This adorable little blue train was such a cute little tourist attraction! When I read about it…read morewhile doing my Marseilles research I knew i had to ride it! I love a scenic tour of a new-to-me location. Then when I found out you can hop off at Notre-Dame de la Garde if you take route no 1? That was absolutely perfect, After buying your ticket at the Old Port (route 1 is 10 euros for adults rn), you board this train which comes every 20 minutes. More frequent in peak seasons, less frequent in off seasons. Once onboard, keep in mind you'll feel any elements if it's rainy or windy as it's open air. It's a nice trip though because it's not just a great scenic train but they do have commentary in several languages, including English y por supuesto Español. Views and facts, I'm a weirdo, but I love it. Everyone usually gets off to walk around at the Notre Dame stop and why wouldn't you?! They take you straight to the Basilica so you can walk up the stairs to the chapel & amazing views of Marseilles. Petit Train is a highly recommended must-do when in Marseilles!

This is a convenient way to get up to see the Bonne Mere in Marseille but not as good as the…read moretourist train in Nice. The recording is played over a speaker and they will play it in multiple languages depending on what people and you're a little car speak. They drive pretty quickly so there isn't really much opportunity for photos as you drive along. The only stop is at the church. they tell you the last train is in 20 minutes, but actually the trains continue coming. The visit felt rushed as we thought we'd miss the last train and have to walk down

During one of our cruise stops in France, I did not know where to start in terms of seeing this…read morecity in just one day. But luckily I found an awesome way to see Marseille. Contact: Book them early and you can visit their website. During the summer months, the Greeters fill up so please plan ahead. Cost: Donation only. Please be kind and tip your guide generously, these people put in lots of homework and heart into this job. Tour: Unique and each greeter will take you on their own tour. Our guide took us to the best chocolate store in Marseille, as a side note. And our tour was capped off by seeing the Notre Dame Cathedral. Our tour was a 4 hour walking tour, but the time sure flies. Bring good shoes, and make sure your party is fit for this kind of walk. Overall: I liked our tour guide alot and when compared to paid tours (Viator, boo!), I will pick the Greeters all over again.

From the owner: L'Association Marseille-Provence Greeters organise votre balade avec un Greeter…read more Le Greeter, c'est un marseillais bénévole qui se balade avec vous, dévoile ses coins secrets et fourmille de petites histoires sur l'énigmatique Marseille Provence. Les maîtres-mots sont invitation, convivialité, découverte, rencontre, échange.

My group of 3 did the rose excursion with Brian. I can't think of a more memorable way to celebrate…read moreProvence's bounty of good wine and food than indulge in this one-of-a-kind wine "lesson" (which, for us, was more of a boozy, let's-drink-and-laugh-and-celebrate-life excursion). Brian picked us up from Aix and drove us along a scenic route stretching along Mount Ste. Victoire. We arrived at a local winery where we sampled red, white, and rose wines. We walked amongst the vines, had a great time and eventually made it to a secluded park where we set up a picnic table and drank 2 bottles of rose, ate fresh baguettes from the market and nibbled on fresh strawberries and grapes. All this epicurean goodness while drenched in the golden, Provencale sun and surrounded by the very landscape that inspired Cezanne's paintings. Does it get any better? Only if you have great company to do it with (and I did!). I would relive this afternoon again in a heartbeat. Some quick tips: -This wonderful afternoon excursion was approximately 80 euros a person, which included all the bites, (lots of) wine, and transportation. -I highly recommend it to anyone traveling through Provence who is more comfortable speaking English (although our host was also fluent in French). -Our host was very knowledgeable and personable. If you are serious about tasting wine and learning about it, the Wine in Provence folks have your back. -Wine in Provence offers other great wine tastings, cooking classes and winery tours.

My wife and I are traveling Europe with another couple and stopped in Aix for a few days. We just…read morefinished "The Best of Aix" tour with Hilary and had a great time. She took us shopping in the market, olive oil tasting, to the cheese shop, the wine shop and back for a cooking class to pair a three course lunch we cooked with three wines. We made a quiche, fruit dessert and a little app and it was all delicious! I can't say enough about this tour. Hilary was incredibly bubbly and knowledgable. She was on a cheek kissing basis with everyone, even the cheese guy who scowled at the rest of the locals. I recommend this tour to anyone and everyone traveling in Aix!

We took a chance after reviewing many walking tours in many cities and booked this tour for our…read morevisit to Provence. Being American, we were not sure how easy communication would be but they made it very simple for us to register. No payment needed until the day of the tour. From the moment we met Mathilde, we were at easy. We had the most amazing tour of the famous Farmer's Market in Aix en Provence. It was everything we hoped for. We walked, we learned history from hundreds of years ago to the present, we ate wonderful food from vendors and shops and we drank amazing coffee and wine at shops that are at the height of their game. The tour was just long enough to see and do so much and still leave us time to have the rest of the day to revisit what we had seen and even see more of the city. They are excellent and experienced guides. Great English and very helpful in learning correct pronunciation of French. It was a terrific day and I highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting the area. Our tour was 9 AM to noon so it was not too early a start from our rental in Roussillon to Aix en Provence. The price is a great value for all that you get. It is very affordable and you can learn so much about other ideas and areas from them as well. Go for it if you are in Provence!

Cezanne would come up the quarries to paint and even lived in the quarries at one point. The…read morequarries is now a park which you can visit. We went in September 2015 and at the time tours were only offered in French but the Aix tourism office highly recommended this tour which was only 7 Euros. Parking was at Parking des 3 Bons Dieux, avenue Jean et Marcel Fontenaille and a bus along with tour guide accompany you up to the quarries. Our tour guide spoke perfect English so while the tour was only in French, he would help us out and give part of the tour in English. Our tour guide knew EVERYTHING about Cezanne so it was a great informative tour about why Cezanne is considered the father of modern art. Our guide walked us through the quarry and pointed out how different points of perspective were changed in his paintings....inspiring the Cubists. I think we got the most out of this tour because it was a small group so def worth the trip!

