Marseille – Gateway to Provence

This year’s Routes Europe will be hosted by Marseille-Provence Airport. Situated in South East France on the Mediterranean the airport is ideally located at the intersection of air, rail and road networks. It is the gateway to the South of France – to Marseille, to Provence, and to the French Riviera.

Marseille-Provence Airport is an important economic player, but it is also a vector for the development of tourism and business throughout the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis. In the space of 10 years, passenger traffic at mp Airport has increased by 54%, constituting the strongest growth in volume among French airports (excluding Parisian airports) with an additional 3 million passengers and of all of France’s provincial airports, mp has the biggest network of long-haul flights to destinations including New York, Reunion Island, Mayotte, Madagascar, Dakar, Punta Cana, Montreal and Toronto. For more information about this year’s host click here.

Marseille-Provence was founded over 2600 years ago and Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris and the regional capital of Southern France. Combining Mediterranean mildness with Provence’s quality of life the area attracts some 10 million tourists every year. World class sites such as Provence, St Tropez, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence and Arles, as well as ski resorts in the Southern Alps, are all within easy reach.

In addition to the core business elements of Routes Europe our Host, Marseille-Provence Airport, and its partners have kindly arranged two complimentary city tours and we recommend all delegates make time to explore the city and surrounding area.

The Tour programme includes:

Complimentary VIP City Tour

Taking place on Saturday 5th April this VIP tour includes travel by train, boat and a demonstration of Provence cooking. Travel along the seaside road on the touristic train which will take you up to Notre Dame de la Garde where you can overlook the city and take in the astonishing view. Attendees will then board a boat to discover the coast, with a view of the famous If Castle Island and back to the Old Harbour by the sea.

A Provençal cooking demonstration is also planned during this unusual afternoon.

Marseille Sightseeing Tour by Touristic Train

During the morning of Sunday 6th April delegates will have the opportunity to tour Marseille on the touristic train which will travel along the seaside road and up to Notre Dame de la Garde. Then, delegates will visit the Panier neighbourhood, a latticework of steep, narrow streets, lined with tall houses with colourful façades. The tour will also include a visit to the Vieille Charité Museum hosting the major art exhibition "VISAGES": Human faces representation gathering more than 90 artists for the first time Including Picasso, Magritte and Warhol.

Places on these tours are limited and bookings will be taken on a first come first served basis. Click here for more information and to book your place on any of the tours available. Register today to ensure you don’t miss out!

Victoria Jones

Victoria is Communications Manager for Routes, providing media support for Routes events. If you're a member of the media and wish to attend one of…