Marseille Old Port and Le Panier

Greeks from Phocaea founded Massalia around 600 BC on this inlet, which makes the Vieux-Port one of the longest continuously used harbours in Europe. Fishing boats still land at the quai des Belges and sell from trestle tables in the morning. Norman Foster's mirrored canopy, installed in 2013, reflects the crowd and the masts from overhead. Behind the north quay, Le Panier climbs the hill in narrow stepped lanes: the oldest quarter, largely rebuilt after the Germans dynamited the waterfront blocks in 1943, now covered in murals and workshops. The Vieille Charite, a seventeenth-century almshouse with an oval chapel, stands at its centre.

What you actually see

• The morning fish market - boats landing and selling on the quay.
• The Foster canopy - a mirrored roof reflecting the port from above.
• Le Panier lanes - stepped streets, murals and small workshops.
• La Vieille Charite - a colonnaded almshouse with an oval chapel.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the fish market runs mornings, best before nine. Summer is hot and crowded. The mistral can blow hard and cold at any season.

Honest expectations

Marseille is a large working city with rough edges around the port and station, and ordinary care with belongings is sensible. Le Panier is largely postwar rebuilding. Restaurant bouillabaisse varies enormously in quality and price.

Nearby

Notre-Dame de la Garde stands above; the MuCEM is at the harbour mouth.