Best reached by boat · The peninsula, not just the port
The port is the smallest part of it. Ramatuelle and Gassin in the hills behind, Pampelonne along the coast, the vineyards in between, and Port Grimaud and Sainte-Maxime across the water.
42 places in 6 sections
The free public swims first, then the coast paths, then the clubs if you want a lounger.
Saint-Tropez · Tour du Portalet onwards
Coast Path · Free · Two hours to Plage de Tahiti, five to Cap Camarat
The customs path runs from the edge of town round the whole peninsula, past coves the road never reaches and the backs of villas you would otherwise never see. Walk it as far as Plage de Tahiti and get a taxi back, or keep going to the lighthouse at Cap Camarat. Proper shoes, and water in summer.
Saint-Tropez · La Ponche
Old Quarter · On foot · Behind the port, five minutes
The old fishing quarter, immediately behind the harbour and almost entirely missed by people who never leave the port. Ochre houses, a small shingle beach, and the hotel where Bardot stayed during Et Dieu créa la femme. Quiet by nine in the evening.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Beach · Sunset
On the Bouillabaisse side as you come into town, so it catches the sunset over the gulf. Parking on site if you have driven, which in August matters.
Pampelonne · 20 min from the port
Beach Club · New
Newly opened at the quiet end of Pampelonne, Italian kitchen with an Asian hand, fish landed the same day. Day beds are properly comfortable. Closes at six, so it is a lunch and afternoon place.
Pampelonne · 20 min from the port
Beach Club · All Day
A long-standing Pampelonne club with a shallow, gentle entry to the water, so it works with children. Restaurant, bar and shops on site, and a DJ in the afternoon. Dedicated parking.
Pampelonne · 20 min from the port
Beach Club · Quieter
Slightly off the run of famous clubs and better for it. Reasonable by Pampelonne standards, rarely overcrowded, and the burrata is worth ordering. Service is thin when it fills, so flag someone down.
Pampelonne · 20 min from the port
Beach Club · Expensive
Golden sand with no pebbles, jet skis and paddleboards to rent, and a masseuse in the afternoon. Book the seating online. They run two lunch sittings and will move you on for the second.
Pampelonne · 20 min from the port
Beach Club · Party
Sunbeds, a DJ and a crowd that dances by three. Come for that and it delivers; come for a quiet lunch and it will not. Divisive on service, so manage expectations.
Pampelonne · 20 min from the port
Beach Club · Daytime Party
Beautiful, loud, and priced accordingly, with dancing on the tables by mid-afternoon. Small portions. Several reports of trouble with the valet, so park yourself if you can.
La Nartelle, Sainte-Maxime · 25 min
Beach Club · Wider Spacing
On the Nartelle beach with more room between the sunbeds than most, and a kitchen that goes beyond the usual beach menu. Fresh fish daily and a proper pastry chef.
La Nartelle, Sainte-Maxime · 25 min
Beach Club · Music
Beach club and restaurant with live singers and a DJ. Everything you would go to Saint-Tropez for at a calmer price, on the quieter side of the gulf. Loud once the music starts.
From counters you eat standing up to the tables worth booking a week out.
Saint-Tropez · Vieux Port
Café · Since 1887 · Expensive, and worth it once
The red awning and red tables on the port, unchanged in a century, and the most reliable people-watching on the coast. You are paying handsomely for a coffee and the seat it comes with. Have one, and buy their nougat on the way out.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Seafood · Quayside
On the Quai Jean Jaurès facing the boats. Touristy by position and better than it needs to be. Go at lunch, not at eight in the evening.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Bistronomy
Behind the church in the old town, away from the port mark-up. Small menu, properly cooked, and the best value we know of in Saint-Tropez.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Family Italian
Tucked off the tourist run, handmade pasta and mussels, run by a family. Book in season. Closed Sundays.
Ramatuelle village · 20 min from the port
Seasonal · Courtyard
A small courtyard on Rue Georges Clemenceau with a menu that changes with the season and prices that are sane by Saint-Tropez standards. The owner speaks English. Parking is two minutes away, not outside.
