A private travel office · Amsterdam You were given a word.
The Riviera · In season April to September
Saint-Tropez
Nobody comes for the museums. Saint-Tropez is a beautiful, faintly hedonistic coastal town that has decided what it is — and the service, everywhere, is impeccable.
Eat
- Les Caves du Roy Perhaps the most famous nightclub in France, and an institution since the seventies — palm trees, disco balls and music that knows its room. Lices
- La Plage des Salins The locals’ beach — charming, and above all calm. Grilled sardines or a salade niçoise, and the afternoon takes care of itself. Les Salins
- Le Bar du Sube Hidden above the port, away from the noise — proper cocktails, one of the better harbour views in town, and a classic French breakfast in the morning. Vieux Port
- Le Club 55 The beach club of Pampelonne, and the long lunch by which the others are judged. The café by the entrance and the sky-blue loungers serve the quieter days. Pampelonne
- Le Tigrr Hotpot on the terrace of the Hotel Ermitage, above town — the bay laid out below, the evening arranged around the view. La Ponche
- Banh Hoï Thai-Vietnamese cooking on a tiny cobbled street — a table outside, a low-lit room inside, the dinner for two that needs no occasion. La Ponche
Stay
- Château de la Messardière The palace hotel on the hilltop, with the Côte d’Azur on one side and Provençal countryside on the other — Airelles-run, and it shows. Maneby
- Hôtel le Yaca A quiet eighteenth-century house in the historic quarter — the courtyard, its garden and pool the hotel’s true centre. La Ponche
- Hotel Lou Pinet Minutes from the Place des Lices, thirty-four rooms designed to feel like a private house — Beefbar covers both appetites. Maneby
Do
- Sentier du littoral The wild side of the peninsula on foot — the coastal path marked in yellow paint and signposts, out past the Plage des Graniers. Plage des Graniers
- Château Barbeyrolles The estate behind an extraordinary organic rosé — a tasting, then a case for the cellar at home. Gassin
- Place des Lices The Tuesday and Saturday market — local produce and honest treasure-hunting before 09:30, boules under the plane trees later. Lices
- Les Canetons A once-secret spot on the coastline that the coast eventually noticed — lunch with the water at foot level. La Baule-Escoublac
Shop
- Marcel et Cavazza The finest bakery in town, and masters of the tropézienne — brioche, thick cream and pearl sugar, a pastry worth the walk. Gambetta
- Atelier Rondini The Rondini sandal — hand-made to measure in natural leather, a summer classic that has outlasted every trend it met. Gambetta