Two days from a Marseille base covers the two easiest Provence trips: Cassis and the Calanques on day one, an easy Aix-en-Provence half day on day two. That’s a deliberately short list; the Camargue, Avignon, Arles, and the Luberon all wait for a longer stay. Add a day at a time with our 3-day through 7-day versions, or read the full Marseille day trips guide for context on every stop below.

Three days from a Marseille base builds on our 2-day plan with a third day for Avignon’s Palais des Papes, the single best full-day trip on this list. Cassis and the Calanques still open the trip, Aix still fills day two. Read the full Marseille day trips guide for context on any stop below, or keep adding days with our 4-day through 7-day versions. Book these before you go: A Vieux-Port or Le Panier hotel : keeps you close to Gare Saint-Charles for early departures A Cassis calanques boat tour : summer weekend sailings fill up, book ahead A skip-the-line Palais des Papes tour : worth it in summer, when the walk-up queue runs 40-60 minutes deep Day Focus Travel time from Marseille 1 Cassis and the Calanques ~30-45 min (train plus a transfer) 2 Aix-en-Provence ~30 min (train) 3 Avignon and the Palais des Papes ~1h (TGV plus a shuttle into the walled city) Day 1: Cassis and the Calanques Take the train from Gare Saint-Charles to Cassis, about 25 minutes, then budget another 15-20 minutes for the bus, taxi, or a steep walk down to the port; the station itself sits roughly 3km inland, so call it 40-45 minutes door to door, longer coming back up.

Four days from a Marseille base builds on our 3-day plan with a fourth day in Arles, a straightforward hour-long train ride that doesn’t need a tour operator. Cassis, Aix, and Avignon still open the trip in that order. Read the full Marseille day trips guide for context on any stop below, or keep adding days with our 5-day through 7-day versions. Book these before you go: A Vieux-Port or Le Panier hotel : keeps you close to Gare Saint-Charles for early departures A Cassis calanques boat tour : summer weekend sailings fill up, book ahead A skip-the-line Palais des Papes tour : worth it in summer, when the walk-up queue runs 40-60 minutes deep Day Focus Travel time from Marseille 1 Cassis and the Calanques ~30-45 min (train plus a transfer) 2 Aix-en-Provence ~30 min (train) 3 Avignon and the Palais des Papes ~1h (TGV plus a shuttle into the walled city) 4 Arles: Roman arena and Van Gogh ~1h (train) Day 1: Cassis and the Calanques Take the train from Gare Saint-Charles to Cassis, about 25 minutes, then budget another 15-20 minutes for the bus, taxi, or a steep walk down to the port; the station itself sits roughly 3km inland, so call it 40-45 minutes door to door, longer coming back up.

Five days from a Marseille base builds on our 4-day plan with a full day for the Camargue, the least convenient of these trips logistically and the reason it comes this late in the plan. Cassis, Aix, Avignon, and Arles still fill the first four days in that order. Read the full Marseille day trips guide for context on any stop below, or keep adding days with our 6-day and 7-day versions.

Six days from a Marseille base builds on our 5-day plan with a car-only day in the Luberon villages, the trip on this list with the most logistics and the reason it comes last. Cassis, Aix, Avignon, Arles, and the Camargue still fill the first five days in that order. Read the full Marseille day trips guide for context on any stop below, or add the last day with our 7-day version .

Seven days from a Marseille base is our 6-day plan plus a bonus seventh day back at Cassis, not a new destination opened cold with one day left. Cassis, Aix, Avignon, Arles, the Camargue, and the Luberon still fill the first six days in that order. Read the full Marseille day trips guide for context on any stop below, or read our Marseille city itinerary if you’d rather spend a week inside the city itself.

Most Marseille itineraries treat the city as the whole trip and the Calanques as a side note. Flip that. Base yourself at the Vieux-Port and the best single day you’ll have in Provence is a train to Cassis and a boat or hike into the Calanques National Park, not another hour inside Marseille itself. Add Aix-en-Provence for an easy half day, Avignon’s Palais des Papes for a full one, and treat the Camargue and the Luberon villages as car-or-tour trips, not train rides.

Two days covers the Vieux-Port, Le Panier, Notre-Dame de la Garde, and MuCEM, the actual core of the city. That’s it, and that’s fine: don’t try to squeeze in Chateau d’If or the calanques too. Add a day at a time with our 3-day through 7-day versions, or read the full Marseille guide for context on every stop below. Book these before you go: A Vieux-Port or Le Panier hotel : rates climb hard around the July jazz festival A Marseille orientation walking tour : worth it on a short trip if you’d rather not self-guide Le Panier Day Focus 1 Vieux-Port arrival, Le Panier 2 Notre-Dame de la Garde, MuCEM, bouillabaisse Day 1: Vieux-Port and Le Panier Land at Marseille Provence Airport (MRS) and take the L91 Navette shuttle to Gare Saint-Charles, about EUR10 one-way and 25 minutes off-peak, up to 50 in heavy traffic; a taxi runs roughly EUR70-80 by day and more at night.

Three days is our 2-day plan plus a full day for Chateau d’If, the Corniche, and Cours Julien. It’s enough to see the city properly without a single rushed afternoon. Keep going with our 4-day through 7-day versions if you have more time, or read the full Marseille guide for context on each stop. Book these before you go: A Vieux-Port or Le Panier hotel : rates climb hard around the July jazz festival Chateau d’If ferry tickets : book online for summer weekend sailings, the kiosk queue can run 45 minutes deep Day Focus 1 Vieux-Port arrival, Le Panier 2 Notre-Dame de la Garde, MuCEM, bouillabaisse 3 Chateau d’If, the Corniche, Cours Julien Day 1: Vieux-Port and Le Panier Land at Marseille Provence Airport (MRS) and take the L91 Navette shuttle to Gare Saint-Charles, about EUR10 one-way and 25 minutes off-peak, up to 50 in heavy traffic; a taxi runs roughly EUR70-80 by day and more at night.

