Marseille rooftop bars: where to drink with the city at your feet

Marseille is a city of hills facing west over the sea, which makes it a natural rooftop city. Since 2013 the docks, the hotels and even the museum have grown terraces, and a “rooftop” is now what visitors ask for on their first evening. Here is our honest ranking, by what you actually get for the price, from people who have sat on all of them more than once.

The big terraces

Above the docks at La Joliette. The largest rooftops in the city sit on the renovated warehouses and the shopping terraces between Les Docks and the sea: several thousand square metres, DJs, food trucks, sun loungers, a view west over the cruise ships and the setting sun. They are what most people mean by “the Marseille rooftop”. Honest verdict: a great sunset, a young crowd, long queues at weekends, average drinks at Paris prices. Come on a weekday, arrive at 18:00, leave when the DJ starts if that is not your thing.

The Silo. The old grain silo at Arenc is a concert hall with a rooftop bar in season, further north, with the same westward sunset and fewer people.

Hotel rooftops

Several hotels around the Vieux-Port and on the Corniche have roof terraces with pools and bars open to non-guests, with a view of the harbour and the Bonne Mère that no dock terrace can offer. Honest verdict: the best views in the city and the best service; prices to match; guests get priority at sunset, so book or come early. The seafront hotels on the Corniche do the same trick over the islands. If a rooftop matters to you, choosing a hotel that has one is the simplest way to guarantee a seat; the link box below compares them.

The museum roof

The MuCEM roof terrace is free, reached from the footbridge or the lift, with a restaurant run by a three-starred chef and a more affordable café-bar. The view: Fort Saint-Jean, the harbour mouth, La Major and the sunset behind the Frioul. Honest verdict: the best free viewpoint in Marseille, open museum hours (closed Tuesdays), no reservation for the bar, no late nights.

Bars on the hills

The real rooftops of Marseille are its hills. Around Notre-Dame de la Garde and on the Cours Julien heights, small bars and restaurants have terraces over the roofs of the whole city; at Endoume and along the Corniche, cafés sit above the sea with the islands in front. None of them calls itself a rooftop. All of them beat the DJ terraces for atmosphere and price. Ask for une terrasse avec vue and see what happens.

When to go

• Sunset time shifts from 17:15 in December to 21:15 in late June; the light is best in the half hour before. In summer, arrive by 19:30.
• Mistral days close many rooftops or make them miserable; the hills and the Vallon des Auffes are sheltered alternatives.
• Season. The dock terraces run from about April to October; hotel roofs all year.

Honest ranking

Rooftop	View	Drinks	Crowd	Verdict
Docks terraces, La Joliette	Sunset over the sea	Average, pricey	Young, loud, queues	Once, on a weekday
Hotel rooftops, Vieux-Port	Harbour and Bonne Mère	Good, pricey	Mixed, calm	Best if you book
MuCEM roof	Forts and harbour mouth	Fair	Museum visitors	Best free view
Hill bars, Cours Julien and Notre-Dame	Whole city	Cheap	Local	Best atmosphere
Corniche and Endoume cafés	Islands and sea	Fair	Local	Best sunset with a pastis

For the rest of the evening, our list of English-speaking restaurants in Marseille tells you where to eat afterwards, and the neighbourhoods guide where to sleep near your favourite view.