Let’s face it – Marseille has a “repute” as one of the harmful cities in Europe. Is that this true, or is that this hype? I spent per week within the metropolis to see for myself. I prevented sure neighborhoods, and was cautious with my valuables, as I’d be in any giant metropolis. And I found a terrific place nicely value visiting.
Do you have to be scared to go to Marseille?
Or is the town merely getting a foul rap?
Is Marseille harmful?
In case you search on-line for security in Marseille, that is typical of what you’ll discover:
- “Road crime could be very frequent.”
- “The town is an excessive amount of to deal with.”
- “It’s definitely extra harmful than different locations in Europe.”
Statistics would appear to again this up.
Numbeo locations Marseille at #2 for crime charges amongst European cities, and #1 in France. This statistic has been amplified and relayed by media worldwide, portray an image of a metropolis underneath the fixed hail of bullets. But it isn’t a scientific research – these figures replicate how individuals who have been surveyed really feel about their metropolis’s security – they usually’re not essentially all locals.
One other survey concurs (you’ll discover outcomes right here in case you learn French): in accordance with this one, 85% of Marseille residents specific “emotions of insecurity”, 50% of them “typically” or “fairly often”.
It’s true that Marseille witnesses extra violent crime than its share. Gang warfare is front-page information, and there’s nothing benign about individuals being mowed down in full daylight. In 2023 alone, 48 individuals have been killed in gang wars.
However… there are many French cities with a excessive crime price, and that doesn’t cease us from visiting.
Ville-Information, which makes use of some official crime statistics (however tends to lag a yr or two behind) data that main cities like Paris or Lille have extra crimes per 1000 inhabitants than does Marseille. In response to them, in 2023 Marseille ranked #13 for crime in French cities, surpassed not solely by Paris and Lille but in addition by Lyon, Grenoble, Bordeaux…
A avenue in downtown Marseille – graffiti is sort of not possible to flee ©Leyla Alyanak/OffbeatFranceThe opposite facet of the coin
These figures paint a fairly bleak image of Marseille, nevertheless it’s not the one image. Digging behind a few of the hype reveals feedback comparable to these:
- “It is safer than nearly each main metropolis in america.”
- “It’s usually protected to stroll round Marseille at evening.”
- “Marseille just isn’t extra harmful than different massive cities on the earth.”
In response to Made in Marseille, an area weblog (in French), the risks are vastly overblown.
“Opposite to standard perception and the town’s unhealthy repute, strolling round Marseille isn’t any extra dangerous than strolling round Paris, Barcelona, Rome or different main European metropolises. Operating into hassle on each avenue nook is a fable and doesn’t correspond in any respect to actuality on the bottom.”
So right here we now have them, two diametrically opposed assessments of Marseille.
Two pretty views of Marseille. High: sweeping view of the bay as seen from the Basilica Notre-Dame de la Garde. Backside: a sunny avenue in Le Panier neighborhood. ©Leyla Alyanak/OffbeatFranceMarseille is caught with its historical past
There are causes Marseille has a “repute”.
The town of Marseille is a port, which noticed the speedy improvement of unlawful trafficking of varied kinds beginning within the nineteenth century, with an eventual takeover by mafia figures.
Motion pictures just like the French Connection helped cement Marseille’s repute as a drug-riddled, gangster-shooting gang-infested metropolis, and the truth that the movie was primarily based on a real story didn’t assist.
Every time there’s a peak in violence, authorities attempt to muscle in and alter issues, however nothing appears to stay. When one drug lord is arrested, one other takes his place, and when one community is dismantled, it doesn’t take lengthy for a brand new one to emerge.
There’s unemployment and poverty, which in lots of cities might be discovered within the suburbs, typically a distant subway journey from the town heart.
Contributing to Marseille’s travails is the proximity of poverty. In most cities, social housing is positioned within the suburbs. Not so in Marseille. Right here, the “poorer” districts are a part of the town’s cloth, typically just some bus stops away from the stylish neighborhoods alongside the coastal drive or the town’s major sights. 1 / 4 of Marseille’s inhabitants lives in these neighborhoods whereas nationally, the common is 7%.
All these elements helped gas the imaginative and prescient of a Marseille to be feared, one the place even French guests treaded with trepidation, often preferring to keep away from the town altogether. It was soiled, dingy, and harmful. I keep in mind visiting within the early 2000s with my mom and we shared in that sentiment.
However in 2013, one thing occurred.
Crusing previous La Main Cathedral and the enduring cubic MUCEM ©Leyla Alyanak/OffbeatFranceThe town was chosen as European Capital of Tradition, and a few critical cleaning-up happened. A world-class museum – the MUCEM – was inaugurated, the waterfront superbly restored, and swiftly Marseille was the darling of the avant-garde journey press, calling on guests to cease by and witness the “new Marseille”.
Guests booked trains by the hundreds and tumbled off cruise ships for a style of one in all France’s most genuine cities. They climbed in droves to the hilltop Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde, crowded the cafés alongside the water, and explored the “quaint” streets of Le Panier.
So what does this all imply for the person vacationer who’s questioning: “Is it protected to go to Marseille?”
Visiting Marseille as an on a regular basis vacationer
You’ll be able to discover the town for weeks and never witness any violence in any respect. In actual fact, that’s the most definitely state of affairs.
