La Ciotat, surrounding areas

Hi all, we%26#39;ve booked a week at the Victoria Gardens apart-hotel in La Ciotat (in July). Any recommendations on the best places to visit in %26amp; around that area? best beaches? (any where all-over tanning is possible?) nice villages? local markets? restaurants? points of historical/cultural interest. also, believe there%26#39;s a water-park nearby, does anyone know it? We will have a car and are prepared to travel within reason, although expecting traffic to be pretty heavy at that time of year... Also, if we fancy a day trip to Marseille is there a public transport option that would be easier than driving/parking? all suggestions gratefully received, thanks

|||

%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;Any recommendations on the best places to visit in %26amp; around that area?%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;

%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;best beaches?%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;

Cassis

Bandol

%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;any where all-over tanning is possible?) %26gt;%26gt;%26gt;

Agde

%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;points of historical/cultural interest%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;

Fireworks display on the 13th July

Music festival 10th to 27th July

Organized by l%26#39;Association Méditerranéenne d%26#39;Echanges Internationaux

Boat trips

http://www.visite-calanques.fr/

%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;Also, if we fancy a day trip to Marseille is there a public transport option that would be easier than driving/parking?%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;

There are numerous trains available for the less than 30 minute ride to Marsielle:

http://www.ter-sncf.com

|||

Definitely get the bus to Cassis, don%26#39;t take the train cos it stops 2 miles from the town. Bus is best. There are two beaches in Cassis, and the one furthest from the port is nicer. One of my friends tells me La Ciotat is full of great cheap restos: Cassis is more expensive.

I would also take the train the other way to Hyeres, and go down the Giens peninsula and take the boat to Porquerolles. Lovely white sand beaches with pine trees. If you don%26#39;t want to go that far, the eastern side of the peninsula has lovely beaches all the way along it.

Train to Marseille is quick and easy and fairly frequent.

|||

We often stay long weekends with friends who live in La Ciotat. I can%26#39;t tell you how to reach these places I%26#39;m recommending as they always drive.

We love Cassis, where you must eat Bouillabaise.

We have visited and liked Aix en Provence.

There%26#39;s a beautiful mediaeval village called Castelet.

Aqualand is at nearby Saint-Cyr-Sur-Mer.

We%26#39;ve been to some lovely and diverse markets nearby:

…angloinfo.com/information/7/markets.asp

The local food surprised us as it has an Italian influence, but we love the pasta en daube.

|||

thanks guys, great tips.

Chantal, do you think the bus to Cassis is a better bet than driving, if we were going to spend a day there, have a look at the town, go to the beach etc? I%26#39;m sure the drive is no big deal but have heard parking in Cassis can be a bit of a problem...

Another question, if any can help - for an all-day boat trip to the Calanques is it best to go from Cassis or are there trips from Ciotat offering similar deals?

(PS Sarastro, thanks but we wouldn%26#39;t want to go all the way to Agde for a day on the beach, was hoping to find somewhere a bit closer...)

As we will have a car, anyone have any tips for nice beaches away from the main towns, slightly off the beaten track?

thanks again...

|||

There are boat trips from La Ciotat and it%26#39;s more sensible than trekking to Cassis.

|||

thanks elaine - really looking forward to seeing the calanques (hopefully get dropped off and spend some time in one or two of them, not just sail past). That markets web address was v. useful too :)

|||

There is a park and ride car park outside Cassis that will be running in July: you certainly won%26#39;t be able to park in town. I would suggest you ask at tourist information when you get to La Ciotat and compare bus frequencies between direct bus and driving to the park and ride and getting a bus from there. My instinct would be to get the direct bus to be honest, but you%26#39;ll need to check the times of them.

|||

Cassis is an objective in itself, very pretty, very good restaurants. You can walk to the top of the calanques and have a look at the biggest one, d%26#39;En-vau. Of course the ideal would be a boat from La Ciotat to Cassis, stopping there for lunch, then taking you to the calanques and back to La Ciotat. Don%26#39;t know if there is one.

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 2:17 am, September 15, 2009