Honestly not too much. We stayed here for a five-day trip, stayed at a nice hotel opposite the Marina so lovely views. Upon arrival it felt as though from the airport to the centre was pretty quick, we took the Metro which was within 2 mins walk of our hotel. Literally, as we stepped onto the street from the Metro we were approached by people begging. We were told to be aware of the side alleyways in the evening, because it’s not the safest of cities. Our trip took place during the year of Marseille City of Culture 2013, so there were a lot of preparations being constructed in one of the main squares next to the marina. Restaurants were plentiful and you only had to walk one minute from the hotel and there were so many restaurants to choose from. I would say that at the time I found them quite expensive for what you got on a plate. I indulged frequently in French Nutella crepes, which were totally yummy and filling.
There didn’t seem to be an awful lot to do walking around the marina, visiting some shops, looking at different parts of the main city. We travelled a little bit off the beaten track one day on foot and arrived at a little pebble beach. Another day we visited the outlet shopping store.
We planned to visit a small area that had small mini waterfalls, which was a long metro ride away. Unfortunately on the day itself, rain poured down so we couldn’t visit as it would have been too slippery to scramble down wet rocks.
I felt five days was too long as we had pretty much run out of things to do by day three, I guess that’s what happens when you visit small cities. On the last two days, a US Navy ship arrived so the hotel and pretty much the whole of the marina was swarmed with the crew, this is obviously one reason why the restaurants around there were quite expensive as they draw in the tourists and naval crowd. Overall it’s nice to say that I’ve been there but don’t see myself visiting again as there isn’t enough of a draw of exciting things to see and do. I’ll let you judge for yourself from my gallery.
