Is Marseille Protected? Or Is The Metropolis As Harmful As They Say?

Do you have to be scared to go to Marseille?

Or is 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 may be very frequent.”
• “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 beneath 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): based on 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 charge, and that doesn’t cease us from visiting.

Ville-Knowledge, 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 keeping with 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…

The 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 akin to these:

• “It is safer than nearly each main metropolis in the USA.”
• “It’s sometimes secure to stroll round Marseille at night time.”
• “Marseille is just not extra harmful than different large cities on the planet.”

In keeping with Made in Marseille, a neighborhood weblog (in French), the risks are vastly overblown.

“Opposite to common perception and town’s dangerous repute, strolling round Marseille isn’t any extra dangerous than strolling round Paris, Barcelona, Rome or different main European metropolises. Operating into bother on each road nook is a fantasy and doesn’t correspond in any respect to actuality on the bottom.”

So right here we have now them, two diametrically opposed assessments of Marseille. 

Two beautiful views of Marseille. High: sweeping view of the bay as seen from the Basilica Notre-Dame de la Garde. Backside: a sunny road in Le Panier neighborhood. ©Leyla Alyanak/OffbeatFrance

Marseille is caught with its historical past

There are causes Marseille has a “repute”.

Town of Marseille is a port, which noticed the fast improvement of unlawful trafficking of assorted types 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 may be discovered within the suburbs, typically a distant subway experience from town middle.

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 town’s material, typically only a few bus stops away from the stylish neighborhoods alongside the coastal drive or town’s essential sights. 1 / 4 of Marseille’s inhabitants lives in these neighborhoods whereas nationally, the typical is 7%.

All these elements helped gasoline the imaginative and prescient of a Marseille to be feared, one the place even French guests treaded with trepidation, normally preferring to keep away from 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 long-lasting cubic MUCEM ©Leyla Alyanak/OffbeatFrance

Town was chosen as European Capital of Tradition, and a few critical cleaning-up passed off. A world-class museum – the MUCEM – was inaugurated, the waterfront superbly restored, and abruptly 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 considered one of 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 secure to go to Marseille?”

Visiting Marseille as an on a regular basis vacationer

You’ll be able to discover town for weeks and never witness any violence in any respect. Actually, that’s the more than likely situation.

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 it is best 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 elements of city. Away from the much less savory districts, life goes on like anyplace else.

Which elements of city are much less secure than others?

A lot 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 normally correspond to the neighborhoods which you, as a vacationer, may not must go. As for violent crime and gang warfare, this tends to be concentrated among the many northers social housing estates.

There are just a few central areas wherein it is best to hold your wits about you in daytime, like Noailles and Belsunce, and keep away from at night time. This additionally goes, sadly, for town’s most well-known road, the Canebière, which feels decidedly seedy at night time, with individuals sleeping in doorways and no police presence in sight. Throughout the daytime, nonetheless, it’s completely tremendous. The realm across the practice station can also be finest prevented at night time.

The sweeping stairs main down from Saint-Charles practice station in Marseille. I wandered round at nightfall and the realm was completely tremendous, however I’d keep away from it after dusk ©Leyla Alyanak/OffbeatFrance

The Cours Julien, a preferred consuming and consuming spot crammed with graffiti, is edgy however more and more fashionable through the day; within the night, individuals dangle across the metro station entrance they usually’re not the sort you’d like to satisfy on a darkish road, so hold your eyes open.

The Cours Julien is changing into ever extra fashionable. Right here, just a few of the lots of of road artwork and graffiti examples all through this neighborhood (the header picture on the high can also be the Cours Julien) ©Leyla Alyanak/OffbeatFrance

As for downtown, petty crimes, particularly pickpocketing, are a truth of life, as in any metropolis with tourism, so hold your belongings shut.

Security ideas in Marseille

• Use widespread sense and do what you’d do in any large metropolis: go away the bling at house, 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 observe your belongings whilst you’re in any other case busy, and harassment on the streets has been reported oftentempla.

• Stroll round through the day, virtually anyplace, however with warning, and within the night, stick 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 in case you have any doubts, ask earlier than you go someplace that isn’t in your guidebook. Your resort ought to know, or pop into the Vacationer Workplace and ask. I had a night occasion in part of city I wasn’t too comfy about, and was instructed it was proper subsequent to a police station, which went a methods in 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 might keep away from public transit at night time. 

• As for locations to remain, I might select the Vieux Port, or Outdated Port space, which is close to loads of cultural sights and eating places. Being extra touristy, nonetheless, additionally means it’s extra engaging to pickpockets, so… you recognize the drill.

• I might additionally keep away from the house leases in Le Panier, nonetheless engaging they sound – not due to the rat downside which, sure, exists all through town, however as a result of short-term leases are pushing out long-term residents and gentrifying the neighborhood at an alarming charge.

Tempers are fraying in Le Panier as short-term leases push out long-term residents. This tag says “Out with Airbnb” ©Leyla Alyanak/OffbeatFrance

Marseille right this moment: the reality please!

Let’s be actual: Marseille is certainly not a pristine metropolis of unpolluted streets and quiet voices. It’s messy, screechy and energetic, and soiled in locations. Sidewalks may be uneven and areas unkempt. In case you dislike graffiti and road artwork, this is probably not the place for you. And regardless of efforts to recruit extra police, safety continues to be a problem.

It’s a bit contradictory, however whereas residents could 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 straightforward stroll. This isn’t the France of fairly villages and romantic cafés, though you can find each right here.

However in case you’re an skilled traveler searching 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 recent catch alongside the wharf to the swish 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’ll stick with you.

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