24 Hours In: Marseille

Strong coffee, bouillabaisse, pastis ... You can still the taste the old days here

Wake up under designer sheets

08.00: Wake up in the smartNew Hotel (00 33 491 31 53 15; new-hotel.com/ lepharo), 71 Boulevard Charles Livon. Doubles from €200 (£142) room only.

The first coffee of the day

09.30: Order a grand crème at Torréfaction Noailles (00 33 491 55 60 66), 56 La Canebière admiring its beautiful 1920s interior.

Meet a nymph by the river

10.00: Walk up the Canebière and the Boulevard Longchamp to the Palais Longchamp to admire its extraordinary neo-classical fountain statuary, a riot of chariots and river nymphs.

Head for the port for lunch

12.45: Opt for bouillabaisse at Le Miramar (00 33 491 91 10 40 bouillabaisse. com), 12, Quai du Port; order a pizza at Chez Etienne at 43 rue de Lorette, or try one of the country's oldest Algerian restaurants, Le Fémina (00 33 4 91 54 03 56), 1 rue du Musée.

Now, a taste of old Marseille

14.30: Take a stroll through Le Panier to the Maison Diamantée 2 rue de la Prison - one of the last 16th-century houses in the quarter with acollection of paintings and objects relating to Vieux Marseille. Continue via the vast Cathedral to the Docks de la Joliette .

Quick stop for a coffee

16.00: Visit the café of the Centre de la Vieille Charité , a 17th-century alms-house complex by the classical architect Pierre Paul Puget.

Pétanque and pastis

16.30: Take a taxi to La Boule Bleue (00 33 491 43 27 20) in La Valentine industrial zone, the last artisan manufacturer of the steel balls used in the game of pétanque. Return to the Vieux Port and La Maison du Pastis (00 33 491 90 86 77; lamaisondupastis.com), 108 Quai du Port, for Marseille's own drink.

Pause for a drink by the quayside

19.00: Time for an apéritif - a petit jaune (pastis) or two at the old Bar de la Marine , 15, Quai de Rive Neuve, perhaps, to check out the sepia photos of director Marcel Pagnol who is said to have shot scenes from his film Bar de la Marine there. Alternatively, a bus ride to the Bar Le Corbusier, in the Cité Radieuse, 280 Boulevard Michelet, and watch the sun set over the Corniche.

Eat dinner as the sun sets

20.00: Save the last of the sunset for dinner at Chez Fonfon (00 33 4 91 52 14 38; chez-fonfon.com) or L'Epuisette (00 33 491 52 17 82; l-epuisette.com), both overlooking the water at the little fishing village Vallon des Auffes, along the Corniche. Both serve bouillabaisse and local fish.

Join the arty set into the night

22.00: Check out the Friche de Belle de Mai 41 rue Jobin), a former tobacco factory dedicated to theatre, concerts, dance, art galleries, puppetry and all that is alternative and arty.

Dance to an Algerian beat

01.00: Sample Algerian raï music atLe Soleil Rouge (00 33 491 54 16 38), 2/4 rue Fortin, and you could be across the Med, where most of the singers come from.