Things to do in Marseille

Nature · East of the city, within the municipal boundary

A national park of white limestone inlets, cliffs and turquoise water running from the 9th arrondissement to Cassis.

Local tip: Sormiou and Morgiou are reachable by bus and then on foot. En-Vau is the most beautiful and the hardest to get to. In summer access is restricted on high fire-risk days and some calanques require a free booked permit — check the day before, not on the morning.

Neighborhood · North of the Vieux-Port

The oldest quarter in France, a hill of narrow stepped streets above the harbour, now full of small studios and street art.

Local tip: The Vieille Charité, a seventeenth-century almshouse with an extraordinary domed chapel, sits in the middle of it and holds two museums. Most visitors walk past the entrance without going in.

Culture · At the harbour mouth

A museum of Mediterranean civilisations in a black concrete lattice cube, linked by a high footbridge to a seventeenth-century fort.

Local tip: The rooftop and the bridge between the buildings are free to walk without a ticket, and the view back over the harbour at sunset is the best in the city. The fort's gardens are free too.

Landmark · On the hill above the city

The basilica locals call La Bonne Mère, on the highest point in the city, visible from almost everywhere and covered inside with sailors' votive offerings.

Local tip: Walk up rather than taking the bus if you can — the route through the 6th and 7th arrondissements is the best way to understand the city's shape. The ex-voto models of ships hanging in the nave are the real reason to go inside.

Food · Behind the Canebière

The city's North African and Comorian market quarter — spices, produce, and the best and cheapest food in Marseille.

Local tip: This is where the city actually shops. Go in the morning for the market, and eat at the small Tunisian and Comorian places on the surrounding streets rather than anywhere on the Vieux-Port, where you are paying for the water view.

Nature · The far southern tip of the city

A fishing hamlet at the literal end of the road, where the city stops and the calanques begin.

Local tip: Take the bus to the terminus at Callelongue and walk. Almost nobody who does not live in Marseille realises that a city bus takes you to a point where there is no more city — just white rock, sea and a coastal path running east for hours.