Exploring Marseille: From Le Vieux Port to La Panier on a Free Walking Tour

Marseille is the oldest city in France, and the country’s second-largest. A Greek colony and Roman city in its past, Marseille is surprisingly beautiful. History and culture collide with Mediterranean beauty and rustic charm. The city has had something of a PR problem in recent years, and with good reason. But is Marseille as unsafe as some say? Or is it just misunderstood? In order to find out a little more about the city, we decided to turn to the locals. I booked an English-language Exploring Marseille Old Town tour via the highly-recommended Marseille Free Walking Tours.

A free walking tour is the a perfect way to get an introduction to a city from those that know it best. And it was a great way to maximise the short time we had ashore.

We visited Marseille as part of our 2 week cruise on P&O Arvia. We also visited La Coruña, Palma De Mallorca, La Spezia, Barcelona and Cadiz. You can find similar P&O Mediterranean cruises here!

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Getting from the cruise port to the city

Marseille is a working port and therefore there’s a free port shuttle from the cruise port to the city centre for all passengers. Even if you were allowed to walk, our ship docked A LONG WAY from the cruise port gates. In fact it’s about 6km from Arvia to the gates. The cruise port entrance is at Place de la Joliette. When we returned, we showed our cruise passes to security at the gate with white iron bars, who directed us towards the shuttle buses. Place de la Joliette is about 20 minutes from the Old Port.

When you exit the cruise port, you immediately get a glimpse of one of Marseille’s stunning churches, the Cathédrale Basilique Sainte-Marie-Majeure. This is our first indication that the city is going to be full of surprises. It’s time to start exploring Marseille.

Our Marseille Free Walking Tour

Our tour is as 11am, starting at Le Vieux Port on Quai des Belges. The meeting point for our Marseille Walking Tour is a 20 minute walk from Place de la Joliette. Naturally, we take a less straightforward route via La Panier. You know us by now. Wait til you hear about our sprint across Barcelona. I keep myself amused before the tour starts by posing underneath the Norman Foster-designed mirror canopy.

This was the second free walking tour of our cruise! In our first week we took a fascinating tour of Palma with Alex of Mallorca Free Tours.

Our guide was Yam, a Brazilian who moved to Marseille six years ago and loved the city so much that he became passionate about sharing its stories with visitors. He interacted and kept everyone engaged, even pitching countries against each other in mini pop quizzes. The group was small enough to manage without looking like Yam was trying to herd cats. He used a radio mic which meant we could always hear his commentary.

This Marseille Walking tour covers the fascinating story behind the uncovering of ancient Greek ruins, the Parisian architecture of Republique Avenue, the shifting Hôtel de Cabre, the street art and culture of Le Panier and even a little time to visit the interior of Cathédrale Basilique Sainte-Marie-Majeure. The tour duration is a little over 2 hours, finishing at the Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (Google Pin here)

I felt that I understood the much-misunderstood city of Marseille much more at the end of this free walking tour. Yam didn’t shy away from informing us of the city’s shady past, its violence, poverty and mafia connections. But since 2013, and the award of European Capital of Culture, Marseille has significantly cleaned up its act.

My only suggestion would be to include suggestions of public toilets within the vicinity of the meeting point. A fellow tour customer actually helped us, and Mr Fletche dutifully went off for a tour of the city’s bathrooms before finding one that was functioning at Centre Commercial Centre Bourse (Google Pin here).

You can find a full list of Marseille’s public toilets here!

The Marseille Free Walking Tour is an excellent introduction to the city’s history, culture and politics. It’s the perfect way to truly appreciate the transformation that Marseille has undergone in the past 10 years.

As always with “free” walking tours, make sure you tip generously at the end! A good guide will gently encourage you to donate what you feel the tour may be worth, without putting on any pressure. “Free” tour guides are often freelance and tips could be their sole income – which means they often work harder to give you the best experience possible!

Time for Lunch

Before we set off to explore Marseille a little more, it’s time for lunch. We head back towards Le Vieux Port, Marseille’s vibrant harbour, steeped in history. It’s the birthplace of Marseille; the original landing spot of the Greek colonists. We’re more interested in sating our rumbling tummies and finding somewhere with a loo. There are plenty of cafes, bars and restaurants to choose from all promising delicious local dishes. Except we opt for an Italian, Le Tribeca da Mario. It turns out to be a great choice. The food is excellent, and it’s handy for to the next part of our day. We’re leaving walking behind, and catching the train.

Exploring Marseille independently

Both a way of getting around Marseille and a fun tour is Le Petit Train. The little blue and white land train departs from Quai du Port, and depending on the time of year you can choose from three different routes. Departures are every 20 minutes and it’s a great way to learn more about the sites and history of the city.

