Can anyone suggest a way to get from Marseille to Les Baux that is not expensive. I have been looking and seems there are no direct train or buses there from Marseille. I see that I could take a train to Arles (about a hour away) but from there I need suggestions. i will be on a cruise that stops there from 7am to 5pm. I know I should plan to be at port at least 45 minutes before ship departs. The ship offers a tour there but it is only 4 hours and I was not sure if that would be sufficient time to see and explore, also seems a bit pricey. Thanks

I don't think there is any way to get there without a car or a tour. It's just a very small village, although mainly a tourist site. There are probably a few people who live there. I imagine there are organized bus tours that go there from some of the main close cities, or probably a regular bus, but the schedules may not be very convenient. I would suspect that a bus from Marseille would really be the most convenient for you, otherwise it would take too long. I doubt if you'd save any time going from Marseille to another city and then getting a bus from there and the reverse. I'm not sure what you mean by a direct bus -- don't expect any bus to go there from Marseille without any stops on the way, but I think there is a bus that goes there where you don't have to transfer. I saw one schedule that had a bus from Marseille at 10 am that gets there around 11:30. And then the return bus left Les Baux around 3 pm and gets into Marseille a bit after 5 pm.

The schedule I saw was pretty old, here it is, but I imagine there are buses that still go there, but times may differ.

I really think you should take that tour if it's not too expensive, I wouldn't think there is any other way you can do this in your time frame. YOu would take lots of time up with going elsewhere by train and then taking a bus, I don't see how that could save any time.

If the tour is in Les Baux 4 hrs, that seems plenty of time to me, more than enough. I drove there and don't think I spent any more than there than that.

But I'm no expert on local transportation, maybe someone else will have a solution.

this is the schedule I saw, it is over 10 yrs old http://www.beyond.fr/travel/bus01.html

You know it is about 80 km from Marseille, or about 50 miles.

In the summer months, there is a public bus from St Rémy to les Baux. Otherwise, you will need to rent a car, hire a taxi, or take a tour as there is no other way to reach it.

I agree with Christine. Given that you are on a cruise, it will probably be the easiest way to get there. You may save some money if you do it on your own, but it is going to be a hassle IMO. Also, even though the region is lovely the little town isn't very big and quite touristy, so I think the time they allot will be fine. You may even want to skip it and just find some place for a great meal in Marseilles instead. Another idea if you think you have the time would be to take the train from Marseilles to Aix-en-Provence. It is a "ter" train (smaller regional train) and it shows it takes only 34 minutes. So it might be worth it if it isn't too much hassle getting to the gare.

We took a bus from Aix to Arles that stopped in Les Baux, but I probably would not want to go there from Marseilles unless I had more time.

Aix is wonderful and would make a great day out all by itself as would Cassis. My daughter spent a week in Marseilles visiting friends and found plenty there to occupy herself.

I don't know why anyone would make a big deal out of getting to Les Baux on iffy and problematic public transportation from Marseilles. It's just a touristy village in the middle of nowhere - fine if you happen to be touring the area and have a car, but totally impractical if you're on a cruise ship docking at Marseilles. Either take the ship tour or forget about it - there are plenty of other things to see that don't require those kinds of silly logistics.

I agree with StCirq. We stayed in Les Baux once for 5 days and loved it for our beautiful inn, its wonderful restaurants and its proximity (with a car) to so many lovely villages of Provence. But as a destination it is not worth the effort and time for a day trip from Marseilles.

Either take the cruise tour (four hours is plenty of time for Les Baux) or consider another destination for the day. If you can get to Aix, Arles, St. Remy or Cassis more easily, consider one of those.

Thank you everyone for the advice...I guess a tour it will be or Aix. I had read that currently they stopped all buses to Les baux and there was no train that went there, that is why I asked. I like exploring ruins and abandoned buildings, that is why I was more interested to go. I am not a wine person or the shopping type. Thanks again!

I wouldn't even bother going to Les Baux without a car. Some people are done with it within one hour and others could stay for a week. Do you know your category?

I wouldn't either as lovely as it is but more so after the day trippers leave.