Ramatuelle · 15 min from the port
Provençal · Under the Stars
An old mill in the vineyards with the tables outside and lamps in the trees. Dinner only, from six. Slow-cooked lamb and a wine list worth asking about. Easy parking, which matters here.
Bonne Terrasse, Ramatuelle · 25 min
Bouillabaisse · Order 48hr Ahead
On the sand at the far end of the bay, doing one thing properly since forever. The set menu is expensive and worth it. Closed for the February school holidays so the staff can be with their children, which tells you something.
Route de Tahiti, Ramatuelle · 15 min
Italian · Garden
Palms, pines and a big garden. Not the most refined kitchen on the peninsula but reliable and priced below the beach clubs. Ask for a garden table when you book, or you will be seated inside.
Gassin village · 20 min from the port
Set Menu · Terrace
On the little square at the top of Gassin, a three-course menu at a price that would be a rounding error down at the port. Closed Tuesdays. Book, because the terrace is small.
Gassin village · 20 min from the port
Italian · Small
A handful of tables on Place dei Barri, handmade pasta and a room run with real warmth. Closed lunchtimes on Wednesday and Thursday.
Gassin village · 20 min from the port
Fish · Evenings
Dinner only, on the same square, with the view down over the vines to the gulf. Good rather than remarkable, and the setting does a lot of the work.
Gassin · 20 min from the port
Provençal · Book Ahead
Out in the vines below the village, family run, and where people who live here eat. Two sittings only and closed Mondays, so book properly rather than turning up.
Gassin village · 20 min from the port
Hotel Restaurant · View
Perched at the top of Gassin with a terrace over the whole gulf. Also a small hotel. Not always warm to families with young children, so call ahead if that applies.
Port Grimaud · 25 min from the port
Italian · Canalside
On the water in the canal village, generous portions and a room that fills every night in season. One of the easier good tables to get in the gulf.
Port Grimaud · 25 min from the port
Fish · Canalside
Tables beside the canal, octopus done properly, and staff who are genuinely pleased to see you. Fairly priced for the setting.
Port Grimaud · 25 min from the port
Seafood · The Catch at the Table
The serious fish restaurant in Port Grimaud. The day’s catch is brought to the table on a board before you order. Evenings only. Ask for a table on the water and book well ahead.
Sainte-Maxime · 20 min by boat from the port
Mediterranean · Waterfront
Across the bay on Boulevard Jean Moulin with the sunset over the gulf. Fresh, well seasoned, fairly priced, and the staff make it. Baby changing inside, which beach restaurants rarely have.
Sainte-Maxime · 20 min by boat from the port
Small Kitchen · Octopus
A small room on the main boulevard, not on the water, doing octopus risotto and seared tuna better than places charging twice as much. Open all day. Full even in January.
Museums, galleries and the buildings worth going inside.
Saint-Tropez · Old harbour
Museum · Small and excellent · Closed Mondays
A deconsecrated sixteenth-century chapel on the port holding Signac, Bonnard, Matisse, Derain and Braque, most of it painted here. Signac arrived in 1892 and the others followed him. Forty-five minutes, and it will change how the harbour outside looks when you walk back out into it.
Saint-Tropez · Above the town
Fortress · Maritime museum · Ten-minute walk up from the port
A seventeenth-century hexagonal fort on the hill behind the town, now holding a maritime museum that covers the town's history as a working port rather than a resort. Peacocks in the grounds. The ramparts give you the gulf, and it is the one place in August where you can hear yourself think.
Market mornings, and the shops worth carrying something home from.
Saint-Tropez · Place des Lices
Market · Tuesday and Saturday · Mornings only, finished by one
The one unmissable thing in Saint-Tropez and the only time the town still feels like Provence. Produce, cheese, olives, linen and a good deal of rummage, under the plane trees. Come at eight. By eleven it is shoulder to shoulder. Old men play boules on the same square in the afternoon, which is not staged.
