🛫 Terminal 1 — Cœur Extension

Carriers: Air France, Air Corsica, Lufthansa, Turkish, Iberia, British Airways, KLM, plus Volotea and Transavia. T1 handles all non-Schengen long-haul and most Schengen full-service.

EES booths: in the non-Schengen border zone (Hall B), with biometric kiosks installed for the 10 April 2026 launch.

💸 Terminal MP2 — Low-Cost

Carriers: Ryanair (operating base, >1/3 of all MRS seats), easyJet, plus selected charter ops.

Format: stripped-down concourse, fewer retail outlets, less seating, faster turnaround. The walk to the furthest gate is 4-7 min.

EES — Fully Operational Since 10 April 2026

Non-EU passport holders are biometrically registered on first entry: four fingerprints and a facial image. UK Ryanair/easyJet morning waves at MP2 and the Algiers/Oran morning waves at T1 are MRS’s worst-queue scenarios; peak waits 25-40 min, easing after the Cœur build settled into routine.

ETIAS — Coming Q4 2026

€7 pre-travel authorisation for visa-exempt non-EU nationals launches in autumn 2026. Apply through the official EU travel portal once it goes live; verify the exact date before travel.

Euro — Cards Are King

France runs on contactless cards and the Carte Bancaire network. Euro since 1999. ATMs at both terminals; avoid the bureau-de-change at MP2 in particular — markup tends to be 7-10% versus the bank rate.

⭐ Line 91 Navette to Marseille Saint-Charles

• Direct from MRS to Gare Saint-Charles (Marseille central rail/metro station) in 25 minutes.
• Every 10 min between 07:00 and 20:00, every 20 min off-peak. First from Saint-Charles 03:30; last from MRS 01:50 (01:40 November-April).
• Single €10 adult, €5 child 6-11, under-6 free; round-trip €16 adult / €10 child. Buy online, on board, or at the kiosk.
• The single fastest option to central Marseille; no rail transfer needed.

🚆 TER via Vitrolles-Aéroport-Marseille-Provence

For travellers continuing beyond Marseille — especially to Avignon, Lyon, Montpellier or Aix — the rail option is cheaper than buying a navette + Saint-Charles ticket separately.

• Lebus+ Line 13 from the terminal to Vitrolles-Aéroport station: ~10 min, every 12 min, €1.20 (Étang de Berre network).
• TER from Vitrolles-Aéroport to Saint-Charles: ~20 min, €6.30; runs 73 trains/day, ~06:24 to 22:03.
• Avignon Centre: ~1h on TER direct, €15-20.
• Lyon Part-Dieu: 2h 30m via direct TER, €30-50 (or 2h on TGV via Marseille).
• Montpellier: 1h 45m on TER, €18-25.

🚄 Onward TGV: Paris, Lyon, Aix-en-Provence

From Saint-Charles, TGV inOui and Ouigo head north. From Aix-en-Provence TGV (separate station, 25 min by Lebus+ shuttle from the airport), some TGV routes are slightly cheaper.

• Paris Gare de Lyon: 3h 10m on TGV inOui / 3h 25m on Ouigo — €40-110.
• Lyon Part-Dieu: 1h 40m on TGV — €30-70.
• Nice Ville: 2h 30m on TGV / Intercités — €25-60.
• Barcelona Sants: 4h 20m on TGV inOui direct — €40-100.

🚕 Bolt / Uber / Heetch / Taxi

• Bolt — the most active ride-hail. Pickup at the dedicated zone outside arrivals at T1 (MP2 pickup is across the perimeter road). €55-75 to Marseille centre, 35-50 min depending on the A7 traffic.
• Uber — second VTC, similar pricing.
• Heetch — French operator, sometimes cheaper for pre-booked late-night runs.
• Metered taxi — Marseille taxis follow the Bouches-du-Rhône zone tariff; expect €60-80 to central Marseille with the airport surcharge.
• Unmarked drivers in the terminal hall are illegal under French VTC law and routinely overcharge — ignore them, use the rank.

🛋️ VIP Cezanne Lounge — Terminal 1

Location: airside Hall B, post-security, T1.

Walk-in: ~€35 (verify the current AENA / Aéroport Marseille Provence rate at the door).

Priority Pass / LoungeKey / DragonPass: accepted with standard partner conditions; American Express Platinum via the AENA programme.

What’s inside: Provençal-leaning buffet (tapenade, anchoïade, ratatouille, ham, cheese, olive oil), open bar with Provence rosé, Côtes du Rhône, pastis, espresso machine, runway view towards Berre.

🍽️ La Cantine du Voyage — Terminal MP2

Location: airside in MP2.

Format: open restaurant with a fixed F&B credit for Priority Pass / LoungeKey / DragonPass holders — not a traditional lounge. Sister site La Cantine des Voyageurs is the alternative MP2 Priority Pass venue.

Menu: Provençal-Mediterranean — salads, tartines, daily plat du jour, regional wines by the glass.

The Marseille fishermen’s stew, codified in the Charte de la Bouillabaisse (1980) signed by a handful of Vieux-Port restaurants to defend the traditional recipe. Made from rascasse (scorpionfish), rouget grondin, congre and Saint-Pierre, served as two courses (broth with rouille, then the fish), with a sieve and croûtons. The proper version is €70-120 per head at Chez Fonfon or Le Miramar in the Vallon des Auffes; cheap €25 “bouillabaisse” on the Cours Julien is a tourist trap. There is no airport bouillabaisse worth the name.

