Things to do in St Tropez
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Coastal Walks
Ramatuelle tourist office organises balades nature (guided nature walks) to Cap Camarat, Cap Taillat and elsewhere on the peninsula.
Additionally, a scenic coastal path wends its way past rocky outcrops and hidden bays 35km south from St-Tropez, around the Presqu'île de St-Tropez to the beach at Cavalaire-sur-Mer and beyond to Le Lavandou (60km). In St-Tropez the coastal path, flagged with a yellow marker, starts at La Ponche, immediately east of Tour du Portalet at the northern end of quai Frédéric Mistral. From here, trails lead to Baie des Cannebiers (2.7km), La Moutte (7.4km), Plage des Salins (8.5km) and Plage de Tahiti (12km). Alternatively, drive to the end of rte …
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Le Club 55
What started out as a simple canteen for the crew of And God Created Woman in the 1950s is now the hippest joint on the beach. Dine at tightly packed tables beneath sails strung from trees, drink from plump white sofas on the sand, and pay to be a beach bum on a white cushioned mattress beneath umbrella or hip paillote (a smart straw shack) on the designer beach. Rumbling tummies with no reservation can opt for a salad or sandwich at the twig-topped beach bar nearer the water.
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Tomb of Émile Olivier
At the northern end of Plage des Salins, on a rock jutting out to sea, is the Tomb of Émile Olivier (1825-1913), who served as first minister to Napoleon III until his exile in 1870. Olivier's 17-volume L'Empire Libéral is preserved in the library of Château La Moutte, his former home on Cap des Salins.
Olivier's sea-facing tomb looks out towards La Tête de Chien (Dog's Head), named after the legendary dog who declined to eat St Torpes' remains.
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La Tête de Chien
La Tête de Chien was named after the legendary dog who declined to eat St Torpes' remains. A grisly legend provided St-Tropez with its name in AD 68. After beheading a Roman officer named Torpes for becoming a Christian, the emperor Nero packed the decapitated body into a small boat, along with a dog and a rooster who were to devour his remains. Miraculously, the body came ashore in St-Tropez unnibbled, and the village adopted the headless Torpes as its saint.
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Atelier Ivan Hov
Origami sailing boats are the forte of Hungarian-born artist Ivan Hov who fled Budapest for Paris in 1956 and studied art in the capital before moving to St-Tropez in 1968. Today, it is hundreds of tableaux - monumental to minuscule in size and featuring at least one (but invariably thousands) of his signature paper boats - that reflect his life. View them (or buy them - his works range from a pint-sized pice to a wall-sized work) at his twinset of workshops.
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Le Sporting
There’s a bit of everything on the menu at always-packed Le Sporting, but the speciality is hamburger topped with foie gras and morel cream sauce (surprisingly great, if gut-busting). The Brittany-born owner also serves perfect buckwheat crêpes, honest lunch deals, and a simple salad and croque monsieur (open-faced grilled cheese with béchamel sauce). Drawback: cigarette smoke, especially near the open storefront. Reservations essential.
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Atelier Rondini
When Colette returned to St-Tropez from Greece, she brought back a pair of sandals, which she took to her cobbler to replicate. That cobbler was Atelier Rondini, open since 1927 and still making the same sandals for about €120. You can only get them in town, and they can’t be shipped. If you don’t find any that fit they can be made to order, but it takes a week and you must come in person for the final fitting and pickup.
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Cap Taillat
Cap Taillat is protected by the Conservatoire du Littoral (which bought it from Club Med after it tried to turn the precious, nature-rich cape into the world's largest Club Med in the 1970s). The tiny spit of sandy land today supports a range of important habitats, from seashore to wooded cliffs, and hides some of France's rarest plant species as well as a population of Hermann tortoises. Can be accessed from Gigaro.
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Chez Fuchs
This casual, unpretentious bar-restaurant is a truly authentic family-run affair where noisy, happy Tropeziens hang out. It's notable for the massive range of cigars it sells, and for its carefully prepared traditional dishes: stuffed courgettes, artichokes à la barigoule (traditional Provençal dish of artichokes braised in a tangy white wine broth) and seafood. It positively heaves - book ahead.
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La Ponche
Shrug off the hectic hustle of the Vieux Port in the charming old fishing quarter of La Ponche, northeast of the Vieux Port. From quai Suffren, walk to the northern end of its continuations, quai Jean Jaurès and quai Frédéric Mistral, and at 15th-century Tour du Portalet, turn right (east) to the sandy fishing cove. From here, a coastal path snakes around the peninsula.
