Activities in Marseille
Shops, cinemas, theatres, beaches, islands...
If the Canebière has long been considered the Champs-Elysées of the South, the surrounding streets are like a compass rose for local shopping. The Centre Bourse, the closest, but also the streets of Saint-Ferréol, Paradis, Sainte, the Terrasses du Port in La Joliette are all places where you can go to do some shopping.
Provençal products such as pastis or soap, famous brands that you are used to: Marseille offers everything, from clothing to the food trade, including arts and crafts. But tourism in Marseille is also about culture, of which it was the European capital in 2013. The Bernardines (Cours Lieutaud), Gymnase or Odéon (Canebière) theatres will make you think of it, just a stone's throw from the hotel. Beautiful bookshops, dozens of galleries, the Variétés cinema on the other side of the Canebière, the César on Place Castellane, will not be outdone, to break the impersonal monotony of the multiplexes for a while. The Velodrome stadium, 10 minutes away by metro, offers its entirely renovated enclosure to football and rugby matches and to the greatest concerts.
If you prefer to take to the sea by the various shuttles accessible from the quays of the Vieux-Port: just follow the seagulls (here we say "gabians"). They will take you to the Pointe Rouge and the Calanques to the south, the Estaque to the north, or the Frioul archipelago, including the Château d'If, just opposite. And speaking of the south, that's where you should head to find some of the city's most beautiful beaches, as well as access to various water sports activities such as canoeing, kite-surfing, windsurfing, paddle, jet-skiing...