Best Time to Visit Marseille

Spring: the easy season

March is the first month that feels kind. Days are mild and bright, and the cafés on the Vieux-Port (the old harbour) start putting tables outside. By May it's warm enough for lunch in the sun, and the sea is still too cold for most people to swim. April and May get a bit more rain than June, but showers tend to pass quickly.

This is the best time for walking. The Calanques, the white limestone inlets east of the city, are comfortable to hike now. The path from Luminy down to Sormiou is a good one. Trails can close in summer when the fire risk is high, so spring is the safer bet. Easter weekend and the May bank holidays bring French weekenders, but nothing like August.

Summer: hot, dry and busy

July is the hottest month at 33°C, and it's also the driest, with rain on only two days. August comes close at 32°C. The sun is strong, afternoons are slow, and the stone streets of Le Panier hold the heat well into the evening. Locals head for the water. Try the Plage des Catalans in town or the Prado beaches along the southern coast.

If you love beach days and long light evenings, this is your time. If you hate crowds, it's not. French school holidays run through July and August, so ferries to the Frioul islands fill up and the Calanques get packed. June is the better pick. It's already 29°C, with fewer people around. Fête de la Musique on 21 June fills the streets with free gigs.

Autumn and winter: quieter, with a catch

September might be the best month of all. It's still 27°C, the sea is at its warmest, and the summer crowds have gone home. October is milder but wetter, with 72 mm of rain, and November is the wettest month at 90 mm. Grey days are common by then.

Winter is cool, not freezing. Days hover around 11 to 12°C, so it's fine for museums such as the MuCEM, the waterfront museum of Mediterranean cultures, and for bowls of bouillabaisse (the local fish stew). The mistral, a cold, dry wind from the north, can blow hard and make the Vieux-Port feel colder than the thermometer says. Hotels are cheaper then, and you'll have the city to yourself.