DCDenise

Hello All. Two of us are headed to Nice and St. Tropez Aug. 30-Sept. 7. We're looking at renting a villa or apartment for a week in St. Maxime instead of staying in St. Tropez. (Yes, rental has AC!)

Has anyone stayed there? Would you recommend having a car to get back and forth to St. Tropez?

Thanks!

Underhill

Public transportation to and from St-Tropez isn't great--mostly buses, although there is also the possibility of taking a boat. So having a car would be a good idea, although you should realize that traffic into and out of St-T can be quite fierce during the summer months. St-Maxime would certainly be less expensive than St-Tropez and less glitzy; so it depends on what appeals to you. If you plan to spend most of your time in St-T, then staying there would be a good idea.

vedette

Underhill has certainly got it right, but I want to emphasize the traffic. Between Ste-Maxime and St-Tropez, I think "fierce" is an understatement. If you stay in Ste-Maxime, one trip to St-Tropez will likely be your only. But that may be okay, because Ste-Maxime is a nice town.

Kathryncee

Go the tourist website for Ste. Maxime- you can request a very through brochure which will be sent in a few days. It has tons of info.

DCDenise

Thank you all for your responses. Is there any other place in the south of France with the fun and glitz of St. Tropez but more appealing to travel to this time of year?

Kathryncee

topping

StuDudley

If you can find a place IN St Tropez, Ramatuelle, or Gassin that would be much better. That road between St T & Ste Maxime is a mess certain times of the day (between 9 & 2 going to St T, & between 3 & 7 leaving St T). We've stayed in St T many times in Sept - for 4 to 14 days at a time & the crowds taper off quite a bit around mid Sept.

Nice would be a good choice as a place with lots of action - perhaps more action than St T .

Stu Dudley

Underhill

Cannes would be another possibility.

MyriamC

Saint Tropez is Saint Tropez and there's no other place like that, not even one that comes close.
Don't know what you mean 'this time of the year'? Early September isn't that bad for the Côte d'Azur as most of the tourists will be gone.
Sainte Maxime is OK but it's more family oriented.
If you can find a place in or close to Saint Tropez I would not hesitate.

SuzieC

Thank you Miriam and Stu! Thank you!
My beau has booked a house in St. Tropez for the second week in October for our honeymoon. He's German and had taken a place there every summer until he moved to the US. He LOVES it there and from there said he can show me a great deal of the Cote d'Azure ...
There have been some pretty disparaging remarks about St. Tropez.
mmmm...maybe he still does want to catch a glimpse of Brigitte Bardot!

DCDenise

Thanks to all of your great insights we have decided to abandon St. Maxime and stay in an apartment in St. Tropez. The location does not have the fabulous views of the bay. I'm still confused about renting a car. If we're staying near the town center, is car still the best way to get around the city?

twofortheroad

You do not need a car in St Tropez for the town itself. The beaches, however, are 6 miles out of the center, and you would need a car to travel to the beach.

StuDudley

We stayed 2 weeks in the city center on one trip, & 1 week on another. We were there for 3 days this past June. You will not want to drive anywhere in St Tropez - everything is compact. It's also hard to find a place to park.

I like staying in St Tropez because it's a quick drive south to Ramatuelle, Gassin, the beaches, southwest to Bormes, and through the vineyards around la Mole, west to Grimaud & the Collobriers - all beautiful areas. Northeast to St Maxime & on to Frejus is too crowded with traffic, & a lot of ugly commerce too. You can take day-trips deeper into the Var to Cotignac, Lorgues, Tourtour etc. Obviously, you'll need a car for all these trips. We always leave St Tropez center by 10:30 & don't return till about 5:30. In between these hours, it gets too crowded with day trippers for me.

Stu Dudley

DCDenise

Thanks, Stu.

Would you recommend renting a car only for the day trips? Are there rental car places in St. Tropez?

Also, is it easy to take taxis to the beaches?

StuDudley

>>Would you recommend renting a car only for the day trips?<<

We take day trips every day. Like I mentioned, it's best to be out of St Tropez between 10:30 & 5:30 - it will be quite crowded during the week you plan to be there. A day trip may be all-day at the beach, which I think you can get to using a taxi, but I don't recall ever seeing a taxi waiting at a beach to shuttle someone back to St Tropez (been to Tahiti Plage over 15 times). You might need to make an arrangement to have the taxi meet you. The lowest priced air-conditioned car rents for around $45 per day (multiple day rental) - which might be close to the cost of a Taxi if they have to drive to the beach from St T to pick you up.

>>Are there rental car places in St. Tropez?<<

Probably not - but contact AutoEurope to verify that
www.autoeurope.com

I suspect any car rental on-the-spot at one of the deluxe hotels is going to be expensive.

St Tropez is quite small - you can see every store in town & walk along every street in 1 full day. We enjoy staying there because of the market (Tues & Sat) the people watching, exploring the town in the mornings & late afternoons, the beaches, the countryside immediatly around there, and the many cute villages in the area. There are tons of restaurants in St Tropez that are either quite expensive, or in-expensive & mediocre, IMO. The only one we like in town is le Ponche. We usually dine outside of town, or prepare dinner (or pick up a roast chicken) at the apt that we rent there (fantastic view from the balcony/dining room).

Stu Dudley

johncand_t

stay in San Maxime and take the boat across to St Tropez it cost 11 euros return and you dont have the hassle of parking,takes 10 mins and is a lovely trip across the bay,also lots of nice resturants in San Maxime and lots cheaper than the other side ..johncandt

DCDenise

Hi again, is the traffic from St. Croix just as bad as from St. Maxime. We found a great place on the beach but are inclined to stay in St. Tropez.

StuDudley

You'll be quite remote from St Tropez there.

If you take the D559 north to connect with the N98 to St T - it gets quite crowded on the N98. If you go through Gassin, & then north to the N98, you will avoid a little traffic, and things seem to unclog a bit after you hit the N98 - but I've never been there the first week in Sept - only the second & later. The crowds diminish past the second week in Sept.

If you go to St T on the winding D93, it will be a long but scenic trip. If you take this route in the late afternoon when people leave the beaches, it will be quite crowded as you approach St Tropez, but there are a few "back-door" ways you can get into town via Ste Anne (look at a map).

How do you know the place in la Croix-Valmar is "great". Do you personally know someone who has stayed there??

My advice - stay in St Tropez. Like I've said many times, the town is best in the early morning, and late afternoon & evening.

Stu Dudley

MyriamC

Do you mean La Croix Valmer? It's at about the same distance from St. Tropez as Ste. Maxime (15 km). I'm afraid the traffic problems won't be much different from either side. Tuesday and Saturday are the busiest days to get into the centre of St. Trop, because of the market on the Place des Lices.. There's another (smaller) market on Place aux Herbes (every morning during tourist season).
Anyway, when you stay in La Croix Valmer you won't have to cross the centre of St. Tropez to get to the famous beaches (Plage de Pampelonne, Plage de Tahiti).

DCDenise

I wanted to thank all of you again for the amazing advice. We're starting to finally feel like we know what to expect. We decided to remain in St. Tropez for 5 days through September 6.

Friends want to check out local wineries in the area. Do you have any suggestions for a day trip?