This full day Marseille shore trip starts with a visit to Aix en Provence, a favorite stop for many travelers. In the afternoon you drive through the Provencal countryside to the medieval hilltop town of Les Baux de Provence, known for its stone streets and castle ruins.
After meeting your driver guide, you start your tour, driving into Provence until you reach Aix en Provence, simply called Aix by locals. Upon arrival you visit the Cours Mirabeau, a tree lined boulevard laid out in 1650 and known for its monumental fountains and popular cafes. While on this street, many people feel they have been transported to a Parisian neighborhood.
Next you have time in the Old Town of Aix en Provence, made up mostly of pedestrian streets, with stone buildings, churches, museums, tourist shops, and boutiques to explore along the small winding cobblestone streets. Most shops in France are closed on Sundays. You will also notice bell towers made of wrought iron rather than stone, built to withstand the strong Provencal wind known as the mistral. If you are visiting on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday, you can enjoy the open air street market. Aix is also well known as the home of impressionist painter Paul Cezanne, and you will see images of his paintings in shops throughout the old town. Before leaving Aix, you have free time for lunch (meal not included).
This afternoon you drive through the region until you reach the medieval hilltop village of Les Baux de Provence. It is unique among the towns of Provence, both an ancient ruin and a living village at once. It perches for nearly a mile along a narrow strip of land jutting up from the valley floor, surrounded on three sides by the sheer, jagged cliffs of the Alpilles. The lords of Les Baux once ruled much of southern France from a castle on top of this hill, until King Louis XIII, following a revolt against the crown, ordered the fortress dismantled in 1632. The town sat largely deserted for the next two centuries.
Today, Les Baux is made up of two parts, known as the "Live City" and the "Dead City." Vehicles are forbidden, so you park outside the Live City and walk its narrow, winding lanes, lined with cafes, small museums, and shops selling gifts from Provence. From there you can visit the Dead City, including the ruins of the castle that once housed nearly 6,000 people. At the end of your excursion, you return to Marseille.
Review Location- Marseille 
