Small Group Marseille Shore Excursion: Marseille And Aix-en-provence

Our tour changed times 8 days days before hand. Our cruise ship docked at 730 and the tour started at 8 vs 9. We had a. 20 min walk to metting location. So it was impossible to attend tour. We asked for a refund but were denied. Our entire day was spend walking to meet a public transport and needless to say. Very sad and very disappointing as we had to wing it and missed out on some of the greatest highlights. We will only use cruise ship excursions moving froward with our travels.

A wonderful day! Our guide Thomas was attentive and helpful. He was extremely informative and took time to answer all of our questions. He introduced us to great spots. The tour allowed for plenty of free time to explore on our own.

A fantastic day. Really clear pre-tour instructions & pick up at the cruise pier. Right outside the cruise ship dock. Nice air conditioned van with 6 guests total including me & my Wife. Sebastian, our driver and guide was amazing relaxed and calming guy, full of insightful information about Aix en Provence & Marseille. Had us back to the ship right at 4pm as promised. Highly recommend this tour.

Marseille was wonderful! Our driver, Audelle (sure I am not spelling her name correctly I apologize) was perfect. She was so pleasant and gave us so much information and really made our day! So much history and everyone we met was so kind. Thank you for a lovely day!!

Melissa was wonderful. And excellent driver. Very informative, friendly and personable. Would definitely request her again.

Sylvia is an outstanding tour guide with extensive knowledge of the places visited. Very personable, fruendly and professional. Wholeheartedly recommend her to everyone for this excursion. Local friendly knowledge at a 5 star level!

Marion G was awesome knowledgeable and we loved spending the day with her. We would totally book with her again!!!

Laurent met us directly at our cruise ship and gave us a beautiful tour. We enjoyed every moment of it and we learned so much. You have a real treasure with Laurent. Thanks for an incredible day

Excellent tour, tour guide & driver excellent. Absolutely beautiful . Totally worth doing, good price

Emmanuel was very personable and provided a fun, informative day! He offered fun tidbits, showed us the “best” local treats, and was very pleasant.

Our guide, Pepe, clearly loves his hometown and showed us many reasons why! Although we had to miss what was the prettiest part of the coastal Marseille (because of a Sunday marathon), we saw the cathedral and the harbor and the oldest church. Our tour next took us to Aix en Provence, which is so charming with its postcard-perfect cobbled streets, fountains and cafes. Pepe gave us tips and let us explore on our own for over two hours. This was a fantastic day’s excursion from the port of Marseiile.

Pepe had our attention upon first meeting at the cruise port in Marseille and he kept it enthusiastically throughout the day as he whisked us around Marseille and the entrance of Provence’s stunning jewel Aix-en-Provence. For the history buff there was plenty to captivate and for those who preferred to take in the sights…they certainly didn’t disappoint. This tour was amazing from start to finish. Highly recommend Pepe’s attention to detail!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this trip, and would definitely recommend it. The time in Aix was a bit too long though.

Pepe was a terrific guide. Was like traveling with a friend. Excellent English. Easy to understand. We had a great day

We got lucky and ended up with a private tour for 2! Our guide was very nice, but we would have liked more information about the sights that we were seeing. She shared much about local culture, but it would have been nice to have had more details about the actual sights (inside).

Our guide was great. He provided great recommendations and made it easy for us to get around. Much better than doing a large group tour.

Lucie was an amazing tour guide. She is a wealth of information. She organized the tour so we got to see everything we wanted without feeling rushed. I highly recommend this excursion.

Terrible. I had a duplicate booking for a private tour (Rick San Martin), for a group of 5. I tried to cancel the small group tour (within 24 hours but spotty service). The guide refused to cancel and refund the small group tour. The private tour was wonderful. I need the small group tour refunded.

Morgane was very accommodating and owledgeable. We highly recommend the tour! She was very informative and spoke good English!

Both cities were impressive. Aix-en-Provence is charming and beautiful. Our driver/ guide was very nice and informative. We had a very nice day exploring both cities.

