Marseille

 14/11/2025

Viking Saturn sailed from Barcelona last night departing at 7.30 pm, destined for Marseille. Despite our later than expected departure we were docked in Marseille on schedule at 8 am.





Viking Saturn

Marseille has a large capacity for cruise ships on several docks. There were seven ships docked by lunchtime. When we arrived there were 2 others waiting outside the harbour for their turn to dock.

Our organised activity for the day is a morning tour of Marseille taking in the highlights and spending an hours free time in the centre of town.Marseille is France’s oldest city and has a population of around 1.6 million, including surrounding areas.

The tour guide is very effusive about the wonderful features of Marseille, qualifying her enthusiasm occasionally by mentioning that the locals are prone to exaggerate. We are told they have 300 days of sunshine each year, wonderful beaches with 70 km of coastline and that Marseille is the largest of the French Ports.

From the cruise terminal the bus tour took us basically along the coast from North to South, commencing in the north where the ship is berthed. The Northern area of coastal Marseille is heavily focused on Port operations, with the cruise terminal, a ferry terminal area where many of the ferries from Marseille to far flung places leave from, container terminals, a large petrochemical and hydrocarbon terminal area, and bulk freight terminals in this huge port area. Surrounding the port are industrial and support industries.


Cruise Terminal


An interesting sculpture in front of CMA offices called "It takes two to Tango"

As we travel further South, we reach the city centre and Old Port, a very scenic area. 




The port has a huge marina filled with boats of all shapes and sizes. Both motor and and sailing boats are well represented. The old port buildings lining the edges of the port are now filled with shops, offices and restaurants.



A huge public square in front of the port is unusually quiet, given the number of cruise ships in town, nevertheless a few fisherman have set up stalls to sell their daily catch.






Narrow streets of the old town are more than a challenge for our tour bus, but somehow the driver manages to navigate through them.





Built on the foundations of an old fortress, the Notre - Dame de la Garde basilica overlooks the city. The statue of the Virgin Mary on its spire is made of bronze and is gilded.


Our bus pickup point in town

Further South is where many of the main beaches are located, many of them artificial sand beaches. By our standards they are very small and I could imagine get very crowded. We travel along Corniche J F Kennedy which follows the coastline for about 8 km South of the city.

                                The closest beach to the city centre is Playa des Catalans



The Fortress below is Chateau d'if, a former prison on one of the islands of Marseille. It gained Worldwide fame in Alexander Dumas's novel, The Count of Monte Christo where the hero Edmond Dantes was wrongly imprisoned.


Oriental Army Memorial, a WW1 memorial located on Corniche J F Kennedy


Coastal scene near the memorial


A Waterside restaurant near the memorial

Below are a few scenes driving along Corniche J F Kennedy.






Another popular beach

We headed back to the ship at lunch time after a 3 hour tour of Marseille. It gave us a good overview and an overload on the history of the City.

All on board time was 5 pm, and we were under way for Corsica just before sunset.





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