night. I kept one hand on my purse and another on my mom as we navigated back to the hotel in the evenings. One must stay alert just like in many other large cities. For the most part, everyone was just out for a good time, and you should just enjoy the frenetic buzz of the city.
And so, it was time to call an end to our Marseille vacation as we took the taxi towards the Marseille-Saint-Charles train station to catch our high-speed train into Paris CDG airport.
2 replies on “A Pre- and Post-Cruise Stay in Marseille, France”
Very interesting and informative- thank you!
Thank you Leida! Glad you liked it.