marseille AND LYON
MAY 2026
Dr KathLeen Olive
*** Preliminary Itinerary ***
Discover two of France’s most distinctive regional capitals, both emerging as vibrant cultural destinations, and known for their fascinating histories and proud cuisines
OVERVIEW
Get to know the many faces of France on this twin-city tour to the country’s two largest regional capitals. Known internationally for their distinctive histories and proudly preserved cultures of food and wine, Lyon and Marseille are emerging as strong cultural destinations in their own right, with much to offer the traveller looking to enjoy France beyond Paris’s crowds.
We begin with four nights in Marseille, where we unpack the city’s origins as a Greek emporium and premier Mediterranean port, explore its striking coastline by boat and discover the Modernist masterpieces in its excellent small art galleries and design icons left in this vibrant city by ‘starchitects’ Le Corbusier, Rudy Ricciotti and Stefano Boeri.
En route to Lyon, we visit Château La Coste, a rural estate transformed into one of the world’s best contemporary sculpture collections by an Irish entrepreneur. Masterpieces by Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder and more are hosted in a Tadao Ando-designed complex that is not yet on the radar of mass tourism.
And then we enjoy four nights in elegant Lyon, the third largest city in France and long considered its ‘second city’. The Gallo-Roman capital of Gaul, the centre of Lyon offers both significant archaeological sites and one of the country’s best museums of ancient artefacts. In the Renaissance, it emerged as a proto-industrial town, with a focus on silk production and decorative arts, and it has been more recently celebrated as both the French culinary capital and the birthplace of modern motion pictures. Its art gallery is considered to hold one of France’s finest collections of Western art.
The tour program is enhanced by the expertise of your leader, Dr Kathleen Olive, and by select fine dining experiences that showcase the varied gastronomies of Lyon and Marseille.
Tour Leader
Dr Kathleen Olive is one of Australia’s best-known cultural tour leaders, with over fifteen years’ experience leading tours to Western Europe, North America, Australasia and Japan.
Kathleen has led cultural tours since 2003 and has designed and led a number of successful tours to France, from Burgundy’s medieval history, art and architecture to the birth of modern art in southern France. She is well known for her lectures on history, art and culture at the WEA (Sydney), the Italian Institute of Culture (Sydney), the Art Gallery of NSW and for the Art Society (formerly ADFAS).
Tour participants frequently praise her engaging and attentive leadership of a group.
Highlights
Discover Lyon, one of France’s most delightful cities, and its excellent historic collections of antiquities and art
Understand contemporary France, on walking tours of Lyon’s outstanding murals, Marseille’s cutting-edge architectural scene, and Château La Coste’s sculpture collection
Delight in quintessential flavours, from Lyon’s famed bouchons to a bouillabaisse enjoyed in the colourful surrounds of Marseille’s Vieux Port
Uncover new cultural collections, including Lyon’s Musée des Confluences and Marseille’s striking Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (MUCEM)
Understand Le Corbusier’s innovation and influence, on an architect-led tour of Marseille’s Unité d’Habitation
Enjoy varied scenery, from the Rhône’s vine-covered hills to the distinctive colours of Provence and a boat tour of the Mediterranean coast
Questions?
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