marseille travel guide - wikitravel

marseille travel guide - wikitravel plunge forward! marseille from wikitravel europe : western europe : france : provence-alpes-côte d'azur : marseille jump to: navigation, search contents understand [+] get in by plane by train by bus by car by boat [+] get around by bus, tramway, subway by boat by car [+] see outside of town do learn [+] eat la bouillabaisse de marseille budget splurge drink [+] sleep budget mid-range splurge contact stay safe cope get out marseille (latin: massilia) [1] is the second most populated city of france, (third urban area), the biggest mediterranean port and the economic center of the provence-alpes-côte d'azur region. marseille old harbour, by albert lee [edit] understand marseille has a complicated history. founded by the phoenicians in 600 b.c. it is one of the oldest cities in europe. the town is a far cry from the cézanne paintings and provençal clichés of sleepy villages, "pétanque" players and marcel pagnol novels. with around one million inhabitants, marseille is the third largest city in france in terms of population and the largest in terms of area. its population is a real melting pot of different cultures. a famous saying states that marseille is the first arabic city in the paris-dakar race, because it has a very large population of north african immigrants. it is also said that there are more comorian people in marseille than in comoros! indeed, the people of marseille have varying ethnic backgrounds, with a lot of italians and spanish having immigrated to the area after the second world war. marseille is perhaps not the kind of city you will fall in love with your first day there. it is not paris; there are few obvious "things to do" along the lines of the louvre museum or the champs-elysees. however, for people not afraid to discover a real place with real people (and not a tourist park like paris), marseille is the place. from colourful markets (like noailles market) that will make you feel like you are in africa, to the calanques (a natural area of big cliffs falling into the sea - calanque means fjord), from the panier area (the oldest place of the town and historically the place where newcomers installed) to the vieux-port (old harbor) and the corniche (a road along the sea) marseille has definitley a lot to offer. forget the canebière, forget the "savon de marseille" (marseille soap), forget the clichés, and just have a ride from l'estaque to les goudes. you will not forget it. [edit] get in [edit] by plane marseilles-provence international airport (iata: mrs) is located about thirty kilometers from marseilles. buses and taxis connect in less than 30 minutes. (shuttles every approximately 20 minutes). there are many domestic flights to marseilles from several areas nearby, corsica included. international flights are concentrated on morocco, algeria and tunisia, but the arrival of low cost airlines, connecting to several european cities in marseilles has made more places available from marseille. [edit] by train the main train station is marseille st. charles. marseille has tgv lines to paris (3 hours), nice (2 hours) and to brussels (5 hours). from barcelona, there is a connection to cerbère, from which there are regular trains to marseille; also a night train. [edit] by bus eurolines has many connections all over europe. from marseille there are at least direct connections to barcelona, prague and tangier. the bus station is next to the main train station, the st. charles station at rue honnorat. you get access through platform n in the train station. there is also a temporary office at platform n. there is also an eurolines office on the 3 allée léon gambetta; if you walk down the big stairs on the southside of the station, follow the road until you come to a squarelike intersection. the office is on your right hand. [edit] by car marseille is very well connected to most french cities through numerous highways. as always in france those highways are expensive but practical, comfortable and fast. marseille is around 8 hours from paris by car, 2 hours from nice, 1h30 from montpellier, 4 hours from toulouse and 3 hours from lyon. [edit] by boat marseille has a big harbour. there are direct ferry routes from marseille to ajaccio, bastia, porto torres, porto vecchio and propriano. there are several piers at the harbour, so it is advisable to check well in advance from which pier you are departing. [edit] get around [edit] by bus, tramway, subway the control of marseilles transport [ http://www.rtm.fr rtm ] which manages the network of public transport does not have good reputation among the marseillais, there exists a solid network of lines of bus (74 lines) and subway (2 lines). however the bus management is far from being optimal, and you will not be surprised to see arriving the advance or late buses! the subway makes it possible to traverse the essence of the city very quickly. there is one tram line which opened june 30, 2007 and a second line will open in the fall. the tickets of bus/métro can be bought in the cafes, at the subway stations, or in the bus; it is advised to take charts freedoms of 7.10€ (6 voyages) or 13€ (11 voyages), not sold in the buses. the number of transfers is unlimited (including the arriving/returning) within the one hour limit between the first boarding and the catch of the last transfer on all the network (it is necessary to perforate with each entry to the bus). caution! the subway closes at 21h except friday, saturday and sunday evenings (until 0h30). a network of bus at night is available. to note, the site of [ http://www.lepilote.com pilote ] which takes again all the schedules of the buses, tram and subway of the rtm but are more functional and readable that the official site of the