Anise-flavoured spirit, 40-45% ABV, served diluted 1:5 with cold water (the louche effect turns it cloudy yellow). Pastis 51 and Ricard are the Marseille originals; Henri Bardouin from Forcalquier is the artisan benchmark. €4-6 a glass at any Marseille café terrace; €15-25 a bottle at the MRS duty-free. Drink before lunch, never after.

Tapenade is the puréed-olive, caper, anchovy and olive-oil spread; anchoïade is its anchovy-forward cousin. Marseille’s working aperitif spread for over a century. Available at the MRS duty-free at €6-12 per small jar (Maison Bremond 1830, La Maison Mariole). The serious place to taste is Marius at the Mucem, or any neighbourhood épicerie.

Calissons are the almond, candied-melon and orange-peel sweets from Aix-en-Provence, pressed into a diamond shape on rice paper. Navettes are the boat-shaped orange-flower biscuits baked at Four des Navettes near the Abbaye Saint-Victor since 1781. Both at the MRS food hall at €8-15 a box; both keep weeks. Calissons over navettes if you have to choose one.

🥃 Pastis 51 / Ricard / Bardouin

€15-30 per 700ml. Pastis 51 and Ricard are the workhorses; Henri Bardouin Pastis from Forcalquier is the artisan top pick at the higher end. The bottle that travels best from Marseille.

🌸 Provence Rosé

€12-30 per bottle. Côtes de Provence, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, Bandol rouge for the more serious. Skip the cheap supermarket rosé in pale tall bottles — the duty-free shelf carries proper estate Bandol from Tempier or Pradeaux, which is the upgrade buy.

🧼 Savon de Marseille

€5-15 per block. The traditional 72% olive-oil soap from Marseille and the surrounding region. La Compagnie de Provence and Marius Fabre are the recognised brands; the cube-shaped 600g block is the iconic format. Both hand and household.

🍯 Lavender Honey & Calissons

€8-20. Provence lavender honey from the Plateau de Valensole. Calissons d’Aix from Le Roy René. Both keep weeks and beat any €8 box of generic chocolates at the Relay news-stand.

The Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée, designed by Rudy Ricciotti and opened in 2013 as part of Marseille’s European Capital of Culture year, sits on the J4 mole at the Vieux-Port entrance, linked to Fort Saint-Jean by an exposed footbridge. The latticework concrete façade is the architectural signature; the permanent collection covers Mediterranean material culture from agriculture and migration to the contemporary. Adult ticket €11 (verify against mucem.org before travel). The rooftop terrace and the Fort Saint-Jean ramparts are both free and worth the climb even if you skip the museum.

The Parc National des Calanques, France’s 10th national park, established 2012, is the only European national park to be simultaneously terrestrial, marine and peri-urban — running 20 km of limestone inlets from Marseille’s Goudes neighbourhood to Cassis. Access by boat from the Vieux-Port (€25-35, 2-3 hours, no landings) or from Cassis Quay (€20-30, with landings at Port-Miou and Port-Pin), or on foot via the GR98-51 trail in summer (with daily fire-risk closures — check myprovence.fr).

Marseille’s 162-metre-high Romano-Byzantine basilica on the city’s highest natural point. Built 1853-1864 by architect Henri-Jacques Espérandieu on a 12th-century chapel site. The 11-metre gilded Virgin and Child by Eugène-Louis Lequesne crowns the bell tower — visible from across the city. Free entry; open ~07:00-19:00 (winter) / 07:00-20:00 (summer); bus Marbus 60 from the Vieux-Port runs every 15 min and saves the steep climb. The terrace gives the best single panorama in Marseille.

Cassis (40 min from Saint-Charles by TER + bus): the small fishing port east of Marseille, base for Calanques boat trips and the wine appellation Cassis AOC (one of the few white-only AOCs in France). Aix-en-Provence (45 min from Saint-Charles by TGV/TER, or 25 min direct from MRS via Lebus+ shuttle to Aix-TGV): Cézanne’s home town, Cours Mirabeau plane-tree promenade, calissons. Either is a serious half-day; both together overrun a single day.

EU/EEA visitors: your home plan covers France under Roam Like At Home — do nothing.
UK/US/non-EU visitors: Orange, SFR, Bouygues and Free Mobile sell prepaid SIMs at the MRS landside kiosks. Orange Holiday packs €30-50 for 14-30 days. eSIM via Holafly, Saily or Airalo is cheaper for most travellers and skips the kiosk wait.
5G: default across Marseille and the airport; pockets of patchy signal in the Calanques.

With 4 hours airside-to-airside, MRS is tight — the round-trip transit alone is ~1h 10m. The realistic move: Line 91 to Saint-Charles (25 min), metro 1 to Vieux-Port (5 min), 10-min walk to MUCEM, browse the rooftop and Fort Saint-Jean for free, then a pastis and oyster plate at one of the Quai des Belges bars. Skip the museum interior unless you have 5h+. With 6+ hours, full MUCEM + lunch at Chez Madie les Galinettes is feasible. Allow 60 min for return security and EES queue at T1 / MP2.