Car Hire Marseille Airport – The Complete Guide to Hiring a Car at MRS

Why Car Hire at Marseille Airport Opens Up a Different Provence

Marseille is the city that France overlooked for decades and visitors are still catching up with. The Vieux-Port, the Panier district, the MuCEM museum on the sea wall and the bouillabaisse that has been cooked the same way for 200 years are all reasons to be here. None of them require a car.

The landscape around Marseille is the reason to collect one.

The Calanques are those improbable limestone fjords dropping straight to water so turquoise it barely looks real. They are technically within the city limits and yet feel like the end of the known world.

Cassis, 20 kilometres east, has the finest small harbour in Provence and an underground cave system that runs beneath the entire bay.

The Luberon mountains north of Aix-en-Provence are the Provence of the imagination: ochre villages perched on limestone ridges, lavender fields in July, markets that have been on the same square every morning since the 16th century.

The Camargue west toward the Rhone delta is like nowhere else in Europe: white horses and black bulls in a landscape of salt flats, reed beds and flamingos.

Car hire Marseille Airport is the only practical way to reach any of it. Cheap car hire Marseille Airport deals start from just €17 a day when booked online in advance.

Compare deals from all available operators through Get Car Hire before you book to secure the best rate before peak season availability runs out.

Collecting Your Car Hire at Marseille Airport: What to Expect

Marseille Provence Airport is located 27 kilometres northwest of Marseille city centre in the commune of Marignane. Car hire Marseille Airport is available from all major operators in the car parks directly in front of Terminal 1.

Cheap car hire Marseille Airport is available year-round from budget operators including Goldcar and OK Mobility alongside the premium brands. It is the second largest airport in southern France and a focus airport for Air France, Ryanair and easyJet with strong connections from across the UK and northern Europe.

Car rental desks at Marseille Airport are located in the car parks directly in front of Terminal 1, not inside the terminal building itself. On arriving, follow the green Car Rental signs from the arrivals hall. The rental car parking area is immediately in front of you as you exit Terminal 1.

Opening hours: Rental desks at Marseille Airport are open from 7am (8am on Sundays) to approximately 11:30pm. After closing, contact the airport Booking Centre directly on +33 (0)4 42 14 24 90. If you are arriving on a late flight, confirm your operator’s after-hours collection process before travelling.

Operator locations: Hertz is located in the P8 car park opposite Terminal 1. Sixt is in the car park in front of Hall 1, the international terminal. All operators offering car rental Marseille Airport are available through Get Car Hire.

Compare cheap car hire Marseille Airport deals across all operators before you book. Compare all available vehicles and rates before booking rather than accepting walk-up desk pricing on arrival.

Mileage caps: Several operators at Marseille Airport, including Sixt, cap daily mileage at 250 kilometres per day on standard bookings. For trips into Provence, the Dordogne or the Pyrenees this can be restrictive and result in excess mileage charges.

Check whether your booking includes unlimited mileage before confirming, especially for longer road trip itineraries.

Planning to collect a hire car at Marseille Airport? Compare all available vehicles, rates and mileage policies below before you travel.

Insider Tip: May is consistently the cheapest month for car hire at Marseille Airport, with economy car rates averaging approximately €29 per day. July and August are peak season with rates three to four times higher. The combination of warm weather, lower prices and pre-summer quiet on the Calanques and Luberon roads makes late May and early June the best value window of the year for a Provence road trip.

Marseille Airport Car Hire Costs: What to Budget

Seasonal pricing: Car hire Marseille Airport is cheapest in May at approximately €17 per day for the most competitive economy bookings, averaging €29 per day overall. July and August peak significantly. November and February offer the lowest winter rates for those flexible on timing.

Deposit amounts: Security deposit holds at Marseille Airport are higher than many visitors expect. Hertz typically holds €2,100 to €3,000 on the main driver’s credit card depending on vehicle category. This is a hold, not a charge, and is released on return. A credit card in the main driver’s name is required. Debit cards are not accepted for the deposit by most operators.

