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‘Just the right amount of edge’: how Marseille became 2024’s on-trend city

Thanks to buzzy cafes and the backing of Chanel’s fashion supremos, France’s oldest city is having its moment

It was accompanied by a picture of the type of lifestyle and fashion staples that a certain kind of traveller might enjoy while in the southern French city, including a skinny Vogue cigarette, on-trend wraparound sunglasses and a bottle of Terre d’Hermès eau de toilette. On Instagram, influencers, style writers and creative types are posting snaps of the yellow-and-white-striped sun loungers of the beachside restaurant and guesthouse Tuba Club, which was founded in 2021 by a self-described “friends collective” of Marseillais locals. Unlike a lot of the south of France, which, he said, “can be expensive, and a little too overdone and chi-chi for my tastes”, Marseille “has just the right amount of edge while being surrounded by incredibly stunning landscapes … I think that is perhaps why it’s coming back as an in-demand place to go.” Also, he noted, “it’s a 90-minute flight and you land slap-bang in the middle of the city.

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