Writer Elizabeth Solomon's Guide to Marseille

ALMAR contributor Elizabeth Solomon was raised in Marseille, and her version of the city starts nowhere near a polished itinerary. It begins with coffee on the Corniche, a swim off the rocks, a stop in Noailles for spice and noise, and dinner only after the light has gone soft over the port.

By ALMAR Editors | Published March 26, 2026

Marseille is having a very visible moment, but its real appeal is older than that: a harbor city with serious appetite, easy access to the sea, and enough grit to keep it from becoming decorative. The city’s current must-knows still include Tuba Club in Les Goudes, Les Bords de Mer on the Corniche, cultural anchors like La Vieille Charité and Mucem, and shopping stops such as Sessùn, Maison Empereur, and Jogging.

Start the day where?

"At Cécile Food Club in Malmousque. It’s the kind of place that understands Marseille perfectly: coffee, simple food, sea nearby, no need to overcomplicate anything. Then walk the Corniche before the day gets loud.” Cécile’s own site places it on the Corniche in Malmousque and frames it as an all-day address built around take-away food for the rocks, the beach, or the Calanques.

Best lunch?“L’Épicerie L’Idéal if you want one of those lunches that reminds you why people get sentimental about the south of France. If I’m heading farther out, then Tuba Club for the view, the water, and the whole strange glamour of Les Goudes.” Tuba’s official site confirms both its restaurant and waterside cabanons in Les Goudes, while Marseille’s current food-and-stay conversation continues to revolve around it.

And dinner?

"If I want a proper occasion, AM par Alexandre Mazzia. If I want something beautiful but less ceremonious, Les Bords de Mer is hard to beat.” Les Bords de Mer is a seafront boutique hotel with rooftop, spa, and restaurant facing the Mediterranean, and Michelin lists its restaurant as modern cuisine on the Corniche.

Sleep where?

“Depends on the mood. Les Bords de Mer if you want city-and-sea in one frame. Tuba Club if you want to wake up feeling half inside Marseille, half already in the Calanques. If you prefer the city center, stay somewhere near the Vieux-Port and keep the sea as part of the day rather than the whole setting.” Tuba’s official site describes its historic waterfront rooms; Les Bords de Mer positions itself as a seafront stay facing the Mediterranean.

What should visitors buy?

“Go to Maison Empereur even if you think you need nothing. Then Sessùn for clothes and Jogging if you want Marseille’s design-and-fashion brain in one place.” Sessùn’s Marseille boutique sits just off the Old Port, and Jogging describes itself as a concept store spanning fashion, design, lifestyle, and even hospitality.

Where do you go for culture when you actually live there?

“Mucem, always, because the building and the setting matter as much as the exhibitions. Then La Vieille Charité in Le Panier. And if you want the city’s more contemporary, less postcard version, go to Friche la Belle de Mai.” Marseille tourism identifies La Vieille Charité as a major cultural site in the heart of Le Panier, and the city’s guided-visit offerings single out Cours Julien for street art and urban culture.

Where does Marseille make the most sense?

“In the water. Not on a beach bed pretending you’re somewhere softer. I mean actually in the sea. Swim at Malmousque, or go farther out toward Les Goudes. Marseille clicks once you’ve gone from salt water to a drink to dinner without ever really leaving the coast.” Marseille’s tourism materials repeatedly position the city around direct sea access, from the Corniche and Vallon des Auffes area to the Calanques and Les Goudes.

Where do nights start?

“With a view. La Caravelle if you want harbor romance. Somewhere around Cours Julien if you want the city to feel younger, messier, more awake. Marseille is better at bars and long evenings than at anything too staged.” Marseille tourism highlights Cours Julien as a street-art district and creative quarter, and La Caravelle remains one of the classic harbor-side drinking addresses in local and travel coverage.

What do visitors usually get wrong?

“They try to make Marseille behave like a polished Riviera stop. It isn’t. The city is better when you let it stay unruly—sea first, appetite second, museums and shopping woven in around that.”

One rule?

“Don’t come here just to look. Marseille is a city to enter physically: walk it, swim it, eat it, stay out late in it. Otherwise you’ll miss the whole point.”♦