Marseille

Le Corbusier must condemn

i used to stay there all summer for a few years when i had whole summers to do that in. I recommend either staying around Bd Longchamp or Rue Endoume which are both very central areas that feel v low key and residential and are 'nice'.

Staying around Rue De Rome

Can't wait to have a encounter with the Marseille mafia

Favourite beaches?

And any bars, restaurants?

if you can get enough far out of town to the east (somewhere between marseilles and cassis) choose a coastal creek in the parc des calanques -- they're all basically rocky bays more than sand but they're gorgeous, and probably not that busy yet either

Cool have been reading about them, thanks.

Also looks like there are some good pizzas to be had

I was there last year (and probably going back soon) - will see if I can look out my list of food stuff

Cheers

FOOD
https://limmatmarseille.com
https://www.lamerceriemarseille.com
https://www.chezyassine.com
https://www.pizzeria-labonnemere.fr
https://chez-etienne.fr
https://www.libalapretamanger.com/menu

best food was chez yassine and la mercerie. la friche is super cool too (converted ex-tobacco factory come gig space, canteen, skate spot)

good day trips = calanques, toulon, aix. the inner city beach (plage des catalans) is great but gets crowded. you can find nice little spots to sunbathe and swim all along the city coast

Excellent

day trip to cassis worth a look too (lovely little beaches there and you can take a boat tour round les calanques)

plage du prado is ok too - very accessible by public transport but very exposed with minimal shade so be prepared to get gouged for a parasol

Thank you all for the recommends. Loved the cold water swims at the calanques after the bit of hiking in hot weather. Also saw my old yoga teacher who teaches there. Her studio is lovely.

https://limmatmarseille.com, was a great restaurant. She is an amazing cook.

Its an amazing place to walk around.

Just loved, loved the bakeries. We have it so much worse here. All the indie bakeries here now really suck.

Only negative was crossing the road. The motorists and motorbikes are a bit crazy idk.