Four days is our 3-day plan plus a full day for the Cathedrale de la Major, a deeper pass through Le Panier, and genuine Savon de Marseille instead of the tourist-strip version. Add the 5-day through 7-day plans for the calanques and beyond, or read the full Marseille guide for context on each stop. Book these before you go: A Vieux-Port or Le Panier hotel : rates climb hard around the July jazz festival Chateau d’If ferry tickets : book online for summer weekend sailings, the kiosk queue can run 45 minutes deep Day Focus 1 Vieux-Port arrival, Le Panier 2 Notre-Dame de la Garde, MuCEM, bouillabaisse 3 Chateau d’If, the Corniche, Cours Julien 4 Cathedrale de la Major, deeper Panier, Savon de Marseille Day 1: Vieux-Port and Le Panier Land at Marseille Provence Airport (MRS) and take the L91 Navette shuttle to Gare Saint-Charles, about EUR10 one-way and 25 minutes off-peak, up to 50 in heavy traffic; a taxi runs roughly EUR70-80 by day and more at night.

Five days is our 4-day plan plus a calanque boat day from the Vieux-Port itself, no Cassis day trip required. If Cassis, Aix, or the wider Provence gateway interests you, that’s a separate trip covered in our Marseille, France guide , not this one. Keep going with our 6-day and 7-day plans, or read the full Marseille guide for context on each stop. Book these before you go: A Vieux-Port or Le Panier hotel : rates climb hard around the July jazz festival Chateau d’If ferry tickets : book online for summer weekend sailings, the kiosk queue can run 45 minutes deep A Vieux-Port calanque boat tour : summer weekend departures fill up, shoulder season is more forgiving Day Focus 1 Vieux-Port arrival, Le Panier 2 Notre-Dame de la Garde, MuCEM, bouillabaisse 3 Chateau d’If, the Corniche, Cours Julien 4 Cathedrale de la Major, deeper Panier, Savon de Marseille 5 A calanque boat from the Vieux-Port Day 1: Vieux-Port and Le Panier Land at Marseille Provence Airport (MRS) and take the L91 Navette shuttle to Gare Saint-Charles, about EUR10 one-way and 25 minutes off-peak, up to 50 in heavy traffic; a taxi runs roughly EUR70-80 by day and more at night.

Six days is our 5-day plan plus a sixth day away from the Vieux-Port crowds entirely, at the Palais Longchamp and the Abbaye Saint-Victor. It’s the day that convinces you Marseille isn’t only a harbor. Add our 7-day plan if you have one more day, or read the full Marseille guide for context on each stop. Book these before you go: A Vieux-Port or Le Panier hotel : rates climb hard around the July jazz festival Chateau d’If ferry tickets : book online for summer weekend sailings, the kiosk queue can run 45 minutes deep A Vieux-Port calanque boat tour : summer weekend departures fill up, shoulder season is more forgiving Day Focus 1 Vieux-Port arrival, Le Panier 2 Notre-Dame de la Garde, MuCEM, bouillabaisse 3 Chateau d’If, the Corniche, Cours Julien 4 Cathedrale de la Major, deeper Panier, Savon de Marseille 5 A calanque boat from the Vieux-Port 6 Palais Longchamp, Abbaye Saint-Victor Day 1: Vieux-Port and Le Panier Land at Marseille Provence Airport (MRS) and take the L91 Navette shuttle to Gare Saint-Charles, about EUR10 one-way and 25 minutes off-peak, up to 50 in heavy traffic; a taxi runs roughly EUR70-80 by day and more at night.

Seven days is our 6-day plan plus a genuine rest day and the Frioul Islands, not a seventh day of sightseeing at full intensity. If the extra days are really for Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Avignon, or the Camargue, our Marseille, France guide is built for those trips instead of this city-only week. Book these before you go: A Vieux-Port or Le Panier hotel : rates climb hard around the July jazz festival Chateau d’If ferry tickets : book online for summer weekend sailings, the kiosk queue can run 45 minutes deep A Vieux-Port calanque boat tour : summer weekend departures fill up, shoulder season is more forgiving Day Focus 1 Vieux-Port arrival, Le Panier 2 Notre-Dame de la Garde, MuCEM, bouillabaisse 3 Chateau d’If, the Corniche, Cours Julien 4 Cathedrale de la Major, deeper Panier, Savon de Marseille 5 A calanque boat from the Vieux-Port 6 Palais Longchamp, Abbaye Saint-Victor 7 Frioul Islands, real rest, departure Day 1: Vieux-Port and Le Panier Land at Marseille Provence Airport (MRS) and take the L91 Navette shuttle to Gare Saint-Charles, about EUR10 one-way and 25 minutes off-peak, up to 50 in heavy traffic; a taxi runs roughly EUR70-80 by day and more at night.

Most Marseille guides send you straight to the Vieux-Port and leave you there. That’s backwards. France’s second-largest and actually oldest city, founded around 600 BC as the Greek colony of Massalia, rewards people who walk uphill into Le Panier, climb to a free basilica instead of paying for a view, and skip the harbor-front bouillabaisse tourist trap for the real EUR45-75 ritual a few streets over. Here are the 11 things worth your time, in the order I’d do them.