What to See in Marseille

last edited May 7, 2020

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Overview

Districts

Tourist Sites and Areas

Cours Julien
A large, lively pedestrian esplanade with numerous shops, galleries, performance venues, bars, and restaurants along its edges or in the surrounding streets. It’s also a neighbourhood where street art is highly visible.

L'Estaque
This former fishing and working-class village, also a source of inspiration for famous painters, is now a residential and tourist spot. It features a marina, a beautiful beach, some lovely homes, and the house of the painter Cézanne.

Le Panier
Next to the Old Port, this traditionally working-class district with its sloping, narrow streets and colorful facades is now a tourist spot, featuring bars, restaurants, galleries, and artists' studios.

Les Goudes
A neighborhood and small port in Marseille, at the gateway to the Calanques. Its setting and natural environment remain truly remarkable.

Noailles
A lively and popular district in central Marseille, known for its daily Capucins market and numerous shops selling food, Oriental, and African products.

Saint-Ferréol Street
This is the main pedestrian and shopping street in central Marseille. It leads onto La Canebière.

Vallon des Auffes
With its bridge spanning the sea, its fisherman's houses, restaurants, and fishing boats, it's one of Marseille's charming "hidden" little ports. It's located between Plage des Catalans and Anse de Malmousque.

Old Port
For many, this is the "legend" of Marseille and one of its liveliest and most interesting districts. It’s also where the Canebière, Marseille’s most famous avenue, ends.

Monuments and Architectural Ensembles

Château d'If
In the heart of the Marseille roadstead, this small 16th-century fortress-prison on its islet is world-famous thanks to Alexandre Dumas' novel, "The Count of Monte Cristo". It is also one of the most visited sites in the Phocean city.

Unité d'Habitation
One of the best-known works by architect Le Corbusier. Locally nicknamed the "Maison du fada", it is a collective housing complex designed as a long block on stilts. Since 2013, its rooftop gymnasium has been converted into a contemporary art exhibition space.

Kennedy Corniche
This boulevard is a scenic route running along the Mediterranean for about 4 kilometres, from Plage des Catalans to the Prado beaches. It offers a beautiful panorama of the harbour and islands and can be enjoyed by car, on foot, or by bike.

Marseille Docks
In the La Joliette district, this is a series of former warehouses that have been rehabilitated and transformed into offices and a shopping area.

Longchamp Palace
This magnificent building, instantly recognisable by its Second Empire style, houses a museum in each wing: on one side, the natural history museum, and on the other, the Museum of Fine Arts (paintings, sculptures, and drawings from the 16th to the 19th century). A landscaped public garden, along with Longchamp Park, a botanical garden, and a "zoo" of animal sculptures, add to the site's appeal.

Pharo Palace
Originally intended as an imperial residence under Napoleon III, this is now a grand conference and performance venue, as well as a place to stroll with its vast garden (also called Émile Duclaux Garden), which also offers a fine view of the Old Port.

Ancient Port of Marseille
Incorporated into the Marseille History Museum, these are the remains of the Greek city and port, along with some other Roman traces of the settlement.

Porte d'Aix
Actually a triumphal arch from the early 19th century standing in the middle of a square (Place Jules Guesde), where the city’s ramparts and the road to Aix-en-Provence once stood (hence the name).

Religious Buildings

Saint-Victor Abbey
A fortified medieval church. Its chapels, crypt, catacombs, and numerous ancient sarcophagi are well worth a visit.

Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica
Perched on its hill overlooking Marseille and its harbour, the "Good Mother" as it’s known here is one of the city’s symbols and a must-see for any visit. A small museum dating from 2013 showcases the building’s 800-year history.

La Major Cathedral
This imposing cathedral, built in the mid-19th century in the Neo-Byzantine style, dominates the urban landscape near the Old Port.

Museums

Among the thirty or so museums in the city:

MAC
The acronym for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Marseille. It is dedicated to contemporary art from the 1960s to the present day and complements the Musée Cantini.

MuCEM
Or Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations. This museum at the entrance to the Old Port has become the city's "flagship museum", also recognisable by its architecture. Opened in 2013, it features internationally acclaimed collections in anthropology, archaeology, history, and the arts.

MuSaMa
This is the Marseille soap museum, showcasing its artisanal production (including hands-on visitor experiences). It opened in 2018.

Cantini Museum
It houses collections of modern and contemporary art, primarily from the first half of the 20th century up to the 1960s-70s.

Roman Docks Museum
These are the remains of Roman commercial warehouses, featuring large jars in particular. The site is enriched by the results of archaeological and underwater excavations in the region, recounting the history of maritime trade at the time.

Grobet-Labadié Museum
The collections of a very wealthy Marseille family displayed in their 19th-century private mansion. Rich period interiors showcase furniture, silverware, tapestries, and various master paintings.

Marseille History Museum
The story of Marseille, from prehistory to today, presented through thirteen historical periods.

Museum of Provence Perspectives
Hundreds of works and paintings showcasing Marseille, Provençal, and Mediterranean artistic and cultural heritage.

La Vieille Charité
This former 17th-century hospice, arranged around a chapel, houses two museums: the Museum of Mediterranean Archaeology, primarily dedicated to Egyptian antiquities alongside other ancient Mediterranean civilizations, and the rich Museum of African, Oceanic, and Native American Arts.

Parks, Gardens, and Natural Spaces

Frioul Islands
Just off the coast of Marseille, 3 kilometres away, these are four small islands loved by locals and tourists for their natural beauty. Of all of them, If Island is the most famous thanks to its renowned Château d'If.

Parc national des Calanques, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

The Calanques
This stunning coastal area stretches over twenty kilometres from the south of Marseille to La Ciotat via Cassis. A must-visit for tourism, the calanques can be explored on foot or by boat. The location is also ideal for diving and climbing.

Borély Park
This very pretty park near the sea, associated with its 18th-century château, is one of the city’s most beloved. It also houses the Marseille Borély racecourse-golf course and, since 2013, the Museum of Decorative Arts, Ceramics, and Fashion.

Pastré Park
112 hectares of nature divided into two sections. A lower section designed as gardens around a nearly one-kilometre-long avenue, and a wilder upper section extending toward the hills and the Calanques. In the middle stands the Pastré Château, dating from the second half of the 19th century.

26th Centenary Park
Created for the city's 2,600th anniversary and inaugurated in 2001, it features four themed gardens, a 3,000 m² lake, and various amenities. You can still see the remains of the former Prado train station on which it was built.

Beaches of Marseille
With the Calanques (Morgiou, Sormiou...), the "seaside park" of Prado, and a few other beaches (Catalans, l'Estaque/Corbière...), the Phocean city offers plenty of spots to enjoy the sea. Depending on the location, beaches or coves may be sandy, pebbly, or rocky.

Prado Beaches
These are artificially developed beaches in the district of the same name during the 1970s. In total, 26 hectares and 3.5 kilometres of coastline enjoyed by everyone.