Don’t google Marseille before you go. Especially, if you’re a woman, solo traveller or both.
Headlines of the horrors in France’s ‘most dangerous city’, ranked as such by several crime indexes, have long slapped a crime capital label onto the Provence port.
Violence and gang activity are among the long list of problems cited as risks to tourists visiting Marseille by the Numbeo database – the city earned a crime rating of 65.9 in 2024.
Given that a cancelled taxi – pre-booked and over €300 to travel just 20 minutes – resulted in threats to send men to our Airbnb and a blocked number before we had even left for the airport, I’d braced to land someplace sketchy. Annoyingly, I was grateful to be travelling with two men.
As France’s oldest city, Marseille has influences from its Greek settlers, Moroccan immigrants and former French colonies in Africa shaping much of the port’s 2,600-year history. I was visiting with family to experience Marseille’s Olympic offerings, trading athletics in the French capital for sailing in the French Riviera.
Read more on France travel:
It’s embarrassing now to admit my efforts to create an itinerary for the weekend had me clutching a zipped Uniqlo bag, bought specifically for this trip, with my phone stashed away for much of my evening in old town Le Panier. This meant an insufficient number of pictures of the undeniably pretty port city and a sore neck from constantly looking over my shoulder.
Given the recent warning of phone snatchers on mopeds stationed outside my London office, this was a over-the-top reaction to the threat of petty theft that all city dwellers face daily.
As such, general Foreign Office (FCDO) advice for France encourages British tourists to take the usual package of travel precautions: “There is a high threat of terrorist attack globally affecting UK interests and British nationals.”
“Stay aware of your surroundings at all times” and “be vigilant in public places”.
The same advice is issued for holiday hotspots Spain, Greece and Portugal – all popular destinations, usually booked without safety reservations.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Independent Travel…