Cassis is a little beach town on the French Riviera, only an hour by train from Marseilles. It is a lovely, quiet spot, popular with French travelers and not overrun by international tourists like neighboring Nice.

I arrived in Cassis in midafternoon at the quaint train station 2 miles above town. There is a bus that comes through (every 30 minutes) that takes passengers down into the town. A word of caution – you should let the driver know your stop when you get on the bus – I didn’t and there were no pull cords, so I ended up missing my stop.

I managed to get off the bus at a later stop and after walking through the hilly streets lined with pastel beach houses, I arrived at my hostel, Cassis Hostel. It was a charming beach house with an infinity pool, outside patio, and large, airy sitting room. I was staying in the dorms, which turned out to be a large room with 6 bunks just behind the sitting room. There were private rooms upstairs.

I hadn’t had a chance to find get cash yet, but the lady told me I could pay later, so I set out to explore Cassis!

The main town of Cassis takes only a few minutes to walk across. It is laid out in a semi-circle facing the harbor, where small sailboats bob in the clear blue water. There is a lighthouse on a rocky outcrop you can walk to, and a wonderful view of the Mediterranean stretching out in the bay. There is one beach right near the town, but it is small and crowded with people. There are two other beaches past the town that are larger and better for swimming.

I took a walk up the other direction from town, looking to find the famed calanques, the narrow inlets of sea that stretch out between Marseilles and Cassis. The walk was very enjoyable – the sea is a bright blue, turning to clear cerulean where the water becomes shallow. The cliffs that drop off into the sea are a rusty red-brown color streaked with white quartz. The land is dry, but there are many trees and bushes along the cliffs. I made it to the first calanque (Port Miou), which is a harbor for sailboats. I was quite tired at this point (having not slept for about 30 hours), so I decided not to walk to the other calanques, which are supposed to be better for swimming.

Instead I walked back in the direction of town and stopped to swim at a small beach there. It’s always a little tricky going swimming when you’re solo traveling and carrying your purse with you (you can read my post on tips for swimming without getting your belongings stolen here). This beach seemed populated by families, not pickpockets, so I stretched my blanket out near the water’s edge, covered my purse in my skirt (bright red and visible from the water), and took a little swim in the lovely, warm water.

I’d intended to have a nice dinner and try some French wine that evening, but a migraine caught up to me (lack of sleep no doubt), so I ended up turning in early. I managed to buy a baguette and espresso for breakfast in the morning before catching the train back to Marseilles. All in all I truly enjoyed my night in Cassis – lovely, quiet place to spend a night or two.