latter. moreover this site takes again the schedules of the majority of transport in common runs of the agglomeration (tram, bus interurban, trains regional) and makes it possible to make research of routes on marseilles and the communes of the neighborhoods. [edit] by boat a ferry boat allows to cross the old harbour (vieux port). it is a tourist attraction in itself known as the shortest commercial boat ride in europe. [edit] by car people are notorious for crazy driving. avoid taking your car if you can. due to the new tramway, satellite navigational systems such as the tom tom are likely to be out of date and dangerous if followed. for instance, following a tom tom in the centre of marseille could take you across newly installed pedestrian areas or tram lines. the one-way system has also completely changed. [edit] see le vieux port (old harbour): watching fishermen selling their stock by auction is a must. arriving to marseille in the vieux-port on a summer evening is something you will never forget... you can watch this show by going to frioul islands or chateau d'if and going back late in the afternoon. there is also a nice view on the harbor from the palais du pharo (pharo casttle). the famous canebière avenue go straight down the harbor. however the canebière is not that intersting despite its reputation. notre dame de la garde: the big church which overlooks the city. old fishermen used to have their boats blessed in this church. you can still see many boat models hanging around in the church. from there it is one of the nicest view of the city. musée des docks romains (archéologie-graffiti-lapidaire) (the old harbour from phoenician and roman times), place vivaux, 13002 marseille. tel: 04 91 91 24 62 musée d'archéologie méditerranéenne (archéologie-graffiti-lapidaire), centre de la vieille charité, 2 rue de la charité, 13002 marseille. tel: 04 91 14 58 59, fax : 04 91 14 58 76 le cours julien and la plaine: a hangout area with bookstores, cafés, fountains, and a playground for the small ones (metro stop cours julien/notre dame du mont). it is the trendy area of marseille. la plaine is the local name for place jean jaurès close to cours julien. every thursday and saturday morning the plaine market is the place to shop. if you are there early enough you can make very good deals, even if what you'll find there is sometimes "tombe du camion" (fallen off the truck) as one says in marseille. la corniche: a walkway and a road by the sea that provides lovely views of the sea, the chateau d'if to the south, and les calanques to the east. la place castellane: a roundabout with a grand fountain/column/sculpture in the center, with excellent cinemas and cafés surrounding. there is another place called la castellane : it is a poor suburb of marseille where zinedine zidane the famous football player was born. be careful not to confuse the two places. boulevard longchamp and palais longchamp (longchamp casttle and avenue). from the réformé church (up the canebière) you can follow the boulevard longchamp where you can see nice example of old upper-class buildings to arrive to palais longchamp.the palais is worth visiting though it wont take you long. you can visit the "musee des beaux arts" as well as the natural history museum. parc borély (borely park). a large and great park, 300 meters from the sea. after a siesta in the park go have a drink at escale borely (a place with numerous restaurants and bars on the beach) to see the sunset. le panier. panier means basket in french, but in marseille it is the name of the oldest area of the town. in the middle of this area there is the vielle charité, a wonderful old monument, now hosting museums and exhibitions. let's be honest, beaches from marseille are not always great. depending on the weather, they can be polluted. however the small beaches between la pointe rouge harbor and la madrague harbor are cleaner, nicer and usually slightly less crowded. la cite radieuse: "unite d'habitation" designed by le corbusier. the building is called "la maison du fada" (the house of the foolish) by indegenous people. the building contains a shopping street, a church, a children's school and housings. you can get to the roof and enjoy the breathtaking view of marseille between hills and sea. stade velodrome: the stadium where the local football team "olympique de marseille" plays. football matches are one of the highlights of marseilles life. whilst l'om have fallen on rather lean times the former champions of europe are the biggest football team in france. the atmosphere at the stadium is fantastic and whilst visitors are unlikely to get tickets for the popular virage nord or sud seats in the tribune ganay offer an excellent view and a chance to soak up the atmosphere. best games involve teams with some travelling support such as st ettienne, lens or the grand-daddy match of them all against the evil paris st germain. tickers can be bought (ideally several days before the game) either on-line or from the l'om shop at the vieux port. noailles: the area around the noailles sub-way station is one of the citys most interesting. lined with arabic and indo-chinesse shops some of the streets could be part of a bazzaar in algeria. a fascinating area. [edit] outside of town the château d'if (if castle): this small island off the city was a penal colony. it is famous from the novel of alexandre dumas, the comte de monte-cristo. tourist boats leave from the old harbour. the calanques. wonderful fjords in the south of marseille near cassis. from marseille these are best accessed from the university campus at luminy which can be reached by bus #21 departing from rond point du prado opposite the stade velodrome. the 'fjords' are amazing with wonderful blue sea and spectacular lime stone cliffs. the