Aix-en-provence

Updated : 25st August 2010



Updated : 25st August 2010

Aix-en-Provence is part of the French region of Provence Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It is often simply referred to as Aix. There are 300 members from couchsurfing living there and we would like you to come and visit us while you are passing through our region.

History
Aix en Provence was founded as Aquae Sextiae in the year 122 NC, by Sextius Calvanius, after first destroying the Ligurian oppidium at Entremont. In 102 BC, Marius, who defeated the Teutons on the plain of Pourrières (20km east), embellished the town with monuments. In 45 BC, Cesar declared Aix a colony. The thermal baths were developed around 15 BC from local mineral hot springs. When the Roman Empire was recognized at the end of the 3rd Century AD, Aix became the capital of the second Narbonnaise. Aix is on the Roman road Aurelian Way.

An archbishop was installed here from around 400 AD,, although the archbishopric was established definitely in the 8th century. The Roman colony was abandoned in 574, and the early Middle Ages became a time of invasion, principally by the Barbarians and the Saracens. During this period, regional power evolved to Arles.

From the 11th to 15th centuries, Aix came back to life in stature. In 1182, the Counts of Provence took Aix as their home, and the city was known for its refined and literate court. In 1409, a university was founded by Louis II.

In 1481, following the Anjou-Provence alliance, Provence was leagued to the crown by Charles III of Maine, Provence's last ruler. Good King René (Bon Roi René) (1409-80), who was one of the most literate and enlightened men of his time, ruled during Aixe's golden age, bringing art, theatre, literature and the Muscat grape to Aix and Provence. Aix became the seat of the new parliament in 1501.

Early in the 16th century, Aix was ravaged repeatedly by the Imperials. Aix sided with the Reform, against Richelieu and Mazarin, and lost.

Aix declined even further during the revolution, and was eventually supplanted politically by Marseille.

By Plane
En: Aéroport Marseille Provence (Mo-Su dép every 30min, journey time 30min, 7,00€). shuttle buses

The nearest airport is Marseille-Provence Airport near Marignane. Since late 2006, they also opened the MP2 LowCost terminal. It links Aix en Provence with all the major cities in Europe and North Africa (Agadir, Biarritz, Brest, Bruxelles Charleroi, Casablanca, Beauvais (Paris=80kms), Brest, Brussels, Cagliari, Casablanca, Cologne, Dublin, Edimbourg, Eindhoven, Fès, Göteborg, Lille, London, Madrid, Malaga, Marrakech, Nador, Nantes, Oslo, Porto, Stockholm, Tanger, Tours).

These companies offer good deals to get in Aix : Ryanair, Easy Jet, Jet4You, Germanwings, Atlas-blue.

By Train


En :You've got 2 train stations in Aix en Provence : ‘Aix en Provence (CENTER)’ et ‘Aix en Provence TGV’.

If you come from Paris, Lyon, Avignon or Europe (Brussel, London, Geneva, Amsterdam,...) with the TGV, you'll arrive at ‘Aix en Provence TGV’, 15km far from the down town, shuttles bring you in the down town (journey time 15 min, 3,60€)

REDUCTION CARD : if you are under 26, you can buy a reduction card for 15€/year which allow you to have a 50% reduction 7 days / 7 in all the TER in the PACA Region(Express Regional Train) and most of the regional LER (Express Regional Line), TER in PACA betsson poker

I would recommend you to buy online IDTGV or Prem's tickets.SNCF reservation

By Bus
En : Many lines exist in the area, (fr) lepilote.com is the website for your bus journey in the area. Map of buses in the area in pdf format

Arles (line 18, Mo-Sa 6 dep/d, Su 3 dep/d, Journey time 1:30, 9,00€)

Avignon (LER-line 23, Mo-Sa 4 dep/d, Su 1 dep/d, journey time 1:15, 13,3€)

Marseille (line car 50 or 51, Mo-Sa dep every 20min, Su dep every 30min, journey time 30min, 4,90€). Departure from porte d'Aix, take the boulevard Charles Nedelec (follow the signs in the station of Marseille St Charles, 5min walk), follow the map just after.

REDUCTION CARD : the 'Conseil Générale des Bouches du Rhône' offers for the young under 25 a card for 5€ (identity card is necessary) allows you to buy tickets for 1€ valid for all the lines around Aix and Marseille every weekend.

You have some bus companies like Eurolines which can get you to Aix easily. Or check this website which provides some information about bus to reach Aix Regional buses. Bus station's phone number is 08.91.024.025 (Watch out! Expensive number!!!)



By Car
Motorways A7 - A46 et A8 Paris (780 km) Lyon (300 km) Nice (175 km) Exits : Aix North Aix Ouest, Aix South - et Aix Center

Motorways A54 et A9 Montpellier (150 km) - Nîmes (120 km) - Arles (80 km) Exits : Aix Ouest et Aix Sud

Guidance
Free maps of the town are available in the Tourism office

You can also take a look at this map

Se déplacer dans Aix / Transfert in Aix
Bus : AIXENBUS (pages in French). The office is into the tourism office. 1€/Ticket, 7€/10 Tickets

Taxi : ATRA (04 42 27 71 11) are able to provide you an English speaking driver.

Location de voiture / Rent a car : ADA LOCATION (04 42 52 36 36), AVIS (04 42 21 64 16), EUROPCAR (08 25 89 69 76), HERTZ (04 42 27 91 32)

Location de vélo / Bicycle rent : the city provides you bicycles for 1€/hour (the first 30min are free), this service is called v’hello (pages in French).

Informations pratiques / Convenient information
Most of the websites I quote here are translated in English, just click on British flag for English

Office du tourisme / Tourism office website

Mairie d'Aix / Aix city Hall Website

Banques / Banks : Societe Generale, LCL, BNP... ont des bureaux de change et vous y trouverez de nombreux distributeurs sur le cours Mirabeau / have many change desk and you will find ATM on the cours Mirabeau.

Phone : Public phones do not use coins. Instead, you must buy a card from a newspaper vendor or shop vendor. They cost about €7. Keep this in mind when attempting to contact your host.

Internet : you've got several cybercafé in Aix (3€/hour)

Urgence / Emergency : 18, 17, 15 or 112

Location d'appartement / rent an apartment : Adele or Mairie

Préparer votre voyage / Prepare your Journey : Check these website Le voyageur; National Geographic; Travel guide

Meetings
There are regular meetings. Regular small local meet ups take place a few times a week (going for drinks, picnics and various events). Check out the Aix-En-Provence group for more info! The group is mainly used for you to find couches, get in touch with local hosts, organising meeting around the region.

Tips
When looking for a couch don't hesitate to request it from CSers that live in the suburbs!

CouchSurfers
You can reach the couchsurfers of Aix en Provence on the CS group, Aix en Provence

Emergency couches available
For an emergency, post in the Aix-en-Provence EMERGENCY group

What to do?
You will find here :Schedule of what to do in Aix.

In Case of Emergency



 * Police Station: 04 42 93 97 00
 * Health Urgency: 04 42 96 66 00
 * Hospital: 04 42 33 50 00 website
 * Fireman Station: 18 or 04 42 99 18 18
 * Emergency Doctor: 04 42 26 24 00


 * Other numbers: website

Gallery
External gallery