Marseille has the second-largest population in France, and strolling along this fine street makes it seem like you are in a smaller version of Paris. The sidewalks are wide, a tram runs down the middle, shops and cafés line both sides, scooters glide by, lots of people are out strolling, trees provide greenery, four-story buildings create a human scale, and you are gliding along slightly downhill.
Several side streets that are mostly for pedestrians and lined with more shops offer tempting detours, especially rues de Rome, d’Aubagne, Saint-Ferréol, and Paradis. You can easily walk up one for a few blocks, then cross over to the next and return to La Canabière, zigzagging your way along.
How could this get much better?
Yes. It gets even better when you reach the waterfront end of La Canebière at the vast marina, and with more major streets peeling off in various directions. This total walk from the train station to waterfront is only 1,000 meters, which takes 15 minutes at normal walking speed, but probably longer because you want to stop and detour along the way, adding another 15 minutes at least.
A pleasant and comfortable section of the waterfront is across the marina on the south side, with a series of broad avenues, plazas, pedestrian streets and many restaurants. Walk past the top of the port on Quai de la Fraternité to Cours J. Ballard and explore the four blocks leading from here along the waterfront to Place aux Huiles, with side lanes for pedestrians only. Running through the middle is a classic pedestrian street, Rue Saint-Saëns, leading to Place Thiars. The city’s largest outdoor plaza is one block inland with many outdoor restaurants, Cours Honoré d'Estienne d'Orves, in an open space that was created in the 1980s after community activists successfully pressured the government to demolish a huge multi-level parking lot and put the cars underground.
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