A 40-minute forest trail leads from La Ste-Baume to the Grotte de Ste-Madeleine (950m), a mountain cave where Mary Magdalene is said to have spent the last years of her life. Its entrance offers a breathtaking panorama of Montagne Ste-Victoire, Mont Ventoux and the Alps. Dominican Friars have developed the grotto as a place of pilgrimage for over 700 years, building the Hostellerie de la Sainte-Baume in 1835 to welcome pilgrims.
Grotte de Ste-Madeleine
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
20.81 MILES
Aix established one of France's first public museums here, on the site of a former Hospitallers' priory, in 1838. Nearly 200 years of acquisitions …
15.61 MILES
East of Aix rises Cézanne’s favourite haunt, the magnificent silvery ridge of Montagne Ste-Victoire, its dry slopes carpeted in garrigue (scented scrub),…
17.04 MILES
The calanques (coves) of the coast surrounding Marseille became France's 10th national park in 2012, preserving their astonishing beauty and harbouring an…
Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde
20.08 MILES
Occupying Marseille’s highest point, La Garde (154m), this opulent 19th-century Romano-Byzantine basilica is Marseille's most-visited icon. Built on the…
20 MILES
'The Basket' is Marseille's oldest quarter – site of the original Greek settlement and nicknamed for its steep streets and buildings. Its close, village…
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Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée
20.45 MILES
The icon of modern Marseille, this stunning museum explores the history, culture and civilisation of the Mediterranean region through anthropological…
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26.71 MILES
The simplest but most beautiful of 'The Sisters' (a trio of great Provençal Cistercian abbeys including Silvacane and Notre-Dame de Sénanque), Thoronet,…
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20.98 MILES
The Caumont is a stellar art space housed inside the Mazarin quarter’s grandest 18th-century hôtel particulier (mansion). While there are three quality…
Nearby attractions
13.79 MILES
A place of exile during the 17th century, once-desolate pinprick Bendor was subsequently abandoned for 250 years. Then in 1951 along came Paul Ricard, a…
13.9 MILES
Looming, rock-pitted and scrubby Cap Canaille (394m) forms the natural southern border to Cassis' harbour. From the top, captivating views unfold across…
14.13 MILES
The 'Road of Crests' offers heart-stopping panoramas as it traverses the 13 winding kilometres of stunning coastal and upland scenery between Cassis and…
4. Ancienne Abbaye de la Celle
14.6 MILES
Built over an earlier Christian structure (itself sitting on the foundations of a Roman villa), this 12th-century Benedictine Romanesque abbey has been…
5. Mémorial du Débarquement de Provence
14.8 MILES
Near the summit of Mont Faron, Mémorial du Débarquement de Provence commemorates the Allied landings of Operation Dragoon, which took place along the…
15.61 MILES
East of Aix rises Cézanne’s favourite haunt, the magnificent silvery ridge of Montagne Ste-Victoire, its dry slopes carpeted in garrigue (scented scrub),…
15.63 MILES
North of the city, Mont Faron (589m) towers over Toulon, and the views are, as you would expect, epic. Near the summit the Mémorial du Débarquement de…
8. En-Vau, Port-Pin & Port-Miou
15.78 MILES
To the east of the Parc National des Calanques, the stone-sculptured coast brings you to three remote calanques: En-Vau, Port-Pin and Port-Miou. A steep…