You’ll go to the primary sights, stroll alongside the harbor, admire the views, or catch your breath at the great thing about the Mediterranean coast.
Do you have to keep away from Marseille?
In actuality – and pay shut consideration – Marseille isn’t any extra and no much less harmful than different giant cities, in France or elsewhere.
There are some harmful areas in Paris, however that doesn’t imply you need to keep away from Paris altogether, does it?
It’s the identical with Marseille. Like most cities, crime isn’t evenly unfold, with most violent crime concentrated in some very particular components of city. Away from the much less savory districts, life goes on like anyplace else.
Which components of city are much less protected than others?
Many of the violent crime or gang warfare takes place among the many social housing estates of the northern districts of Marseille.
In case you go as much as the Basilica Notre-Dame de la Garde (which after all you’ll!) go searching. To the north, east and south, you’ll see teams of high-rise buildings. These often correspond to the neighborhoods which you, as a vacationer, won’t must go. As for violent crime and gang warfare, this tends to be concentrated among the many northers social housing estates.
There are a couple of central areas wherein you need to preserve your wits about you in daytime, like Noailles and Belsunce, and keep away from at evening. This additionally goes, sadly, for the town’s most well-known avenue, the Canebière, which feels decidedly seedy at evening, with individuals sleeping in doorways and no police presence in sight. In the course of the daytime, nevertheless, it’s completely positive. The world across the practice station can also be finest prevented at evening.
The sweeping stairs main down from Saint-Charles practice station in Marseille. I wandered round at nightfall and the realm was completely positive, however I’d keep away from it after dusk ©Leyla Alyanak/OffbeatFranceThe Cours Julien, a preferred consuming and consuming spot crammed with graffiti, is edgy however more and more stylish through the day; within the night, individuals dangle across the metro station entrance they usually’re not the type you’d like to satisfy on a darkish avenue, so preserve your eyes open.
The Cours Julien is turning into ever extra stylish. Right here, a couple of of the a whole lot of avenue artwork and graffiti examples all through this neighborhood (the header picture on the prime can also be the Cours Julien) ©Leyla Alyanak/OffbeatFranceAs for downtown, petty crimes, particularly pickpocketing, are a truth of life, as in any metropolis with tourism, so preserve your belongings shut.
DISCOURAGE PICKPOCKETS WITH THESE TWO ITEMS
Security suggestions in Marseille
- Use frequent sense and do what you’ll do in any massive metropolis: go away the bling at dwelling, take simply what you want with you for the day, and don’t be ostentatious. Feminine solo vacationers ought to take particular care as a result of there isn’t any one to look at your belongings whilst you’re in any other case busy, and harassment on the streets has been reported oftentempla.
- Stroll round through the day, nearly anyplace, however with warning, and within the night, persist with the areas extra frequented by vacationers, just like the restaurant-lined squares of Le Panier or the cafés that ring the harbor and close by squares.
- You’ll be able to’t actually paint a whole neighborhood with the identical brush, so you probably have any doubts, ask earlier than you go someplace that isn’t in your guidebook. Your lodge ought to know, or pop into the Vacationer Workplace and ask. I had a night occasion in part of city I wasn’t too snug about, and was instructed it was proper subsequent to a police station, which went a methods in the direction of assuaging any fears.
- Hold a watch out for petty scams – the gold ring rip-off, pretend petitions, and, after all, pickpocketing.
- Public transportation is ok through the day however I’d keep away from public transit at evening.
- As for locations to remain, I’d select the Vieux Port, or Outdated Port space, which is close to loads of cultural sights and eating places. Being extra touristy, nevertheless, additionally means it’s extra enticing to pickpockets, so… you realize the drill.
- I’d additionally keep away from the house leases in Le Panier, nevertheless enticing they sound – not due to the rat downside which, sure, exists all through the town, however as a result of short-term leases are pushing out long-term residents and gentrifying the neighborhood at an alarming price.
Tempers are fraying in Le Panier as short-term leases push out long-term residents. This tag says “Out with Airbnb” ©Leyla Alyanak/OffbeatFranceMarseille immediately: the reality please!
Let’s be actual: Marseille is under no circumstances a pristine metropolis of fresh streets and quiet voices. It’s messy, screechy and energetic, and soiled in locations. Sidewalks might be uneven and areas unkempt. In case you dislike graffiti and avenue artwork, this is probably not the place for you. And regardless of efforts to recruit extra police, safety continues to be a difficulty.
It’s a bit contradictory, however whereas residents might really feel insecure and train warning once they’re out and about, they’re additionally fed up with the “harmful” label that’s caught to them.
Marseille isn’t a simple stroll. This isn’t the France of fairly villages and romantic cafés, though you’ll find each right here.
However in case you’re an skilled traveler on the lookout for a vibrant, edgy metropolis, with large variety – half the inhabitants is from some place else – then you can be pleasantly shocked by France’s oldest metropolis. It has soul and character, it doesn’t glide, it pulsates. A part of you’ll really feel you’re in France, however the remainder of you might really feel transplanted to Italy or North Afirca.
From the cries of fishermen promoting contemporary catch alongside the wharf to the sleek curve of the coast or slender streets of Le Panier, Marseille stands proudly, rebellious and totally different.
For Marseille, like Paris, is a moveable feast: when you’ve seen it, it would stick with you.
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