Wine rooms, hotel bars and the terraces worth timing for the light.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Rooftop · Pool Bar
On the edge of the village where the road comes in, so you can actually park. Pool, cabanas and a DJ some evenings, with the whole gulf laid out below. Open to non-residents, which most Saint-Tropez rooftops are not.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Hotel Bar · Beachfront
The only hotel in Saint-Tropez actually on the water. Non-residents can drink here but the bar books out and turning up on spec in season usually does not work, so call ahead rather than chance it.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Garden · Quiet
A small family-run hotel a street back from Place des Lices with a garden and pool that feel a long way from the port. The quietest drink in the village, and the one that costs least.
Gassin · 20 min from the port
Vineyard · Tour and Tasting
A proper estate visit rather than a shop counter: vineyard tour, six or seven wines, charcuterie, around twenty-five euros a head. Closed Sundays. Book.
Route des Plages, Ramatuelle · 15 min
Vineyard · Two Tours Daily
Tours at eleven and three, tasting at the end. No walk-in tasting, but there is a tapas bar in the evening where you can drink the wine without the tour.
Saint-Tropez · 10 min from the port
Organic Estate · Small Production
One of the few estates left inside Saint-Tropez itself, organic for three years, a thousand or so bottles per variety and 350 olive trees. Tasting includes the oil. Closed Sundays.
Route des Plages, Saint-Tropez · 5 min
Wine Shop · Free Tasting
A well-stocked cave focused on local producers, with free tastings and staff who will actually steer you. The place to fill the boot before you leave. Closed Sundays.
Where to start the morning, and the bakeries worth a detour.
Route des Plages, Ramatuelle · 15 min
Brunch · Closed Tue
The best breakfast on the peninsula, gluten-free bread available, run by one person who somehow keeps up. Park in the beach car park. Follow the signs on site rather than the map pin.
Port Grimaud · 25 min from the port
Brunch · Mornings
Loaded toasts, good coffee and a set brunch on Place du Marché. Closes at two. Helpful with dietary requirements, which is rarer here than it should be.
Port Grimaud · 25 min from the port
Brunch · Quiet Square
Off the main drag on a small square surrounded by laurels, simple menu, quick service. The calm alternative when Port Grimaud is heaving.
Saint-Tropez · Tour du Portalet onwards
Coast Path · Free · Two hours to Plage de Tahiti, five to Cap Camarat
The customs path runs from the edge of town round the whole peninsula, past coves the road never reaches and the backs of villas you would otherwise never see. Walk it as far as Plage de Tahiti and get a taxi back, or keep going to the lighthouse at Cap Camarat. Proper shoes, and water in summer.
Saint-Tropez · La Ponche
Old Quarter · On foot · Behind the port, five minutes
The old fishing quarter, immediately behind the harbour and almost entirely missed by people who never leave the port. Ochre houses, a small shingle beach, and the hotel where Bardot stayed during Et Dieu créa la femme. Quiet by nine in the evening.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Beach · Sunset
On the Bouillabaisse side as you come into town, so it catches the sunset over the gulf. Parking on site if you have driven, which in August matters.
Pampelonne · 20 min from the port
Beach Club · New
Newly opened at the quiet end of Pampelonne, Italian kitchen with an Asian hand, fish landed the same day. Day beds are properly comfortable. Closes at six, so it is a lunch and afternoon place.
Pampelonne · 20 min from the port
Beach Club · All Day
A long-standing Pampelonne club with a shallow, gentle entry to the water, so it works with children. Restaurant, bar and shops on site, and a DJ in the afternoon. Dedicated parking.
Pampelonne · 20 min from the port
Beach Club · Quieter
Slightly off the run of famous clubs and better for it. Reasonable by Pampelonne standards, rarely overcrowded, and the burrata is worth ordering. Service is thin when it fills, so flag someone down.
Pampelonne · 20 min from the port
Beach Club · Expensive
Golden sand with no pebbles, jet skis and paddleboards to rent, and a masseuse in the afternoon. Book the seating online. They run two lunch sittings and will move you on for the second.
