Saint-Tropez

Once a quiet Provençal fishing village, Saint-Tropez evolved into the enduring symbol of Riviera glamour. Its harbour, beach clubs, boutiques and cafe terraces attract artists, tastemakers and returning summer travellers drawn less by spectacle than by the town's unmistakable atmosphere.

Saint-Tropez sits at the tip of a peninsula on the southern side of its gulf, cut off from the main coastal road, which has always kept it small. The old port is lined with pastel façades and yachts moored stern-to; behind it lie the lanes of La Ponche, the seventeenth-century citadel and the Musée de l’Annonciade, home to Signac and the painters who discovered the town before cinema did.

The beaches are mostly outside the town. Pampelonne, a five-kilometre sweep of sand in neighbouring Ramatuelle, holds the famous beach clubs; the hill villages of Ramatuelle and Gassin look down on vineyards. Place des Lices, with its plane trees, pétanque and Tuesday and Saturday market, remains the heart of daily life.

The season runs from roughly Easter to October, and many hotels close for the winter. May brings the Bravades, the town’s centuries-old festival in honour of its patron saint, with musket salutes through the streets. June and early July offer warm sea and long evenings before the peak, and the lanes of the old town are still easy to walk in the evening.

Mid-July to late August is the height of the summer, with full harbours, busy roads and the beach clubs at their liveliest. Late September and early October belong to Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, when classic and modern yachts race in the gulf — for many regulars the most beautiful moment of the year.

Saint-Tropez’s leading hotels are independent or belong to small groups: Cheval Blanc St-Tropez, directly on the Plage de la Bouillabaisse; Hôtel Byblos, a village of coloured houses a few minutes’ walk from Place des Lices; Airelles Saint-Tropez Château de la Messardière on its hill above Pampelonne; and La Réserve Ramatuelle, a calm, contemporary retreat with villas and spa overlooking the sea. None of these belongs to a programme LVXVRY partners with, so for each LVXVRY advises on rooms and timing and arranges the stay directly with the hotel.