Tarragona – Nice · 23 April 2026 – 27 April 2027

On one side of the harbor a defiant church, on the other the old royal castle, in between a promenade on which gnarled plane trees provide shade – can so much picturesque idyll be real? In Collioure it can. The fishing village has been attracting artists since the beginning of the 20th century: Here, fauvists like Henri Matisse and André Derain revived in the golden light. Today, a theme trail along the harbor leads to the places where their works were created. Artists have again settled in the old town quarter and offer their works for sale in the flower-decorated labyrinth of alleys and stairways.

Marseille is the oldest and second largest city in France boasting the country's most important port and is like an enormous amphitheater on the Golfe du Lion looking out to the Mediterranean. Europeans and Africans have rubbed shoulders here for over 2600 years and the cultures mix like the different fish in a Bouillabaisse. With its imposing town houses, 'La Canebière' is the central boulevard leading to the old port where a lively fish market takes place every day. Marseille is a town in flux: The notorious old district of Panier has long since been cleaned up, and in 1995, the multicultural metropolis saw work begin on Euroméditerranée, the largest urban development project in Europe. Marseille was the European Capital of Culture in 2013.

Nice lies in one of the world's most lavishly endowed natural landscapes. The sea glows azure and the mountains in the background rise picturesquely up into the sky. Castle Hill gives you a fantastic view over the rambling old town – a labyrinth of alleyways with Baroque churches, pastel-colored houses and red-tiled roofs. The Promenade des Anglais, a sophisticated, five-kilometer-(3 miles)long walkway along the magnificent Baie des Anges and its long beach, lies at the heart of the elegant new town, with its splendid palaces and aristocratic hotels in the Belle-Époque and Art Deco styles.