Young driver surcharge: Drivers under 25 pay a surcharge of approximately €16 to €42 per day at most Marseille Airport operators. This applies to the main driver and any additional drivers under 25.

Automatic cars: As throughout France, automatic vehicles are in shorter supply than manual at Marseille Airport. If an automatic is required, book at least four weeks ahead for summer travel. The premium over manual is typically 40 to 60 percent.

Low emission zone: Marseille operates a ZFE low emission zone. Most modern hire cars comply automatically. If you plan to rent an electric vehicle, Avis has the broadest EV selection at Marseille Airport and is the recommended operator for zero-emission travel.

The Drives That Make a Marseille Airport Hire Car Worth Every Euro

The Calanques: Marseille’s Secret Coast

Car hire Marseille Airport puts the Calanques within 20 minutes of the terminal. Cheap car hire Marseille Airport makes this the most accessible coastal national park in France from an airport base. The national park begins within the city limits of Marseille, which is one of the more remarkable facts about France’s second largest city.

Drive south from Marseille on the D559 coast road and within 20 minutes the city falls away entirely.

The western Calanques (Sormiou, Morgiou, Sugiton) are best reached by hire car along the narrow cliff roads that the park restricts to private vehicles outside peak summer season.

In July and August some of the approach roads close to private cars between 8am and 7pm and shuttles run from Luminy. Go in June, September or October for the full experience without the crowds.

The water in the Calanques is a shade of turquoise that people who have not seen it tend to describe as exaggerated when they see photographs. It is not exaggerated. The limestone filters the Mediterranean to a clarity that varies from pale jade in the shallows to deep lapis blue in the open water between the cliff faces.

Park above Calanque de Sormiou and walk down through the garrigue scrub. The air smells of thyme, sun-warmed rock and the sea, making it the finest half-hour walk in Provence.

Cassis, the Luberon and the Ochre Villages

Twenty kilometres east of the airport, Cassis is everything the Riviera resort towns want to be and do not quite achieve. The harbour is small enough that the fishing boats and the restaurant tables share the same waterfront and the port wine is drunk at 11am in the same spirit it has been since sailors needed fortifying before a voyage.

Drive north from Cassis on the D560 to Aix-en-Provence, the most elegant city in Provence and the one that Cezanne painted obsessively throughout his life. The Cours Mirabeau, the atelier where Cézanne worked until his death and the afternoon light on the limestone facades are all reason enough to stop.

Then drive Northeast into the Luberon on the D56 toward Gordes, the most photographed village in Provence, built from the same pale limestone as the plateau it sits on, barely distinguishable from the hillside until you are almost upon it.

Continue east to Roussillon. where the ochre pigment that gave the village its colour also gave Provence its particular quality of late-afternoon light. The sentier des ocres walk through the quarry takes 45 minutes and passes through formations of red, orange and yellow ochre rock that look completely unlike France and completely unlike anywhere else.

Spend the night in the Luberon if the timing allows. The villages empty after the day-trip coaches and become something altogether more genuine.

Insider Tip: The Luberon villages are at their finest in the two hours after sunrise and the two hours before sunset, when the light on the limestone turns warm and the day-trip coaches from Aix and Marseille have not yet arrived. If your itinerary allows an overnight stay in Gordes or Bonnieux rather than a day trip from Marseille, the evening and morning light on the village walls is something that no daytime photograph captures correctly.

The Camargue: Where France Becomes Wild

One of the most rewarding car hire Marseille Airport day trips is the Camargue, one hour west on the A55 and the D570: the least expected landscape in southern France. The Rhone delta has created 360 square kilometres of salt marsh, lagoon and reed bed that the map of France does not quite prepare you for.

The white Camargue horses run semi-wild in the marshes. The black bulls that provide the meat for the region’s gardians, the Camargue cowboys, share the same wetlands.

Greater flamingos, up to 30,000 of them in winter, stand in the pink-and-white shallow lagoons at Vaccares. The fortified medieval town of Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer at the southern tip of the delta is the annual pilgrimage site for Roma people from across Europe each May.

Drive the D37 through the centre of the park rather than the coast road. Slow down for the horses on the road. Stop whenever the birds appear.