From the owner: Les carrières de Cézanne En direction du village du Tholonet, vers Sainte-Victoire, s'étend le…read moreplateau de Bibémus dont une partie a longtemps servi de carrières de pierre. Cézanne vient y peindre les réserves de la ville d'Aix, ses fondations. La texture de la roche lui donne une couleur ocre jaune lumineux et riche d'harmoniques. Cézanne ne pouvait être insensible au contraste des rochers aux formes géométriques, aux immenses falaises. La magie des carrières tient à l'accord subtil entre l'ordre et le désordre, le minéral et le végétal. Sur le plan artistique, Bibémus présente bien des caractéristiques cézanniennes, mais encore cubistes, fauves ou abstraites. Ce n'est pas un hasard si l'oeuvre de Cézanne a servi de référence à Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Kandinsky ou Mondrian.

From the owner: Une inspiration pour Paul Cézanne Aux portes d'Aix-en-Provence (à 10km environ en empruntant la…read moreroute de Cézanne en direction du Tholonet et de Saint-Antonin), la Sainte-Victoire, masse imposante de calcaire, éperon défiant la Provence, culmine à 1010 mètres. Elle tient une place particulière dans le coeur des provençaux, et surtout des Aixois, qui ne se lassent pas d'admirer leur majestueuse montagne (la vue depuis la Route de Cézanne est la plus jolie), et ses multiples couleurs. Elle inspira plusieurs toiles à Cézanne, et continue à drainer une importante masse de visiteurs, qui bravent ses rocailles pour atteindre sa Croix de Provence (942 m) et son prieuré du XIIèeme siècle situés à son sommet et ainsi admirer un panorama exceptionnel sur la cuvette aixoise -la vallée de l'Arc- et sa région. Heureusement les traces de l'incendie de 1989 ont bien vite été gommées, mais la douleur de ce souvenir reste bien présente et l'escalade du mont a ainsi été interdite pendant la saison

Make this your first stop in Istres! They have guide books for historical tours of Istres, Ipod…read moreguided tours, city maps, and listings of current events around the area. Everyone in the office could speak French and English which helped out with questions on the city and with transportation to other cities. The workers here were first class and went out of their way to ensure my visit was a success. They even printed off train schedules for me when I was having issues at the train station so I could walk up to the ticket office and know exactly what train to buy tickets for.

This is the (or an) official Tourism office in Marseille. Located adjacent to the Vieux Port, it's…read morea central location that has an extensive set of guides and tour books inside. Some of the local city tour companies have their starting points outside the office usually somewhere along the street. A helpful and necessary place to visit if you're looking for a map or someone who speaks English that can guide you wherever you need to go in the city. The official city tour of Marseille run by NAP Tourism stops right outside the office. It's about a 90 minute tour or so with an audio track. You go from the old port up steep side streets to the Basilique Notre Dame where you have 40 minutes to go around, and take pictures. Then it goes around the rest of the city highlighting important districts, other prominent churches, and the like. It's NOT a hop-on, hop-off tour besides the one stop at the Notre Dame cathedral so it's nice to sit on a warm bus on a colder day. You get a nice overview of the city and I encourage you save a day to take a cliche tour. It's especially good if you're only in the city for a short time and want to make the most of it.

One thing I am learning about France is that most larger towns and all cities have tourism offices…read moreand the workers usually speak decent English. In Marseille's office, one of their workers was actually from the US and he helped me out a lot when trying to navigate around the city. He was able to explain the Metro system, train schedule, and gave me maps of both the city and of walking tours around Marseille. This should be your first stop if visiting Marseille.

From the owner: Face au Brusc Située après le port du Brusc, face à l'Ile des Embiez, accessible grâce à une…read morepasserelle, la presqu'île du Gaou est une aire boisée avec de nombreuses criques. Les Pique-nique sont autorisés. Tous les étés au mois de juillet, elle accueille le Festival des Voix du Gaou.

We booked a city bike tour to begin in the afternoon and while we waited outside the designated…read morespot we began to worry when no one showed up. However after a quick phone call, Emmanuel told us he was on his way and he met about 15 min later. He showed us the details of the bikes, they have a battery pack that gives you a little extra boost of power when going up hills. Very nice feature that makes for an easy, lovely ride. This feature is adjustable so you set the level of assistance required higher or lower. Emmanuel listened to us and once he realized we'd already seen a few of the Marseille sights, he adjusted the itinerary so that we did not have to visit some of the places we'd already seen and instead we saw several famous Marseille sights and had great views of the Old Port along with views of the city and coastal views as well. We were able to stop at a typical Southern French bakery, we visited the African market area with many shops (with goods and spices) with items from Morocco and Algeria. Emmanuel shared very interesting and detailed information all along the way. He even gave us good suggestions for dinner that night and a day trip to Cassis the next day. We absolutely enjoyed our tour and would recommend it for all visitors!

This is a must do fun experience in Marseille. My husband, granddaughter and I met up with our…read moreguide at the predetermined time and place and spent the greater part of the day exploring the city, marina, the coastline and the hills above the city to enjoy gorgeous views. All along the ride our guide would have us stop to explain where we were and explain the history of Marseilles. There was time to relax too. We stopped at a local deli and picked up lunch to enjoy at the beach. We all agree this was one of the highlights of our France vacation and highly recommend this e