Low-emission zone of Marseille
Marseille’s low-emission zone was introduced on 1 September 2022. Only vehicles with an emissions sticker are allowed to drive within this zone. If you do not have an emissions sticker, you will receive a fine. On this page you can read where the low-emission zone is located and which colors of emissions sticker are allowed within Marseille.
If you are visiting another city with a low-emission zone, check this overview. You can read more about the sticker itself on the home page of this website.
Map of the low-emission zone in Marseille
Marseille’s low-emission zone is shown on the map in orange. As you can see, the zone covers the entire downtown area and much of the surrounding residential areas. The boundary is defined clockwise by: avenue du Cap Pinède, boulevard Capitaine Gèze, the A7, boulevard des Plombières, avenue Alexandre Fleming, boulevards Françoise Duparc, Sakakini, Jean Moulin and Rabatau, and finally avenue du Prado. It is good to know that all these avenues and boulevards themselves are not part of the low-emission zone.
The low-emission zone of Marseille
In France, the low-emission zone of Marseille is sometimes referred to as the ZFE (zone à faibles émissions) of the Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence. This is the larger urban area around the cities of Marseille and Aix. Currently, the low-emission zone is limited to just the city of Marseille, but there are plans to expand it in the future.
Marseille’s low-emission zone is in effect day and night and every day of the week, which is unlike for example the low-emission zone of Grenoble. There are also no different rules for freight traffic, as is the case in Lyon. This makes it a clear and easy to understand low-emission zone, which is very convenient for tourists as well.
Exemptions
There are a number of roads where an emissions sticker is not required. The first of these is the A55 coming from the north. Near the center of Marseille it continues eastward as the A50 through a number of tunnels, which are the Tunnel de la Joliette, the Tunnel du Vieux-Port and the Tunnel Prado-Carénage. In practice, this is one long, continuous road on which you can simply drive through Marseille. An emissions sticker is not required on the A557 either. This road in the north of Marseille connects the A55 with the A7.
Obviously, you cannot leave these roads within the low-emission zone. On the map, they are indicated by blue lines.
Parking outside the low-emission zone
Do you not have an emissions sticker or does your car not qualify? Then you can use one of the many park-and-ride sites (parking relais in French) located outside the low-emission zone. These are all located near a metro station or tramway stop. This allows you to continue your way into the city center without much difficulty. Here are a few recommendations:
- P+R Gèze: Boulevard du Capitaine Gèze, line M2
- P+R Saint Just: 17 boulevard Verd, line M1
- P+R Vallier: 41 avenue du Maréchal Foch, line T2
- P+R La Blancarde: 2 boulevard Louis Frangin, lines M1, T1 and T2
- P+R La Timone: 264 rue Saint-Pierre, line M1
- P+R Ste. Marguerite Dromel: 2 boulevard de L’Huveaune, lines M2, T2 and T3.
- P+R Teissseire-Dromel: 74 rue Raymond Teisseire, lines M2, T2 and T3
- P+R Rond Point du Prado: 915 Rond-Point Du Prado, line M2
The listed park-and-ride sites are indicated on the map at the top of this page. Metro stations or tramway stops almost always correspond to the name of the park-and-ride sites. Exceptions are Teissseire-Dromel at Ste. Marguerite Dromel station and Vallier between the Foch-Sakakini and Foch-Boisson tramway stops.
Which emissions sticker in Marseille?
Only vehicles with a green, purple, yellow or orange emissions sticker are allowed to drive within Marseille’s low-emission zone. Do you have a burgundy, a gray or no emissions sticker? Then you risk a fine. Note that many websites still state that from September 2024 vehicles with an orange sticker will also be banned, which is incorrect. This decision was reversed in March 2024 due to the already improved air quality in Marseille.
Other low-emission zones nearby
Are you visiting other major cities in the area besides Marseille? Then it’s good to know that an emissions sticker is also mandatory in [Montpellier] and in [Nice]. They are located 170 kilometers west and 200 kilometers east of Marseille, both on the Mediterranean coast.
What to see and do in Marseille?
Marseille is France’s second-largest city after Paris and is best known as a major port on the Mediterranean. For tourists there are numerous attractions. Consider the Vieux-Port, where it is wonderful to stroll among ornate facades and hundreds of sailboats. The Notre-Dame de la Garde atop a rock is the most eye-catching church. Culturally there are numerous museums, with the Musée des Beaux-Arts in the Palais Longchamp being a must-see. In the wider area, the deep valleys flowing into the sea or calanques as they are called in French, are magnificent to behold.