Marseille

Marseille is raw, real, and magnificent. France's second city and oldest settlement — founded by Greek traders as Massalia in 600 BC — has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade, with major cultural investments drawing a new generation of sophisticated travelers to its vibrant, multicultural streets. The Vieux-Port remains the beating heart of the city, where fishing boats still land their catch each morning at the Quai des Belges and the restaurants lining the waterfront serve bouillabaisse prepared according to strict local tradition — a rich saffron broth with scorpionfish, monkfish, and conger eel, served in the Marseillais way with rouille and croutons. The MuCEM (Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations), housed in a striking lattice-wrapped cube connected to the 17th-century Fort Saint-Jean by a vertiginous footbridge, has become one of France's most visited museums and an architectural landmark in its own right. Notre-Dame de la Garde, the basilica perched 154 meters above the city, offers a 360-degree panorama that stretches from the Calanques to the Frioul Islands — Marseillais call it 'la Bonne Mere' (the Good Mother) and consider it the spiritual guardian of the city. The Calanques, a national park stretching southeast from Marseille to Cassis, offer some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in the Mediterranean — dramatic limestone fjords plunging into impossibly turquoise water, accessible by boat or on foot along cliff-edge trails. The Panier, Marseille's oldest neighborhood, cascades down the hill behind the Vieux-Port in a tangle of narrow streets, street art, artisan workshops, and hidden squares. For dining beyond bouillabaisse, AM by Alexandre Mazzia (three Michelin stars) delivers one of the most creative and boundary-pushing tasting menus in France, while Le Petit Nice — perched on the corniche with views of the Frioul Islands — holds three stars for its extraordinary seafood cuisine. The city's North African, Armenian, and Comorian communities give Marseille a multicultural energy unique in France — the markets of Noailles, known locally as 'the belly of Marseille,' overflow with spices, olives, and ingredients from across the Mediterranean basin.

Highlights