Le Petit Train to Notre Dame de la Garde

We purchase our tickets at the kiosk on the waterfront for Circuit 1 – The Notre Dame de la Garde Circuit. The current cost is €10 per adult and €5 for children. You can pre-book via their website but we have no problems walking up and getting tickets for the next departure. Our route takes us around Vieux Port and along the seaside boulevard La Corniche Kennedy, giving us another glimpse of a different side to Marseille. We peel off along away from the waterfront, winding our way up and up towards the magnificent Notre-Dame De La Garde.

From Le Vieux Port you can’t fail to spot “La Bonne Mere”. Built between 1853 and 1864, the basilica is in a prestigious location atop a hill, watching over the people of Marseille. The lower crypt with its arched vault is carved from the rock, and the upper church is decorated with mosaics. It’s all off Le Petit Train here; our ticket gives us a return trip back down to the city on the next train.

Ma Lee takes the opportunity to take in the views from a bench near the drop-off point. Mr Fletche, Pa Lee and I climb the stairway to the summit. The panoramic backdrop of the city is breathtaking, and it’s from here that we can see just how sprawling Marseille is. With ten minutes to spare til the next train, I take the opportunity to pop inside as the basilica is free to enter.

We queue up for the next departure, and get onto the next train. It takes a more direct route back to our starting point; the entire route including the stop at Notre Dame is around 1 hr 15 mins. It’s an excellent way to get to one of Marseille’s most impressive highlights, and worth it for those spectacular views. My only complaint would be that we couldn’t really hear any of the commentary; it would benefit from individual headsets to get the best out of the tour. Still, I enjoyed the journey, seeing the unexpected beauty of the beaches, the narrow streets climbing up to the highest point of the city and the driver’s ability to manoeuvre the train around what appeared to the tightest of corners.

We took a similar tourist train during our port stop in Ålesund during our first cruise – you can find out more about that trip here!

Le Panier

After seeing Ma and Pa Lee back to the ship, Mr Fletche and I stayed ashore for a little while to explore a little more of Le Panier. Le Panier is the oldest district in France’s oldest city, and is known for its colourful street art, quirky café bars and narrow cobblestone streets. There are a few steep hills to navigate but it’s worth the effort!

This was the neighbourhood that the ancient Greeks made their home. It also has a less salubrious history as the city’s red light district in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Now, it has been developed and gentrified, and is home to artists, designers and other creatives. It’s the perfect place to wander around and just get lost. There’s so much to see and it’s no wonder it’s considered something of an open-air gallery.

Look out for the soap shops – the production and sales of soap remains an important part of the local economy. There’s even a small soap museum (€2,5 including 100gr of soap!)

You can find lots of hints and tips on how to plan your perfect port day independently here!

Getting around Marseille

If you don’t mind a few hills, Marseille is a walkable city. If you have longer in the city than we had, and you’d like to explore Marseille beyond Le Panier and Le Vieux Port then its easy and cheap to get around using the metro, bus or tram. Single trips are €1,80 from a ticket kiosk/machine or €2,00 from the driver. A 10 trip card is €15 or a Group Card for 4 people is €4,90. As with most European transport systems, always remember to validate your ticket before you travel.

I’d definitely recommend getting Le Petit Train, or a taxi/Uber up to Notre Dame. The No 60 bus also drops off directly below the basilica’s steps; you can catch this from Fort St John or Vieux Port.

If you want to cross the Old Port quickly, there’s a ferry that runs back and forth. There are actually two ferries that share the crossing – a 130 year old ferry and a newer solar-powered ferry.

You can find all my thoughts on sailing on P&O Arvia in my detailed review here! I have also blogged separately about the drinking and dining options aboard.

Final Thoughts: One day in Marseille and our free Marseille walking tour

To be honest, I had few expectations of Marseille. Yet it surprised me in the best ways. It’s very walkable, very colourful and filled with great restaurants and shops. The tourist highlights can easily be seen in one day – as long as you’re prepared to get those steps in! A free Marseille walking tour is the perfect way to get a feel for the city.

Marseille is not perfect or pristine. It’s noisy and a little unkempt in places. Street art murals vie with scrawled tags for wall space. It may have a “fairytale castle on a hill” but Marseille is not about romance and beauty. It’s gritty, grimy, rebellious and a fascinating place to visit. There’s plenty of evidence of the improvements made to the city though as part of its award as European Capital of Culture in 2013. It has world-class museums, an elegant waterfront promenade and art installations throughout the city.

Is Marseille safe?

Despite it’s reputation, Marseille has no more violence or crime than any other city of its size. Savvy travellers should always keep their wits – as well as any valuables – about them in Marseille, but the same can be said of Paris, London, Amsterdam and our next cruise destination – Barcelona. There are a few areas to be avoided in the city centre at night – those close to the train station are notable, as is the Canebière, a charming shopping street by day but attracts the city’s homeless after nightfall. The Vieux Port and Le Panier areas are tourist hubs and are an ideal – and relatively safe – location if you are planning an evening visit.

After spending a day in Marseille – and hungry to discover more – I think this vibrant city is well worth a return visit. We head back to Arvia, ready to sail to our third country in three days. Next stop, Barcelona

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