If one of the main goals of your trip to Marseille is a shopping tour, run to rue Saint-Ferréol. Here are the best stores with designer clothes, shoes and accessories, as well as two popular shopping centers of Marseille - Galeries Lafayette and Septge Bourse. Prices for branded collections are not cheap, to put it mildly, but you can buy things from previous seasons at a 30-50% discount.
Marseille's largest shopping center, Grand Littoral, is located near the Old Port, on rue Saint-Antoine. It offers about two hundred boutiques and a grocery hypermarket.
For cheap things go to Marseille outlet stores and discount centers. Most of them you will find on the streets de Rome and du Prado. A good outlet near Marseille is the Serravalle Scrivia center.
But if you read some reviews about shopping in Marseille, you will see that people go there not at all for branded things, but for gastronomic souvenirs, Provençal textiles and fragrant soaps.
Thus, olive oil and Provencal herbs are best bought in local markets and stores on the seafront; boat cookies - in souvenir shops; Marseille aperitif pastis - on draught in the Old Port. The best Provençal textiles can be found at the weekend fairs at Cours Julien, and earthenware and soap at Le Panier.
Virtually all reviews of shopping in Marseille mention the handmade Santons Christmas figurines. If you're interested in their history, visit the website. You can buy the figurines at Rue Neuve Sainte Catherine.
