Saint-Tropez is a glitzy town located in the French Riviera region of southeastern France. It is famous for its luxurious lifestyle, picturesque beaches, glamorous nightlife, and scenic harbor filled with yachts. The movie "And God Created Woman", featuring Brigitte Bardot, popularized Saint Tropez. The town also hosts several events throughout the year, such as the Voiles de Saint-Tropez sailing regatta, the Les Nuits du Château de la Moutte music festival, and the Bravades de Saint-Tropez, a traditional Provençal festival.
Now, let's start with how to reach Saint Tropez ?
We started our journey from Paris and covered Avignon to finally bask into the sunshine of Saint Tropez. From Paris to Avignon, it's straightforward, a 2.4 hours direct train journey from Paris Gare de Lyon to Avignon TGV. We wanted to spend sometime in this quaint town but to do justice to this destination, I will write a separate post. From Avignon we took another train to reach Toulon and then a private taxi to Saint Tropez. There are enough and more trains from Paris to South France(including Avignon, Toulon, Orange, Aix en Provence). To book trains in Europe, below are some good sources
From Toulon, there are 2 options. Easy and super convenient is taxi - comes at a price. The next one is taking a bus! Yes you heard it right. Bus no 7801 from Toulon to St Tropez. Look to your right to see the bus ready to leave the train station. It was parked right outside of Toulon Station.
However, finding ticket for this bus online is really a nightmare. So my recommendation is to take a cab(Uber doesn't work). To be cost effective, do not book through hotels/local taxi operators. You can save almost upto 50-60% in transportation cost by booking through Gettransfer.com. You'll be pleasantly surprised by few of the quotes. I paid just about 73 Euros to cover 79kms in 1hr 10 minutes(from Toulon station). Another way to reach Saint Tropez is through Nice. Pretty convenient to land at the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport and again take either a cab or a ferry.
After the transport hassle is over, you will instantly be captivated by the white yachts parked. Saint Tropez is a very tiny port but has its own flavor and yes it is expensive. If you are a budget traveler then my advice is to skip this completely as from food to accommodation everything is expensive here.
For those of you who still are interested to explore, Saint Tropez is a home for high profile individuals walking in shorts & engaging in retail therapy. For high ticket shopping, Saint Tropez has iconic stores of various brands such as LV, Chanel, Dior and the likes. While on a shopping stroll, you must savor a coffee at Canali Cafe and pay a visit to this gorgeous Chanel Store; It's foliage and Chanel products.
I was lucky to be in Saint Tropez during its annual sale that happens in October. So for 3 days, big brands are all out on street offering massive discounts (upto 70%). I picked up a pair of Tom Ford sunglasses for less that $200. It's like a carnival(pic below) with people queuing up to get the best bargain.
Food for vegetarians can be a bit of mood dampener as there are very few specialty restaurants. One of my favorites is this Thai restaurant, My Thai located on 7 Rue Saint-Jean. You will literally drool over the green curry, it is so good :) but yes again very pricey!
Oh yes! We(with my wife) stayed at this extremely chic property called Hôtel de Paris Saint-Tropez. It was so well located that all the major attractions including the famous Vieux port, Plage de Bouillabaisse beach and shopping streets were all accessible by foot. Saint Tropez isn't a place to spot tourist attractions or museums but just to sit back, relax, eat and get mesmerized by the scenic beauty.
One important advice, especially if you are a foreigner, please do not leave for Nice Airport in late afternoon. Google map shows that Nice is about 2 hours away but in reality due to mountainous terrain it takes more about 3-3.5 hours and the route is very dodgy. I was with my wife and we were scared to death as it was pitch dark and nobody was to be seen amidst those thick black mountains. Google map keeps re routing and your driver speaks only french.
Enjoy Saint Tropez!
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