Aix-en-Provence
Aix established one of France's first public museums here, on the site of a former Hospitallers' priory, in 1838. Nearly 200 years of acquisitions …
Must-see attractions in Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
It might lack the scale and ambition of some of Provence's better-known Roman monuments, but for a glimpse into everyday life in Gaul, this ancient town…
Pays d’Aix
East of Aix rises Cézanne’s favourite haunt, the magnificent silvery ridge of Montagne Ste-Victoire, its dry slopes carpeted in garrigue (scented scrub),…
Bouches-du-Rhône
This monastery turned asylum is famous for one of its former residents – the ever-volatile Vincent van Gogh, who admitted himself in 1889. Safe within the…
Les Calanques
The calanques (coves) of the coast surrounding Marseille became France's 10th national park in 2012, preserving their astonishing beauty and harbouring an…
Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde
Marseille
Occupying Marseille’s highest point, La Garde (154m), this opulent 19th-century Romano-Byzantine basilica is Marseille's most-visited icon. Built on the…
Marseille
'The Basket' is Marseille's oldest quarter – site of the original Greek settlement and nicknamed for its steep streets and buildings. Its close, village…
Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée
Marseille
The icon of modern Marseille, this stunning museum explores the history, culture and civilisation of the Mediterranean region through anthropological…
Bouches-du-Rhône
The mighty walls of the 15th-century Château de Tarascon rise straight out of the River Rhône, in the relaxed village of the same name. A beauty of a…
Aix-en-Provence
The Caumont is a stellar art space housed inside the Mazarin quarter’s grandest 18th-century hôtel particulier (mansion). While there are three quality…
Pays d’Aix
The vine-clad slopes, woods and and olive groves of this Provençal estate are graced by harmonious examples of art and architecture, including work by…
Marseille
Ships have docked for millennia at Marseille’s birthplace, the vibrant Vieux Port. The main commercial docks were transferred to the Joliette area in the…
Marseille
In the heart of Marseille's Le Panier quarter is this grand and gorgeous almshouse, built by Pierre Puget (1620–94), an architect and sculptor born just a…
Bouches-du-Rhône
Inside the chilly galleries of a former limestone quarry, this peculiar but intriguing attraction is like an underground audiovisual art gallery, with…
Aix-en-Provence
Eight kilometres southwest of Aix is the town of Les Milles, where this imposing factory produced bricks and tiles from 1882 until 31 August 1939, when it…
Cassis
The 'Road of Crests' offers heart-stopping panoramas as it traverses the 13 winding kilometres of stunning coastal and upland scenery between Cassis and…
Aix-en-Provence
Built in 1860 as the centrepiece to the place de la Rotonde, the roundabout at the western edge of Cours Mireabeau, this magnificent fountain is adorned…
Cassis
Looming, rock-pitted and scrubby Cap Canaille (394m) forms the natural southern border to Cassis' harbour. From the top, captivating views unfold across…
Les Calanques
To the east of the Parc National des Calanques, the stone-sculptured coast brings you to three remote calanques: En-Vau, Port-Pin and Port-Miou. A steep…
Les Calanques
Rocky, pine-covered Cap Morgiou plunges to meet the Med at the eponymous Calanque de Morgiou – a pretty little port bobbing with fishing boats and sheer…
Aix-en-Provence
No streetscape better epitomises Provence’s most graceful city than this 440m-long, fountain-studded street, sprinkled with Renaissance hôtels…
Bouches-du-Rhône
Crowning the village of Les Baux, these dramatic, maze-like ruins date from the 10th century. The clifftop castle was largely destroyed in 1633, during…
Aix-en-Provence
One of Aix' great charms is its historical centre: ramble through it, drinking in divine streetscapes as you choose which historical, cultural or culinary…
Marseille
This intriguing 15,000-sq-metre museum traces the story of 'France's Oldest City' from prehistory (the paintings of the Cosquer Cave) to the present day,…
Pays d’Aix
Wine has been grown here for longer than history records, and this vineyard still produces 80% of the wine bearing the Palette AOC. Vines surrounding the…
Aix-en-Provence
This gallery, 4km west of the city, was designed by Hungarian optical-art innovator Victor Vasarely (1906–97). An architectural masterpiece, it has 16…
Pays d’Aix
Make an appointment at this organic estate to taste esteemed reds and rosés, made from grenache, syrah and cinsault (the 2016 rose is apparently…
Pays d’Aix
The arches of the three-tiered Aqueduc de Roquefavour reach 83m in height, making it the world’s largest stone aqueduct. Three hundred and seventy-five…
Marseille
Commanding access to Marseille's Vieux Port, this photogenic island-fortress was immortalised in Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 classic The Count of Monte Cristo…
Marseille
Set in the lavish, colonnaded Palais de Longchamp, Marseille’s oldest museum owes its existence to an 1801 decree of pre-Napoleonic France's short-lived…
Marseille
Marseille's most vibrant bohemian quarter centres on Cours Julien, an elongated concrete square shaded by palm trees. It’s lined with great bars, cafes…
Marseille
Perched high above the southern side of the Vieux Port are the six immaculately grassed hectares of the Jardin du Pharo, the grounds of the Palais du…
Marseille
This teeny tiny art gallery, located along a narrow sloping road in the historic neighbourhood of Le Panier, offers a platform to emerging artists and a…
Marseille
To the west of the Vieux Port lies Abbaye St-Victor, the birthplace of Christianity in Marseille, built on a 3rd century BC necropolis. It's €2 to visit…
Les Calanques
The largest calanque hit headlines in 1991 when diver Henri Cosquer from Cassis swam through a 150m-long passage 36m underwater and into a cave, only to…
Marseille
The old maritime neighbourhood of La Joliette, moribund since the decline of the 19th-century docks, has been revitalised by bars, shops and restaurants…
Marseille
Visionary modernist architect Le Corbusier redefined urban living in 1952 with the completion of this vertical 337-apartment tower, popularly known as La…
Cathédrale de Marseille Notre Dame de la Major
Marseille
Standing guard between the old and new ports is the striking 19th-century Cathédrale de la Major. After its foundation stone was laid by Napoleon III in…
Marseille
Around nine kilometres west of Marseille lie the dyke-linked limestone islands of Ratonneau and Pomègues, known jointly as the the Îles du Frioul…
Marseille
Donated to the city by the sculptor Jules Cantini on his death in 1916, this 17th-century mansion-turned-museum conceals some superb art behind its…
