Things to do in Marseille
The Vieux Port boasts iconic views of Notre-Dame de la Garde and access to the steep Panier with its Vieille Charité museums. Beyond the Cannebière, within Longchamp, is the sumptuous Musée Grobet-Labadie, while further south, past La Corniche, the MAC displays art from the 1960s onwards. You can catch a boat to the Chateau d'If, a 16th-century fortress, or towards Cassis for Les Calanques cliffs. Most museums are open Tue-Sun 10am-5pm/6pm.
Contemporary Art Museum (MAC)
Inspiring modern art
Set within a statue-studded garden near the Corniche, the MAC showcases major
French and international art from the 1960s onwards, including New Realist,
Fluxus, Arte Povera and Support Surface Art. You can admire the
installations without the crowds.
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Cost
€3; concessions €1.50
Opening Hours
Daily 10am-5pm
Address
69, Avenue de Haïfa, Marseille 13008
Telephone
+33 (0) 4 91 25 01 07
Transport
Metro to Rond-Point du Prado then bus 23 or 45 to Haïfa Marie-Louise
Website
Grobet-Labadié Museum
Eclectic art collection
Bequeathed to Marseille in 1919, the Grobet-Labadié Museum, in the Longchamp
area, is a sumptuous bourgeois town house. Its salons, bedrooms, boudoirs
and libraries contain treasures such as paintings by Fragonard and
Constable, 18th-century furniture, Renaissance etchings and Gobelin
tapestries.
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Cost
€2; concessions €1
Opening Hours
Tue-Sun 10am-5pm (11am-6pm Jun-Sep)
Address
boulevard Longchamp, Marseille 13001
Telephone
+33 (0) 4 91 62 21 82
La Vieille Charité Centre
17th-century museum complex
The Mediterranean Archaeological Museum and the Museum of African, Oceanic
and Native American Art occupy La Vieille Charité complex, a former
17th-century workhouse in Marseille's Panier district. Intrigues include a
display of shrunken heads and a domed Baroque chapel.
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Cost
€2; concessions €1
Opening Hours
Tue-Sun 10am-5pm (11am-6pm Jun-Sep)
Address
Centre de la Vieille Charité, 2 rue de la Charité, Marseille 13002
Telephone
+33 (0) 4 91 14 58 80
Chateau d'If
Mysterious 16th-century fortress
Just off Marseille's shoreline, the Château d'If was built under François I
as a military stronghold. You can take a boat from the Vieux Port to visit
the prison cells that inspired Alexandre Dumas' novel The Count of Monte
Cristo.
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Cost
€5; 18-25s €3.50; under 17s free; boat €15
Opening Hours
Boats leave regularly from mainland from 9am-4.15pm
Address
1, Quai de la Fraternité, Marseille 13001
Telephone
+33 (0) 4 91 59 02 30
Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica
Marseille's landmark church
The Romanesque-Byzantine-style Notre-Dame de la Garde is the symbol of
Marseille, lending its name to the surrounding quarters. Set on the highest
point of the city, it offers breathtaking panoramas. Admire Carpeaux's
exquisite Mater Dolorosa statue in the crypt.
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Cost
Free
Opening Hours
Apr-Oct daily 7am-7.15pm; Nov-Mar daily 7.30am-5.30pm
Address
Rue Fort-du-Sanctuaire, Marseille 13281
Telephone
+33 (0) 4 91 13 40 80
Les Calanques
White cliffs, paradisiacal beaches
Les Calanques are a 20km stretch of creeks whose dramatic cliffs shelter
idyllic beaches and exceptional flora and fauna. Discover them by boat from
the Vieux Port, or Sormiou and Morgiou Calanques can be reached by footpaths
from town.
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Cost
€25; concessions €18
Opening Hours
Every other day 9.30am (call for schedule); daily 2pm Apr-Nov
Address
Croisières Marseille Calanques, quai de la Fraternité, Marseille 13001
Telephone
+33 (0) 4 91 58 72 23