Pampelonne · 20 min from the port
Beach Club · Party
Sunbeds, a DJ and a crowd that dances by three. Come for that and it delivers; come for a quiet lunch and it will not. Divisive on service, so manage expectations.
Pampelonne · 20 min from the port
Beach Club · Daytime Party
Beautiful, loud, and priced accordingly, with dancing on the tables by mid-afternoon. Small portions. Several reports of trouble with the valet, so park yourself if you can.
La Nartelle, Sainte-Maxime · 25 min
Beach Club · Wider Spacing
On the Nartelle beach with more room between the sunbeds than most, and a kitchen that goes beyond the usual beach menu. Fresh fish daily and a proper pastry chef.
La Nartelle, Sainte-Maxime · 25 min
Beach Club · Music
Beach club and restaurant with live singers and a DJ. Everything you would go to Saint-Tropez for at a calmer price, on the quieter side of the gulf. Loud once the music starts.
Saint-Tropez · Vieux Port
Café · Since 1887 · Expensive, and worth it once
The red awning and red tables on the port, unchanged in a century, and the most reliable people-watching on the coast. You are paying handsomely for a coffee and the seat it comes with. Have one, and buy their nougat on the way out.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Seafood · Quayside
On the Quai Jean Jaurès facing the boats. Touristy by position and better than it needs to be. Go at lunch, not at eight in the evening.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Bistronomy
Behind the church in the old town, away from the port mark-up. Small menu, properly cooked, and the best value we know of in Saint-Tropez.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Family Italian
Tucked off the tourist run, handmade pasta and mussels, run by a family. Book in season. Closed Sundays.
Ramatuelle village · 20 min from the port
Seasonal · Courtyard
A small courtyard on Rue Georges Clemenceau with a menu that changes with the season and prices that are sane by Saint-Tropez standards. The owner speaks English. Parking is two minutes away, not outside.
Ramatuelle · 15 min from the port
Provençal · Under the Stars
An old mill in the vineyards with the tables outside and lamps in the trees. Dinner only, from six. Slow-cooked lamb and a wine list worth asking about. Easy parking, which matters here.
Bonne Terrasse, Ramatuelle · 25 min
Bouillabaisse · Order 48hr Ahead
On the sand at the far end of the bay, doing one thing properly since forever. The set menu is expensive and worth it. Closed for the February school holidays so the staff can be with their children, which tells you something.
Route de Tahiti, Ramatuelle · 15 min
Italian · Garden
Palms, pines and a big garden. Not the most refined kitchen on the peninsula but reliable and priced below the beach clubs. Ask for a garden table when you book, or you will be seated inside.
Gassin village · 20 min from the port
Set Menu · Terrace
On the little square at the top of Gassin, a three-course menu at a price that would be a rounding error down at the port. Closed Tuesdays. Book, because the terrace is small.
Gassin village · 20 min from the port
Italian · Small
A handful of tables on Place dei Barri, handmade pasta and a room run with real warmth. Closed lunchtimes on Wednesday and Thursday.
Gassin village · 20 min from the port
Fish · Evenings
Dinner only, on the same square, with the view down over the vines to the gulf. Good rather than remarkable, and the setting does a lot of the work.
Gassin · 20 min from the port
Provençal · Book Ahead
Out in the vines below the village, family run, and where people who live here eat. Two sittings only and closed Mondays, so book properly rather than turning up.
Gassin village · 20 min from the port
Hotel Restaurant · View
Perched at the top of Gassin with a terrace over the whole gulf. Also a small hotel. Not always warm to families with young children, so call ahead if that applies.
Port Grimaud · 25 min from the port
Italian · Canalside
On the water in the canal village, generous portions and a room that fills every night in season. One of the easier good tables to get in the gulf.
Port Grimaud · 25 min from the port
Fish · Canalside
Tables beside the canal, octopus done properly, and staff who are genuinely pleased to see you. Fairly priced for the setting.
