Marseille Provence Airport is located 25 Km from Marseille city centre. Bus services to Aix-en-Provence and Marseille city centres are operated every 20/30 minutes. Bus stops are located between terminal 1 and Mp2. Journey time is about 30 minutes and cost is €8.50 (Aix : 7 €). Train station within the airport provides daily connections to Arles, Avignon, Cavaillon, Nîmes, Montpellier, Toulon and Nice. A taxi rank is also located between Terminal 1 and Mp2. Journey time to the city centre is 30 minutes. All Ryanair flights operate from Mp2 terminal.

Marseille-Provence European capital of culture 2013

Only 30 minutes from the airport, the Mediterranean capital, home of the Olympique de Marseille football club, is corseted by a ring of hills, including the famous cliffs and creeks of the Calanques.

France's oldest city, founded 2,600 years ago, has been chosen to host the great events of European capital of culture 2013. The city combines the treasures of a unique heritage, a rich cultural life, great climate and a magnificent natural location stretching along 57 km of Mediterranean coastline. Outside the city itself, the bay and the creeks provide limitless space for relaxation, sport and adventure for all tastes and ages. The sea and the islands offer cruises and excursions of many sorts: to the Islands of Frioul or to the Château d'If, made famous by Alexandre Dumas in The Count of Monte Cristo. For hikers, there are trails to the summit of Marseilleveyre for an outstanding view, and for climbers the limestone Calanques offer incomparable experiences.

Provence : Discover Camargue and Luberon

Aside from the great city of Marseille, a road tour to Camargue, typical villages of Alpilles and Luberon is unmissable.

Camargue Regional Park is a unique wetland: vast expanse of salt marshes, lagoons and grazing land, home to rare bird and animal species. The nearby Roman city of Arles holds a great number of vestiges sights from the Arènes to the Antique Theater. On the road from Arles to the typical village of Saint-Remy de Provence, do not fail to spot by the gigantic Abbaye de Montmajour and the Roman city of Glanum.

Heading North, the city of Avignon combines pedestrian shopping lanes and places to visit such as the outstanding Palace of the Popes. Through vineyards and odorant landscapes, the small villages of Gordes, Roussillon and its ochres or Fontaine de Vaucluse are a pleasure for the eyes and an example of Provencal way of life.

Provence : land of festivals

In Provence, every summer, almost every city has its festival. Amongst all of these, some are unmissable like in Marseille for the five continents jazz Festival, the Festival of Marseille or the famous theatre festival in Avignon.

If you love piano music, you will be thrilled by the International Piano Festival in la Roque d’Antheron, In the Parc du Château de Florans you will listen to an encounter of all types of music together: classical or contemporary…all styles: jazz or electronic…and all artists: young talent as well as the greatest international players. In 2010, the 30th edition will take place from July 23rd to August 21st.

Known worldwide, the festival d'Aix-en-Provence is dedicated to lyric art. From June to July 2010, this next edition will be marking a new cycle in the festival's identity.

Don Giovanni and Alceste in the courtyard of the Archevêché show a return to the roots of the Festival. And the concerts are highly colourful, from Monteverdi’s Vespers to the works of Jonathan Harvey, as well as Beethoven, Berlioz, Schumann, Sibelius, but also a journey through Mediterranean musics.

• Holiday Marseille