The French Aerial Patrol fly by the Eiffel Tower in Paris as part of the handover ceremony of Tokyo 2020 to Paris 2024, as Paris will be the next Summer Games host in 2024. (Photo: AP)

The torch relay for the Paris Olympics will start in the southern port of Marseille in April 2024, organisers announced on Friday.

The torch will arrive in Marseille from Greece, the spiritual home of the Olympics, on a three-masted ship.

It will set the tone for a Games whose opening ceremony will be held on the Seine in Paris.

"In the spring of 2024, Marseille will have the honour and good fortune to be the first city to welcome the Olympic flame on French soil," organisers Paris 2024 said in a statement.

Marseille "was a natural and clear choice," said chief organiser Tony Estanguet, evoking the city's historic links with Greece.

The ancient Greek colony of Massalia was founded on the French Mediterranean coast in 600 BC.

The Paris OIympics take place from July 26 to August 11, 2024.