Welcome to Saint-Tropez !! What once used to be a small fishing town is now a port filled with million dollar yachts bursting with glitz, glamour, charm and a whole lot of fun! Old town is home to quaint cobble stone streets, cafés, shops and boulangeries.  During the summer months the pastel colored buildings are accented by the flourish bougainvillea plants which makes for some great photo ops! During our stay in Saint-Tropez we got to enjoy both the town as well as the famous Plage de Pampelonne. Unfortunately we didn’t check everything off our list, which is now more reason for us to plan another trip back.  You won’t have to convince us. We hope you enjoy Saint-Tropez through this post!  

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Quick Tips

• Transportation: Expect there to be traffic anywhere you go in Saint-Tropez.  There is one way into the town and one way to Plage de Pampelonne.  If you don’t have a car you can Uber to Plague de Pampellone or what we did was utilize Hotel de Paris’ cab line and/or van service.  The name of the driver we had that drove us around and took us to Antibes was: Jeremy +33 7 86 68 83 99.  He was part of Taxi Mario.  (taximario.sttropez@gmail.com)  They also do transfers to/from Nice airport.  Lovely service with nice Mercedes van!

• Accommodations: Saint-Tropez is expensive, so if you can book your accommodations early you might find some deals.  We opted for an AirBnb which we discuss more about later in the post.

• Reservations: Make reservations for everything. Beach clubs (sun loungers + lunch reservations) and dinner reservations.  It’s very important! Timing for meals seems a bit late for us Americans, but the best time for lunch is 3:00/4:00pm at the beach clubs and dinner is around 10:00pm. 

Club Les Palmiers

Our first beach club in Saint-Tropez was at Les Palmiers. We had some friends from Italy in town who we met up with for lunch and beach time.  Being in a group made the trip even more fun especially during lunches when the music went up and people started to dance.  Just to give perspective of the day, it started with the 6L (Imperial/Methuselah) bottle of Minuty rosé . (images below)  Les Palmiers beach club amentities were great! They had nice sun loungers, service and restaurant.  The food was delicious – fresh vegetables, fish, pasta, salads, appetizers just to name a few.  We loved Les Palmiers so much we went back a second time! If you go there, make sure to say hi to Margot – she is the best server.  Fun times and memories at Les Palmiers!

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Loulou a Ramatuelle

LouLou was our second beach club in Saint-Tropez.  Pivoting away from the bohemian vibes, it was designed in a playful chic and relaxed spirit advocating an elegant art of living The yellow and white stripped cabanas, and the white umbrellas made for a picturesque foreground against the bright turquoise sea.   We enjoyed a long day in the sun and ended it at the restaurant for a late lunch.  Our order – truffle pizza appetizer, salads, fresh fish and a side of fries! The music turned up the vibe of the restaurant especially when the song “Welcome to Saint-Tropez” played! We loved LouLou!

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Le Club 55

Le Club 55 was at the top of our list and mostly due to the long history behind this restaurant and the fabulous boutique.  We had sun loungers and lunch reservations reserved for the second day, but decided to change as we were told the vibe of the beach club is more chill.  More of an older crowd and the sun loungers were cushions in the sand.  That didn’t stop us from visiting the boutique though. We walked down the beach to visit this famous club.  The pareos, bags, linens and clothing didn’t disappoint.  It was hard to not buy everything in the store! So happy we went as we came home with some great Le Club 55 items. We would definitely visit the boutique again!

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La Reserve Plage

La Reserve Plage was another beautiful beach club, but more reserved than the other places.  We enjoyed a quiet afternoon on their comfortable sun loungers, drinking Minuty rosé and snacked on guacamole.  Around 3:00pm we left to meet our friends for lunch at Les Palmiers.  It was a lovely walk down the beach and we enjoyed seeing all the beach clubs.  If you are looking for a quieter spot, highly recommend La Reserve.  The menu and food looked delicious!

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Sénéquier

You can’t go to Saint-Tropez without visiting Sénéquier.  The iconic red café has a wonderful terrace that overlooks the port. It’s a great spot to grab a cappuciono, espresso or apertivo.  We enjoyed an apertivo before we headed back to get ready for dinner.  It’s a place to be seen so keep your eyes open – you might spot some celebrities!

L’Opera

There are no words that can explain the experience at L’Opera. It’s a loud, high-energy restaurant that caters to people that want to enjoy a meal while watching a show.  Dancers come out in a variety of costumes and get on tables and dance to the beat of the music – all choreographed.  Highly recommend L’Opera. If you are looking for a quiet dinner this isn’t your spot.

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Le Café

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Le Café is located in Place des Lices.  It’s a gorgeous restaurant with live music serving French cuisine.  We enjoyed the patio seating and eventually ventured inside to grab a final drink and danced to the music.  Another restaurant we would recommend!  

L’Olive

We had passed L’Olive every day on our way to the flat.  It was a quaint restaurant with outdoor seating and Mediterranean menu. We hadn’t planned to dine here, but after seeing the dishes being served we had to try it! The green salad, pasta and osso bucco didn’t disappoint.  The portions were huge and the price was reasonable compared to some other restaurants we had been.  (Nice break to the credit card!) If you are looking for a more relaxed atmosphere, head to L’Olive. 

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Aux Deux Fréres

Aux Deux Fréres, a tiny boulangerie in the middle of old town.  We had stopped here for a quick sandwich to take away.  Having been our last day we were bummed we didn’t get to enjoy more items from Aux Deux Fréres.  A must visit while in ST!

La Tarte Tropézienne

You can’t go to Saint-Tropez without having a Tarte Tropézienne.  It’s a dessert pastry consisting of a filled brioche.  Say no more – brioche.cream.pastry. Each bite was even better and better.  We sat along the water (1 minute walk from our flat) and enjoyed the sunset while eating our delicious dessert from La Tarte Tropézienne.

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Market Day –  Place des Lices

Every Tuesday and Saturday morning there is an open air market in the famous Place des Lices.  This is a great market with home goods, fabrics, clothes, food, spices, vegetables and jewelry.  Looking back we wish we purchased more other than the pareos, but more reason to go back! To note, it can be crowded so be prepared.  Place des Lices is also a lovely place to sit and relax on a warm summer evening.  Cafés surround the area and it becomes vibrant with people playing bocce, kids playing and friends socializing. 

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Accommodations: Airbnb

Airbnb has been a great option for us while we are traveling. We were really excited about our place in Saint-Tropez and enjoyed emailing with the owners prior to the trip. They are very responsive and provided some suggestions on local spots. Unfortunately the flat was not what the photos looked like. It was tired, worn down and smelled. We won’t be sharing the link with everyone as we wouldn’t recommend it. We would recommend the location – it was in Old Town walking distance to everything! It was also 1 minute from the beach (La Ponche), where we enjoyed the sea breeze eating our breakfast and watching the sunset. What we learned especially with Covid/2020 and Airbnbs – make sure the comments are up to date and someone has stayed in the place recently. Lots of Airbnbs were vacant for the majority of 2020 so the photos might be different than what you expect.

Other Places we didn’t get to try, but were on the list:

Saint-Tropez, you are a dream! We will be back! Pump it up!