Final-year school trip to Provence and Marseille: Aix, the Old Port, the calanques, Cassis and Avignon (7 days)

Day 1: Departure from your school and overnight stop near Lyon

• Departure from your school early in the morning, at the agreed time.
• Daytime drive via Luxembourg, Lorraine and Burgundy (about 650 to 750 km depending on your school, 7½ to 8½ hours’ driving excluding stops).
• Our drivers drive for a maximum of 3 hours, then take a 30-minute break, day and night.
• Arrival in the late afternoon in the Lyon area: check-in at the hotel for the overnight stop, dinner and quiet evening.

Day 2: Aix-en-Provence and arrival in Marseille

• Departure after breakfast through the Rhône valley (about 300 km, 3½ hrs).
• Arrival in Aix-en-Provence around midday, lunch at your own expense, then walk along the Cours Mirabeau and through the old town with its fountains and mansions.
• Visit to Cézanne’s studio, where the painter worked in his final years (on request).
• Drive to Marseille (about 40 min) and check-in at the accommodation for four nights; dinner and supervised evening.

Day 3: Marseille, from the Old Port to the ‘Bonne Mère’

• Up to Notre-Dame de la Garde, the ‘Bonne Mère’, and its panorama over the city, the bay and the Frioul islands.
• Walk around the Old Port and through the Panier, the city’s oldest district, with its colourful lanes.
• Lunch at your own expense, then across the footbridges and gardens of Fort Saint-Jean (free access) and visit to the MuCEM, the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (on request).
• Dinner and supervised evening.

Day 4: Calanques cruise and Cassis

• Boat cruise from the Old Port along the Calanques National Park: white limestone cliffs, coves and turquoise water.
• Lunch at your own expense, then drive to Cassis (about 45 min).
• Walk around the colourful fishing harbour below Cap Canaille, one of the highest sea cliffs in Europe, and supervised free time on the beach.
• Return to Marseille, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 5: Hike to Sugiton and the Château d’If

• Drive to the Luminy campus (about 30 min) and supervised hike to the viewpoint and the Calanque de Sugiton (about 1 hour’s walk each way).
• Picnic at your own expense facing the sea, then back on foot and by coach to the centre.
• Boat crossing to the island of If and visit to the castle, the state prison made famous by Alexandre Dumas’s ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ (on request).
• Dinner and last evening in Marseille.

Day 6: Avignon and on to Lyon

• Rooms vacated after breakfast and drive to Avignon (about 100 km, 1 hr 15 min).
• Visit to the Palace of the Popes, the largest Gothic palace in the world, and the Pont Saint-Bénezet, the famous ‘pont d’Avignon’ (on request).
• Lunch at your own expense, then drive to the Lyon area (about 230 km, 2 hrs 45 min).
• Check-in at the hotel for the overnight stop, dinner and last supervised evening.

Day 7: Return to your school

• Departure after breakfast.
• Daytime drive to Belgium (about 650 to 750 km) with regular stops.
• Lunch at your own expense during a stop on the way.
• Arrival at your school in the evening.