This trip is similar to a chartered car. When we arrived in Provence, the driver took us to the tourist center and left us to go shopping by ourselves. It was a pity that there was no explanation guide for the scenic spots. Maybe you can refer to other charter prices.

Morgane was pleasant, informative and earnest. She was a pleasure and a joy. Give her a try! Nothing more to say.

Provence was lovely and our tour guide Morgane was friendly and informative even though her heavy accent was diilfficult to understand at times. It would have been helpful to know in advance that most shops are closed on Sunday.

Lucy gave us lots of information. She was very knowledgeable and pleasant. Both Aix on Provence and Marseille were memorable

We had a most memorable excursion to Aix-en-Provence and Marseille with our wonderful host, Pepe! Pepe was very knowledgeable, personable and added much color to the visit explaining the rich history of the regions and then giving us time to explore on our own. Would definitely recommend to any traveler coming through that part of the world! Cheers!

The excursion was fantastic. Giovanni was superb: punctual, informative, a very good driver, and was very accommodating (slowed down and even stopped on the side of the road so we take photos). The itinerary is perfect if you only want to see a glimpse of each destination. For me, small group excursions is way better choice than taking the cruise ship's . It's more efficient: less waiting time, more places to cover, shorter walking distance from parking and quieter inside the vehicle. Ask for Giovanni if you have a chance when you do Naples' tour.

Unavoidable issues were the heat and stores closed on Sunday but our guide was knowledgeable and we got to see the highlights of Marseille and Aix which was a lovely town. I tell more on my blog glutenfreegastronomy. Blog.

Great tour and tour guy!! Remy was perfect. The tour isn't too short or long. Saw everything we needed to see. Restaurant recommendation from Remy was superb!! Thank you

Inez was wonderful! This was a lovely day starting in Marseille and ending in Aix. Our guide was sweet and knowledgeable and the tour started out with a lot of driving between historical sites and ended with some free time in Aix en Provence. She gave us recommendations of places to eat and shop. This was a great balance of small tour (my family of 5 plus three others) with history lesson and charming city shopping and eating on our own. Definitely preferred this size over some of our larger tours.

Our tour guide took us to aix-in-Provence and then drove us around Marseilles. Sebastian was wonderful, knowledgeable, and his English was great. It was nice to be driven around and shown the sites in the nice A/C of a van. We had plenty of time to walk around Aix too, and returned in plenty of time to get back on our cruise boat.

Very disappointed in this very expensive tour. Was looking forward to seeing Marseille and Aix and happy to have a small group, which is why we paid a lot. We were dropped in Aix with very little information about the area on the drive there, a lot of talk about things that weren't interesting or relevant like how Paris area drivers are terrible. It was lunch time and we had only about an hour, so we tried to find a place to eat, all while also trying to see the quaint city. Not enough time in my opinion. Then to Marseille to the first stop which was an outlook over the city. Great views, but little information about the area or the city. I asked about a restroom, and he said it was the next stop. We pulled along a road to a portable public restroom that cleaned itself after every use. Spending this stop standing at a toilet, we then simply drove around the city. I asked if we were able to stop anywhere and walk around to get a feel and shop. He said "It's a really big city so impossible." Strange. I ended up falling asleep in the van, which I NEVER do but it was very boring. Really really disappointed in this excursion as I have heard amazing things about Marseille, but we barely saw it from the back of a small van. Sebastian was a nice man but clearly very new to giving tours and not any historical or current information shared.

So happy I have a chance to review this tour that never took place! I would give it zero stars if that were an option. My cruise was unable to stop in the port of Marseilles today, due to a dock workers strike. We were informed by the captain at 10pm last night. The tour has a “shore excursion worry free guarantee”, so I immediately notified the tour operator of the change and requested a cancellation and refund. The policy states that “if your ship misses a port… you will be due a full refund”, so I figured it wouldn’t be a problem. This morning, the tour operator emailed saying that this was not their problem, and they would not refund my money because I would be considered a “no show”. I contacted Viator- and they contacted the tour operator who again refused- and Viator stood by them each time. It took 3 different online “chats”, and multiple screenshots of THEIR OWN POLICY to secure a refund for this tour. Viator finally provided the “good faith” refund- the tour operator still refused. I would NEVER recommend that anyone book with this tour operator- who today, pocketed thousands of dollars, provided no service, and violated the stated refund policy.