Port Grimaud · 25 min from the port
Seafood · The Catch at the Table
The serious fish restaurant in Port Grimaud. The day’s catch is brought to the table on a board before you order. Evenings only. Ask for a table on the water and book well ahead.
Sainte-Maxime · 20 min by boat from the port
Mediterranean · Waterfront
Across the bay on Boulevard Jean Moulin with the sunset over the gulf. Fresh, well seasoned, fairly priced, and the staff make it. Baby changing inside, which beach restaurants rarely have.
Sainte-Maxime · 20 min by boat from the port
Small Kitchen · Octopus
A small room on the main boulevard, not on the water, doing octopus risotto and seared tuna better than places charging twice as much. Open all day. Full even in January.
Saint-Tropez · Old harbour
Museum · Small and excellent · Closed Mondays
A deconsecrated sixteenth-century chapel on the port holding Signac, Bonnard, Matisse, Derain and Braque, most of it painted here. Signac arrived in 1892 and the others followed him. Forty-five minutes, and it will change how the harbour outside looks when you walk back out into it.
Saint-Tropez · Above the town
Fortress · Maritime museum · Ten-minute walk up from the port
A seventeenth-century hexagonal fort on the hill behind the town, now holding a maritime museum that covers the town's history as a working port rather than a resort. Peacocks in the grounds. The ramparts give you the gulf, and it is the one place in August where you can hear yourself think.
Saint-Tropez · Place des Lices
Market · Tuesday and Saturday · Mornings only, finished by one
The one unmissable thing in Saint-Tropez and the only time the town still feels like Provence. Produce, cheese, olives, linen and a good deal of rummage, under the plane trees. Come at eight. By eleven it is shoulder to shoulder. Old men play boules on the same square in the afternoon, which is not staged.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Rooftop · Pool Bar
On the edge of the village where the road comes in, so you can actually park. Pool, cabanas and a DJ some evenings, with the whole gulf laid out below. Open to non-residents, which most Saint-Tropez rooftops are not.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Hotel Bar · Beachfront
The only hotel in Saint-Tropez actually on the water. Non-residents can drink here but the bar books out and turning up on spec in season usually does not work, so call ahead rather than chance it.
Saint-Tropez · by boat
Garden · Quiet
A small family-run hotel a street back from Place des Lices with a garden and pool that feel a long way from the port. The quietest drink in the village, and the one that costs least.
Gassin · 20 min from the port
Vineyard · Tour and Tasting
A proper estate visit rather than a shop counter: vineyard tour, six or seven wines, charcuterie, around twenty-five euros a head. Closed Sundays. Book.
Route des Plages, Ramatuelle · 15 min
Vineyard · Two Tours Daily
Tours at eleven and three, tasting at the end. No walk-in tasting, but there is a tapas bar in the evening where you can drink the wine without the tour.
Saint-Tropez · 10 min from the port
Organic Estate · Small Production
One of the few estates left inside Saint-Tropez itself, organic for three years, a thousand or so bottles per variety and 350 olive trees. Tasting includes the oil. Closed Sundays.
Route des Plages, Saint-Tropez · 5 min
Wine Shop · Free Tasting
A well-stocked cave focused on local producers, with free tastings and staff who will actually steer you. The place to fill the boot before you leave. Closed Sundays.
Route des Plages, Ramatuelle · 15 min
Brunch · Closed Tue
The best breakfast on the peninsula, gluten-free bread available, run by one person who somehow keeps up. Park in the beach car park. Follow the signs on site rather than the map pin.
Port Grimaud · 25 min from the port
Brunch · Mornings
Loaded toasts, good coffee and a set brunch on Place du Marché. Closes at two. Helpful with dietary requirements, which is rarer here than it should be.
Port Grimaud · 25 min from the port
Brunch · Quiet Square
Off the main drag on a small square surrounded by laurels, simple menu, quick service. The calm alternative when Port Grimaud is heaving.
Nothing here under that name. Try another word, or choose Everything.
Riviera Séjour
Notes from the coast, now and then. Nothing more.
Thank you, you are in.
