has anyone been to marseille?

[hazlinh]

is it nice to go to? thinking of goingin July. Where are the best places/locations to stay and what activities are there to do there? going with dd (who will be 4) and mum (64)

hello again,
The whole area is lovely.
We never stayed more than a couple of days as we prefer to stay in small villages nearby, but you can stay for a week or two and do day trips.
We stayed at the sofitel vieux port which is very conveniently located on the waterfront near old fort.
There is a beach right next to it.
To make most of it, you need to rent a car to go to Cassis-Bandol which are smaller and lovely for seafood lunch, late afternoon ice cream/dinner on terrace. It's about 30mn drive.

Another favorite is the late afternoon expedition to aix en provence for the same + serious people watching and local delicacy shopping.
Same here, about 30 mn drive

The best spot around marseille is "les calanques" which is basically natural rocky beaches/swimming pools all allong the coast of cassis.
The drive is again about 30 mn ( defo more on way back because traffic). It's a nice walk down to the rocks with breathttaking views of the coastline and crystal clear water. Hope your mum is fit.( not marathon fit but no hip/knee joint pain hopefully)

What sort of pace/holiday do you want?
The problem is in this sort of thing, there won't be much entertainemennt for DD.

Hello again slim! fancy seeing you again.

thanks for the top tips! sounds nice. We will actually be going to London for a shopping trip and to attend a friend's wedding, so this will be like an "aside trip" to see a little bit more of europe while we're in the area, so to speak.lol
wasn't sure where to go in europe,plus me & mum have already been to most of the usual places in europe before, but saw a travel programme recently which featured marseille and it looked nice! and for some reason, we'd just never been.

am only planning to go for 4 days at the most...it'll be like a weekend thing, or a city break thing...and mostly for me & mum. not really for dd, although i hope she will absorb some of the culture.and she's never been to a european beach.

so, i guess i would stay at the sofitel near the waterfront? is that near to the town centre? will google it, but do u remember the rates?

oh, and what will the weather be like in july? will it be baking hot, or will dd need a thin sweater?
thanks!

Hi,
It will be hot hot hot, maybe a little cardigan for evenings on terrace if she falls asleep?
If I remember correctly price is around 300 euros but that was 4 years ago.
Have you considered Biarritz ( & Bayonne/Pampelona/Saint Jean De Luz) ?
Otherwise, no beach but gorgeous is Carcassone (hotel de la cite is fantastic) and you are bang in the middle of provence with lots of fortified villages/lavender fields & great food.

thanks for the suggestions.
will remember to pack a little cardigan then...
someone suggested taking a train to nice for the view. then i suddenly thought of taking the train to disneyland paris for a daytrip!!! do u think itd be worth it?

It's about 3.5-4 hours each way - train details here - personally I'd go to Nice instead!

return to Paris + day in disney will be exhausting.
(I'm doing just that on a stopover in Paris from singapore on this 24/12 and dreading it!!)

Train to nice + nice old market nice.
IMO, there's plenty to do 30-45mn from Marseille to bother going all th way to Nice.

You might as well stay in Nice/Cannes if you've never been.
Lots to do there too.
Day trips to Monaco(20mn), Grasse(flower/perfume distilleries) & St Paul De Vence (45mn), St Tropez(2hours) & The Porquerolles islands (2 hours)

hiya!
not going to bother with paris, been there a few times. and thats enuf for me lol.

ooooooh, there are so many options, am all dizzy now...
:0

Monaco and St Tropez sound amazing..am drooling just at the thought...