The Guide Morgane is great. She can drive & talk at the same time! She tried to give us the information about Aix en Provence French accented English & showed us the beautiful cathedral in Marseille and the Basillica on the top with the best panoramic view of the city. It was exceptional!

We were a group of 12 people and we originally had booking for 6 persons only. Viator coordinated with the tour operation and was able to arrange one more vehicle so that all 12 of us were able to visit Marseille area together. We met up with our tour guide/driver Caroline (and the other driver whose name I forgot) at the port on time. Caroline was a wonderful person with pleasant and warm personality with very good knowledge of the area and good English. The other driver was not much of an English speaker so he just played the role of a driver of the van. Although we originally booked the tour of Marseille and Aix, we changed our mind in the last minute to prefer to go to Cassis instead and Caroline and the other driver were kind enough to accommodate our change. They took us to few scenic and culturally/religiously significant spots along the way before heading to Notre Dame basilica. She gave a good description of the area of Marseille and we can see her passion for the area she grew up in the way she described. After we spent decent amount of time experiencing the scenic overlook of Marseille and the beauty of basilica, Caroline took us to Cassis (about an hour drive) and gave good instructions on what to see and do in cassis. We did not go into the beach area nor the boat trip as we were short on time. But we hung around soaking in the amazing culinary scene of Cassis. Overall, had excellent trip.

Our guide Pepe was amazing. Great knowledge and passion for the city and its history. He made our day fabulous and I recommend him for anyone wanting an extra special tour of these fantastic cities.

Our guide was 15 minutes late. The tour is a basic driving tour of the city( a few stops). Our guide unfortunately did not seem that knowledgeable about the detonations and basically just took us to AXIO to shop. I would not recommend this trip.

Our trip was amazing, as was our guide Remi. He was very attentive to all of the group. He was very informative and looked out for the safety of our group when crossing streets and accounted for each at our meeting points. Gave us time yo explore on our own.

Beautiful excursion! Plenty of time in Aix to walk to the different sites. The food was incredible also!

Remy, our guide, was amazing. Very personable and articulate. Marseille tour, church, and oldest bakery were very interesting. Fantastic lunch spot in a local bistro in Aix. Aix is a fun filled town. Overall a great and seamless 7 hour tour.

Easy connection with our guide right at the exit from the ship. There was only eight of us and we had comfortable transportation. We learned about our stops from our knowledgeable and passionate guide. We had free time in AIX en Provence to shop and have lunch.

Good overview of Marseille with stops a significant sights. Managed to catch choir practice in the church on the hilltop. Aix-en-Provence was the absolute highlight.

Wonderful experience. We had a knowledgeable driver (Pepe) who was very patient with my 80 year old mother’s mobility issues. (The fish reference is an inside joke.)

The views of the areas we visited, especially Cassis! Our tour guide was outstanding! Boat ride in Cassis was gorgeous! Must do, best $19 I ever spent!

Our guide Jeff was great, but we didn’t get what we paid for. There was an elderly couple on the tour and one of them needed a walker. So, all said, it wasn’t the tour company’s fault, but not the best experience.

Walking around town seeing the historical sites tour was informative aix is real nice town, love the option for lunch

We had a great experience with Remy! He was a wonderful driver and guide. He gave us just enough information to navigate on our own and pointed out all the interesting things not to miss! Perfect small tour and very flexible. Aix en Provence was a nice little area with great shopping and food! Perfect for a day trip. While marseille was rich with history, a beautiful basilica, and ocean/harbor views.

Inese was informative, made a number of scenic stops and afforded us an addictive amount of time at each stop along the way. A truly wonderful experience.

Morgan was absolutely wonderful. She never stopped doing everything she could to make our time the best that could be especially with what we wanted. Because of her we got to maximize our time and have just delightful day.

Beautiful city tour. Highly recommend. Ines was amazing tour guide! Excellent shore excursion in short time.