Living in Les Cinq-Avenues, Marseille

Les Cinq-Avenues is one of the most genteel neighborhoods in Marseille: a residential area of the 4th arrondissement that takes its name from the junction of large tree-lined avenues and that revolves around the Palais Longchamp, a nineteenth-century monument with its spectacular fountain. It's the Marseille many don't expect: orderly, green, made of bourgeois façades and a leisurely neighborhood life.

Who lives here

Families, professionals and retirees form the backbone of the neighborhood, joined by students and young couples drawn by the calm and the good connection to the center. It's an area where people stay a long time: those who live here tend to put down roots. The atmosphere is residential and composed, far from the chaos of certain more working-class parts of the city, but without sliding into the anonymity of the suburbs.

What it's like during the day

By day the pace is relaxed. The Parc Longchamp, listed among France's Jardins Remarquables, is the green heart of the neighborhood: lawns, trees, fountains and the two museums housed in the wings of the palace, the Musée des Beaux-Arts and the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. It's the place where people stroll, run, walk the dog or study in the shade. Around it, wide avenues and broad sidewalks invite you to get around on foot.

What it's like in the evening

The evening is quiet: Les Cinq-Avenues is not a nightlife neighborhood, and that's part of its charm. A few bistros and neighborhood restaurants stay open, but those looking for venues and nightlife head down toward the center, easily reached. The result is a silent walk home, in well-kept residential streets.

Getting around

The neighborhood is served by the Cinq-Avenues - Longchamp station on the M1 metro (the blue line, from La Rose to La Fourragère). From here the Vieux-Port is a few stops away, and the Saint-Charles station - the city's main rail hub - is even closer, a couple of stops on the same M1. This makes the neighborhood very handy both for getting around the city and for leaving by train. Several bus lines complete the offering.

Eating and shopping

For everyday shopping there are bakeries, small supermarkets and shops scattered in the residential streets, plus a neighborhood market. The food offering is that of a bourgeois neighborhood: quiet bistros, a few ethnic tables and cafés for breakfast. For a wider choice of restaurants and shops it's worth heading down toward the center or toward the Canebière, a short distance away.

When NOT to pick it

If you're looking for nightlife, venues at every corner and the chaotic energy of the most authentic Marseille, Les Cinq-Avenues will feel too sleepy in the evening. It's a residential, composed neighborhood: the atmosphere is more "quiet city" than "boiling Mediterranean port." Anyone who wants everything on their doorstep around the clock will be better off right in the center.

For those who want an orderly, green and well-connected base - with a large park as a home garden and the metro a stone's throw away - Les Cinq-Avenues is one of the most restful and reliable choices in Marseille.