Places to See:

• le Vieux Port (old harbour): watching fishermen selling their stock by auction is a must. Arriving to Marseille in the Vieux-Port on a summer evening is something you will never forget... You can watch this show by going to Frioul islands or Chateau d'If and going back late in the afternoon. There is also a nice view on the harbor from the Palais du Pharo (Pharo casttle). The famous Canebière Avenue go straight down the harbor. However the Canebière is not that intersting despite its reputation.
• Notre Dame de la Garde: the big church which overlooks the city. Old fishermen were used to make their boats blessed in this church. You can still see many boat models hanging around in the church. Up there it is one of the nicest views of the city. 
• Musée des Docks romains (Archéologie-Graffiti-Lapidaire), the old harbour from Phoenician and Roman times. 
• le Cours Julien and la plaine: a hangout area with bookstores, cafés, fountains, and a playground for the small ones (metro stop Cours Julien/Notre Dame du Mont). It is THE trendy area of Marseille. La Plaine is the local name for Place Jean Jaurès close to Cours Julien. Every Thursday and Saturday morning the Plaine market is the place to shop. If you are there early enough you can make very good deals, even if what you'll find there is sometimes "tombe du camion" (fallen off the truck) as one says in Marseille. 
• la Corniche: a walkway and a road by the sea that provides lovely views of the sea, the Chateau d'If to the south, and les Calanques to the east. 
• la Place Castellane: a roundabout with a grand fountain/column/sculpture in the center, with excellent cinemas and cafés surrounding. There is another place called La Castellane : it is a poor suburb of Marseille where Zinedine Zidane the famous soccer player was born. Be careful not to confuse the two places. 
• Boulevard Longchamp and Palais Longchamp (Longchamp casttle and avenue). From the Réformé church (up the Canebière) you can follow the Boulevard Longchamp where you can see nice example of old upper-class buildings to arrive to Palais Longchamp.The palais is worth visiting though it won’t take you long. You can visit the "musee des beaux arts" as well as the natural history museum. 
• Parc Borély (Borely park) - a large and great park, 300 meters from the sea. After a siesta in the park go have a drink at Escale Borely (a place with numerous restaurants and bars on the beach) to see the sunset. 
• Le Panier - Panier means basket in French, but in Marseille it is the name of the oldest area of the town. In the middle of this area there is the Vielle Charité, a wonderful old monument, now hosting museums and exhibitions. 
• Let's be honest, beaches from Marseille are not always great. Depending on the weather, they can be polluted. However the small beaches between La Pointe Rouge harbor and La Madrague harbor are cleaner, nicer and usually slightly less crowded. 
• Stade Velodrome: the stadium where the local soccer team "Olympique de Marseille" plays. Soccer match are one of the highlights of Marseilles life. Whilst L'OM have fallen on rather lean times the former champions of Europe are the biggest football team in France. 
• Noailles: The area around the Noailles sub-way station is one of the citys most interesting. Lined with Arabic and Indo-Chinesse shops some of the streets could be part of a bazzaar in Algeria. A fascinating area.

Marseille Ferry Port Terminal Facilities:

The new passenger ferry terminal has been developed to include all the services required by passengers with cars and has easy access: The international Marseille - Provence Airport is 20 km away via a direct motorway and the high-speed TGV train goes from Marseille to Paris and the Côte d'Azur.

Get around

By bus, tramway, subway -There are 2 subway lines and 79 lines of bus and tramway. No public transport on May 1st - Workers Day.

By boat - A Ferry Boat allows to cross the Old Harbour (Vieux Port). It is a tourist attraction in itself known as the shortest commercial boat ride in Europe.

By car - People are notorious for crazy driving. Avoid taking your car if you can.