In short
Marseille is France's oldest city and its least polished. It spreads over more than two hundred and forty square kilometres — ten times Paris — and reads through sharply contrasting districts.
The Vieux-Port is the centre. Le Panier, behind it, is the oldest quarter. Cours Julien and La Plaine hold the nightlife and the street art. Le Vallon des Auffes is a miniature enclosed fishing harbour. La Corniche runs along the sea towards the Prado beaches.
The Calanques, between Marseille and Cassis, are a national park: the city's major asset, twenty minutes from the centre.
Arriving and getting around
A shuttle links Marseille-Provence airport to Saint-Charles in twenty-five minutes. Saint-Charles station overlooks the centre: a monumental staircase drops down into the city.
The RTM network has two métro lines, three tram lines and buses. The Vieux-Port ferry boat, a local institution, crosses the harbour in minutes.
The Calanques are reached on foot from Luminy or Callelongue, or by boat from the Vieux-Port.
What it really costs
Marseille is markedly cheaper than Paris, Lyon or Nice for housing.
Fish is expensive on the Vieux-Port and reasonable in the neighbourhoods. A genuine bouillabaisse is expensive by construction — several whole rockfish — and a cheap bouillabaisse is not one.
When to come
May–June and September–October. Summer is hot, saturated, and access to the Calanques is restricted or closed on days of high fire risk — the decision comes the evening before.
The mistral blows for several days at a time, clears the sky and cools the air: it is a violent wind, not a breeze.
What nobody tells you
Booking is compulsory for the Sugiton calanque in high season, on a daily quota, and it is free. Without it, access is refused.
The city beaches are modest; the finest water is in the Calanques or on the Frioul islands, twenty minutes away by boat.
Some northern districts combine social difficulty with poor security. The centre, the southern districts and the coast do not share that profile, and the confusion between the two is constant in accounts of the city.