Villa Horizon par Dodo à Cassis

Villa Horizon is in a tranquil location about 20 mins walk from the centre of Cassis. The villa itself is beautiful and is filled with art and books so that it feels like a home, not a holiday rental. The kitchen has useful appliances such as a juicer, coffee pod machine, and a teapot with infuser. The garden is spectacular, especially in the evening when it is lit very prettily with lanterns. There are sun loungers around the pool, and a lovely outdoor shaded area with sofas and a low table. During our stay, we often had lunch and supper on the balcony, which has great views over the garden and Cap Canaille. The owners of the villa, Cathy and André, live in the lower part of the villa. They are friendly and discrete, and Cathy went out of her way to help us when the trains were disrupted and we needed to arrange travel to the airport. Personally, my favourite experiences were floating in the pool in the evening watching bats fly among the trees high overhead, and sipping mint tea (we got fresh mint from the market in Cassis on Wednesday) in the morning in the shaded sofa area of the garden. Cassis is a great place to visit. The town is a labyrinth of small streets with lots of small shops, restaurants, and cafes and a marina and beaches (very busy in July). It is lively in the evening with street buskers and people dining outside. We didn't get time to visit the museum or any vineyards. There was a sign that said the Parc National des Calanques was closed due to fire risk but you can hire kayaks to visit the calanques, which we'd recommend if you are ok to kayak on the sea (it took about an 1 hour to reach them by kayak). We also very much enjoyed hiring a pedalo that had a slide! We also took a taxi to the top of Cap Canaille, which had stunning views of Cassis - and then walked back down into the town (about 30 mins along a rough path and roads). We had a wonderful holiday in Villa Horizon and would love to return. Merci, Cathy et André.

I wouldn't say that we "didn't like" this but it's just something for others to note. The villa is a 20-30 minute walk from the town, and the route is quite hilly. If, like us, you didn't hire a car, you will likely have to walk it, which is sometimes hard going in the heat, especially if carrying shopping/beach stuff. You can get taxi numbers from the tourist office though. The taxi rank in town was empty of taxis whenever we considered getting one - although, as per the unwritten rule for taxi ranks everywhere, we did see taxis waiting there if we didn't need one... In the villa, there are 2 toilets, of which one is in a little bathroom and the other up a flight of steep stairs.