Beautiful places to see near Marseille – Cassis

Marseille, as a second biggest city in France, offers many nice places to see. However, while visiting Mediterranean coast, you may also want to check out other villages around – I promise, it’s totally worth it! I recommend choosing first Cassis, an adorable small town with a lot of ambience.

Cassis, which is considered as the end of Cote d’Azur, is located just 30 km from Marseille. It takes around 30 min by car or one hour by bus to get there. It is a colorful town with less than 8 000 inhabitants which can reach up to 40 000 during the holiday season. The Noble Prize winner, Frédéric Mistral said: “Qu’a vist Paris, se noun a vist Cassis, pou dire: n’ai rèn vist” which means “He who has seen Paris and who has not seen Cassis can say … I have seen nothing.”

It is quite a big statement to say, he must have really loved that city! The town made a great impression on me and it has a charm but I could not compare it to Paris, it is the totally different place!

This old fishing port is full of people from all around the world. The colorful city center, sandy beach, fresh seafood, restaurant with a stunning view and amazing Calanques just next to it, attract people like magnets.

You can walk between the streets of the town, enjoying the view and be resting on the beach and don’t have enough of this place.

Choosing a restaurant during lunch hours is a nightmare, French people love to eat between 12 and 2 pm so of course, everyone was looking for a perfect place the same time. Also, many restaurants close after the lunch hours so if you want to try some Cassisian fish, better don’t wait too long! The restaurants are offering a big choice of fresh fishes and seafood so I couldn’t resist trying French moule in échalote in a restaurant called La Paillote.

It was a very tasty dish in cheese – onion sauce served very hot and so big! In the entrance to the restaurant, you can also see living sea animals waiting to be prepared, you can be sure that the food is fresh!

Spending few hours in this special place makes you relaxed, joyful and full of energy for the next visit! If you came by car, on the way back from Cassis, take a road called Route des Cretes La Ciotat Cassis (you can read more about this place here) to see a breathtaking view into La Ciotat, a city which you should also visit.