Marseille - hols

razil

Booked some flights completely using avios and a free companion voucher to Marseille in the summer, fancy doing a bit of touring France and Italy, with wife and young son, maybe dip into Italy (Florence) via Genoa, anyone done this, any tips places to see?

Did Carcassonne last year and that area near the Pyrenees (Me Ma lives there) may dip into Spain if not Italy.

ThreadKiller

That's a long old drive isn't it, with a little 'un?

Thommo

Went down to Marseille with the Mrs a couple of years ago, around Marseille, Toulon and the island of Porquerolles, stayed at La Capte, pretty relaxing for a few days but we went out of season.

Mortimerician

Some lovely coastline around Liguria (Genoa) - the Cinque Terre or Santa Maria would be a nice spot for a visit. If you're going in August I'd nix Italy though: too hot and lots of businesses will be shut for some or all of it.

Lincsaddick

I love the Cote D'Azur from the camargue to Marseilles, along to Nice, Ventimiglia and then down the Italian Med coast, or turn left after the Italian frontier and 'do' Milan, Venice and the alpine lakes followed by Trieste and Croatia. The roads, hotels and campsites get very busy in the summer, especially August when Paris becomes a ghost town.
All in all, southern France/Northern Spain and the Basque lands along with Italy are amongst my favourite places on the planet that I have had the pleasure to visit so far.

The_President

Know the area well, my ex Brother-in-law lived in Marseille - Agree with Morts re Cinque Terre - absolutely stunning coastline. Wouldnt stay in Marseille much - its a s**hole, however, on way to Toulon is a stunning little coastal village called Cassis - a bit like St Tropez must have been like 40 years ago - highly recommend it !
Along the coast, there are the usual Cote D'Azur hotspots like Eze. But the real beautiful coastline is just over the border into Italy.

The_President

Oh, and by the way, if you do go the other way into Spain, Figueras is where Dali lived and they have a great Dali museum if you are into that sort of thing. Also, Ampurias is a Greek Ruin Town near L'Escala dated from a long time ago ! Also, of course Nou Camp tour if you get to Barca is a must.

razil

done Barca, interested in Basque region tho

The_President

Basque region from Marseille is a long way

lolwray

Marseille its self has some charm ...worth a trip to the chateau d if ,some good museums,le vieu port .Spent some time there when they were filming the french connection and the two ronnies "charley farley and piggy malone" ...worth a trip to d aix en provence

The_President

Aix is nice. Also Arles is a pretty Town with a Bull Ring (and home to The Gypsy Kings, believe it or not- yes, they were French).
One thing for Marseille is that its the home of Bouillabaisse. Then again, I found the Bouillabaisse from Cafe Rouge in Esher to be better than the one i had in Marseille.

The_President

Just checked, Ampurias dates from 550 BC - if you go there, - have dinner at Peretellada .

holyjo

I was pleased to win the Princes Trust - Young Achiever of the Year award in 95. I organised exchange trips for young people from Dagenham/Romford and the YP from the North side of Marseille - The really rough part. I remember visiting a housing estate with a translator to meet some of the lads aged 18-25. At first they were very suspicious of my motives but invited me back later that day where I took part in a five a side match in front of hundreds of people from the estate. At the end of the match they presented me with a Marseille shirt and took me out for the night. I did not pay a penny all night. We arranged three exchanges based around the football theme. When they visited London we went for a tour to the old Wembly stadium. I shall always remember one young kid running onto the pitch , kissing the centre circle and walking back to the group tears steaming down his cheeks. They saw Wembly as the home of football and were in awe to visit. I loved the Arab quarter and its people which although very tough was a place where I received the warmest of welcomes form a very generous group of people !
My favourite European City

kevtherev

went to Marseille some 30 yrs ago and was probs the roughest port ever.

ct_addick

After being there for the England v Tunisia world cup game in '98 I have no desire to ever step foot in Marseille again! Lucky to get out unscathed

PragueAddick

Raz...are you nuts? The Basque Country or Florence by road from Marseilles???

There is so much that is nice within 100kms of Marseille. Adding to what the others have said, I would mention Montpelier - the town the French vote as the best place to live in, and Sete and Agde on that stretch of coast. Sete is the home of wonderful oysters, while the coast between the two towns is one long 40km sandy beach. I loved it, was looking dreamily into estate agents windows within hours of arriving.

Don't waste your holiday sitting in a car, especially with a little one in the back, that's my advice.

Hastingsaddick

In 1988 me and a mate brought an old camper van and spent 5 months driving around Europe, as part of that trip we done some of the area you are asking about. From Antibes we drove along to Nice, Monacco and onto Italy. We visited Genoa and Rapallo (lovely place) then round the coast and onto Florence and Pisa, befor heading off south to some of the lakes and then Rome.

Hastingsaddick

ct_addick said:

After being there for the England v Tunisia world cup game in '98 I have no desire to ever step foot in Marseille again! Lucky to get out unscathed

A lad I know got a right good pasting in Marseille at the Tunisia game, still has the scars to show for his troubles....there was always going to be bother at that one.

Strasburger

You must get across to Arles it has some of the best Roman architecture outside of Rome and is a lovely friendly town to boot.
If you do make it that way you should also try for a day trip to Aigues-Mortes (take plenty of mosse spray) and get a boat tour into la-camargue one of my life time stand out trips.
If going to Italy I recommend stopping at Menton (I used to live their for a while) its the last place in France before Italy and has some great views and shopping.
Just accross the boarder into the Alps there is two very impressive mountain towns/villages one called Dolceacqua and further up the road Borgo di Apricale two highly impressive sites.

The_President

Only problem with Agde is that the Mistral wind can blow, and if it does, hold on to your hat and also get a pair of sunnies to keep the sand out.

JohnfromNorfolk

The_President said:

Know the area well, my ex Brother-in-law lived in Marseille - Agree with Morts re Cinque Terre - absolutely stunning coastline. Wouldnt stay in Marseille much - its a s**hole, however, on way to Toulon is a stunning little coastal village called Cassis - a bit like St Tropez must have been like 40 years ago - highly recommend it !
Along the coast, there are the usual Cote D'Azur hotspots like Eze. But the real beautiful coastline is just over the border into Italy.

Spent a couple of weeks in Cassis last year, great little place. two Good town beaches, brilliant drive over the hill via the highest cliffs in Europe. Very recomendable.