Find the Best Marseille Airport Car Hire Deals on Get Car Hire

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Driving in Marseille and Provence with a Hire Car: Essential Rules

France drives on the right. Speed limits: 50 km/h in towns, 80 km/h on undivided rural roads, 110 km/h on dual carriageways and 130 km/h on motorways (110 km/h in wet conditions). Speed cameras are widespread across Provence on both motorways and national roads.

Marseille city driving: The city centre is navigable but the historic area north of the Vieux-Port has narrow one-way streets that require care. The metro and tram cover central Marseille efficiently. Collect the hire car on the day you plan to drive out of the city rather than on arrival.

Toll roads: The A7, A8, A50, A51 and A55 motorways around Marseille carry tolls. French toll booths accept cash and card. There are no electronic-only roads without payment options on Marseille routes. Budget approximately €15 to €20 for a day circuit from Marseille into Provence and back.

The Calanques road restrictions: Some Calanques access roads close to private vehicles between 8am and 7pm in July and August. Check current restrictions on the Parc National des Calanques website before planning a summer drive. For full official driving regulations in France refer to the French government driving guidance.

For a full guide to avoiding hidden charges at car hire desks see our car hire scams guide which covers the same practices used throughout France.

Frequently Asked Questions About Car Hire Marseille Airport

Where do I collect my hire car at Marseille Airport?

For cheap car hire Marseille Airport, rental desks are in the car parks directly in front of Terminal 1, not inside the terminal building. Follow the green Car Rental signs from arrivals. Hertz is in the P8 car park opposite Terminal 1. Sixt is in the car park in front of Hall 1. Desks are open from 7am (8am Sundays) to approximately 11:30pm.

Is it worth hiring a car in Marseille?

For Marseille city itself, the metro and tram network handle most of it adequately and driving in the historic areas north of the Vieux-Port is not recommended for visitors. For the Calanques, Cassis, Aix-en-Provence, the Luberon and the Camargue, car hire Marseille Airport is the only practical option.

Car hire Marseille Airport is the only way to reach the finest landscapes within two hours of the terminal. The finest landscapes around the city are completely inaccessible by public transport.

What is the cheapest month for car hire at Marseille Airport?

May is consistently the cheapest month with economy car rates around €29 per day. November and February also offer low winter pricing. July and August are peak season with rates three to four times higher than May. Late May and early June offer the best combination of good weather, competitive pricing and manageable crowds on the Calanques and in the Luberon villages.

Do hire cars at Marseille Airport have mileage limits?

Some cheap car hire Marseille Airport operators, including Sixt, cap mileage at 250 kilometres per day on standard bookings. For day trips into Provence, the Luberon or the Camargue this is generally sufficient.

For longer road trip itineraries covering Provence, the Dordogne or the south of France, confirm that your booking includes unlimited mileage before booking. Hertz and Avis typically offer unlimited mileage on their standard Marseille Airport bookings.

Can I drive to the Calanques in a hire car?

Yes. The western Calanques including Sormiou and Morgiou are accessed by narrow cliff roads that are open to private vehicles outside peak season. In July and August some approach roads close to private vehicles between 8am and 7pm and park shuttles operate from Luminy. For the best Calanques hire car experience, visit in May, June, September or October when the roads remain open throughout the day.

How much is the deposit for car hire at Marseille Airport?

Deposit holds vary by operator and vehicle category. Hertz typically holds €2,100 to €3,000 on the main driver’s credit card. Other operators hold between €900 and €1,500. The hold is released on undamaged return of the vehicle. A credit card in the main driver’s name is required for the deposit at all major operators. Debit cards are not accepted.

Book Your Marseille Airport Car Hire Through Get Car Hire

Get Car Hire compares cheap car hire Marseille Airport deals across all available operators with transparent pricing, clear excess terms and no hidden fees. Book with confidence before you travel and explore our guide to car hire at Bordeaux Airport to plan your south of France road trip.

Booking before arrival is consistently cheaper than walk-up desk pricing at Marseille Airport. The Calanques are waiting.