walk along the coast from cassis to marseille is spectacular, it can be done in one day at a fast pace. the trail (gr) is clearly marked (red and white strips). from luminy, you can turn left to cassis or right to callelongue (a bus connects you to bus #19, which takes you back to place castellane in the center). [edit] do there are so many historic places to see and you can see why they are so important to france check it out at google.com!!! [edit] learn marseille is an important university center. the campus at luminy, on the edge of the callanques is set in spectacular scenery from where the road heads along the coast to casis. [edit] eat [edit] la bouillabaisse de marseille la bouillabaisse is an excellent fish-based soup served with la rouille (a garlic-saffron sauce) and bread similar to crostini. la bouillabaisse cannot be enjoyed at any budgetary level. if you are invited to the home of someone making bouillabaisse, then you are in the clear. never eat cheap bouillabaisse at a resto unless it's not called bouillabaisse; only eat it out if you have to reserve in advance. bouillabaisse is a meal...first the soup, the then fish. [edit] budget there are lots of kebab restaurants along the cannebiere. bar de l'hotel de ville: on the "vieux port" on the left of the city hall. a very popular spot for the long lunch break marseille's worker are use to take. friendly service, good food and wine at a reasonable price. no english spoken whatsoever. four des navettes: next to the st victor fort, this bakery is famous for its "navette" dry biscuit which recipe has been kept secret for almost a century. this is one of marseille's culinary speciality..not to miss. [edit] splurge [edit] drink le petit nice: on la plaine next to the court julien, nice little cafe. les 13 coins: in "le panier", a nice terasse for a nice atmosphere [edit] sleep [edit] budget la cigale et la fourmi is calmly situated 30 minutes by public transport from the city and 30 minutes walk from the beach. the old house in the 'village de mazargue', a district south of marseille, has been renovated and turned into a backpackers hostel. every room has kitchen and a bathroom. free wifi and internet acces are at your disposal, complimentary coffee is served in the morning (no breakfast, but bakery nearby), 6 bikes are available for loan and there is no curfew/lockout. dormitory beds are 15 € per night, rooms from 35 €. tel.: +33 491 400 512, fax: +33 491 400 510, info@cigale-fourmi.com the hostel bois-luzy is not very expensive, but also not very nice. the hostel lacks even hot water, and is not very close to the city centre. it is also run by a cranky old man who seems intent on making sure nobody has any fun. [edit] mid-range [edit] splurge [edit] contact le vieux port has free wireless access, available from many of the bars and restaurants, and in some places in the street (although there are not many places to sit). the essid to use is "marseille san fils" and the network is not encrypted. when you first connect, your browser will take you to a web page about the service in french -- simply click on "cliquez ici" ("click here") on that page to use the network freely. [edit] stay safe parts of marseille reputation is true. despite being one of the most beautiful cities in europe it is also one of the most dangerous for muggings and other petty theft. large numbers of unemployed children of north african immigrants make some 'quartiers' of the city a virtual no-go area. tourists are likely to be targetted by muggers particularly at night and in remote areas (such as the two forts guarding the enterance to the vieux port). don't go out at night alone and don't carry too much cash or valuables. various ne'er do wells also frequent the buses and metro, particularly during the evenings -- however they usually don't cause too many problems. [edit] cope [edit] get out this article is an outline and needs more content. it has a template, but there is not enough information present. please plunge forward and help it grow! retrieved from "http://wikitravel.org/en/marseille" category: outline articles views article discussion edit history personal tools my page my talk  preferences my watchlist my contributions log in / create account navigation main page project home today's log recent changes random page help wikitravel shared wikitravel extra feeds travel news and trivia search   toolbox what links here related changes upload file special pages printable version permanent link in other languages de: marseille es: marseille fr: marseille hu: marseille ja: マルセイユ nl: marseille pl: marsylia pt: marselha ro: marsilia other sites wikipedia open directory world66 this page was last edited at 14:07, on 11 october 2007 by anonymous user(s) of wikitravel. based on work by josh holloway, david, christophe bernard and m. hogue, anonymous user(s) of wikitravel and others. content is available under

marseille travel guide - wikitravel  Précédent 767  Précédent 766  Précédent 765  Précédent 764  Précédent 763  Précédent 762  Précédent 761  Précédent 760  Précédent 759  Précédent 758  Précédent 757  Précédent 756  Précédent 755  Précédent 754  Précédent 753  Précédent 752  Précédent 751  Précédent 750  Précédent 749  Précédent 748  Précédent 747  Précédent 746  Précédent 745  Précédent 744  Précédent 743  Précédent 742  Précédent 741  Précédent 740  Précédent 739  Précédent 738  Suivant 769  Suivant 770  Suivant 771  Suivant 772  Suivant 773  Suivant 774  Suivant 775  Suivant 776  Suivant 777  Suivant 778  Suivant 779  Suivant 780  Suivant 781  Suivant 782  Suivant 783  Suivant 784  Suivant 785  Suivant 786  Suivant 787  Suivant 788  Suivant 789  Suivant 790  Suivant 791  Suivant 792  Suivant 793  Suivant 794  Suivant 795  Suivant 796  Suivant 797  Suivant 798