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Plage de Pampelonne
This beach is the continuation of Plage de Tahiti, studded with some of St-Tropez's most legendary drinking and dining haunts. To get here on foot, head out of town along av de la Résistance (south of place des Lices) to rte de la Belle Isnarde and then rte de Tahiti. Otherwise, the bus to Ramatuelle runs about 1km inland along the D93 - from which seven roads lead to the sand.
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Les Bateaux Verts
April to September Les Bateaux Verts runs various trips departing from quai Jean Jaurès at the Vieux Port including around the Baie des Cannebiers, Calanques de l'Estérel, Caps Camarat, Taillat and Lardier, Cannes, Îles de Lérins, Port-Cros and Porquerolles. The company also runs shuttle boats between St-Tropez, St-Raphaël, Ste-Maxime and Port Grimaud.
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Auberge de l’Oumède
Epicureans come from far and wide to savour Jean-Pierre Frezia’s divine Provençal cuisine in the idyllic setting of his hilltop mas (traditional Provençal stone building). With red mullet and spinach cannelloni, grilled catch of the day and sensational desserts, all accompanied by some very fine wines, dining at l’Oumède is a once-in-a-lifetime treat.
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La Table du Marché
With sister 'market tables' in Alpine ski resort Avoriaz and Marrakech, this simple (for St-Trop) yet stylish bistro is something of a success story. Should you want to learn the secrets behind Christophe Leroy's market-driven cuisine, sign up for a session in his atelier de cuisine. Die-hard enthusiasts can also dine at Leroy's Les Moulins de Ramatuelle.
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Le Café
Artists and intellectuals have been meeting in St-Tropez's most famous café (originally called Café des Arts) for years. Aspiring pétanque players can borrow boules from the bar and join the square's illustrious ball-chuckers. Don't confuse this place with the newer, red-canopied Café des Arts on the corner.
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La Maison des Papillons
Around 4500 butterflies collected by Dany Lartigue, son of Riviera photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue (1894-1986), are pinned to the walls in La Maison des Papillons. Find the House of Butterflies in the former home of Madeleine 'Bibi' Messager, the first wife of Jacques Lartigue (he had three) who remained in St-Tropez after the couple split.
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Café Sud
French and Italian-inspired cuisine including all things fishy, a fabulous fish risotto and imaginative vegetarian dishes like veg salad with celery ice cream are the order of the day at this tasteful restaurant set in a vine-covered courtyard. Its other restaurant, La Plage des Jumeaux, offers white tablecloth dining on Pampelonne beach.
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Brasserie des Arts
Wedged in a line-up of eating/drinking terraces jockeying for attention on St-Tropez’ people-watching square, BA, as it is known, is where the locals go. Out of season ask for a table at the back to experience the real vibe. Unless you’re feeling flush, skip à la carte: the fixed three-course menu is gourmet and excellent value.
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Place des Lices Market
The massive place des Lices Market is a jam-packed kaleidoscope of everything from fruit and veg to antique mirrors and slippers. It's truly legendary (as the horrendous traffic coming into town on these days attests!). It is studded with plane trees, cafés and (when the market's not on) pétanque players.
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Château La Moutte
The Château La Moutte's unmarked entrance is on chemin de la Moutte. In summer musical concerts are held. The library here holds Émile Olivier's 17-volume L'Empire Libéral. Olivier served as first minister to Napoleon III until his exile in 1870. This used to be his home on Cap des Salins.
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Polo Club de St-Tropez
Yes, wealthy old St-Tropez even has its very own polo club, the Polo Club de St-Tropez with a state-of-the-art club house designed like a ship, a restaurant and several pro instructors who can help aspiring players saddle-up and have a bash at the royal game. The polo season runs April to September.
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Le Gorille
Another eminent portside bistro, the Gorilla gets it name from its previous owner, the short, muscular and apparently very hairy Henri Guérin! Stop here for a typically French/special/English breakfast or a post-clubbing croque monsieur (toasted ham-and-cheese sandwich) and fries.
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Le Bistrot
A few doors down from Le Café, the Bistro offers all-day dining in a contemporary décor overlooking St-Tropez's busy central square. Fish and shellfish are a gastronomic feature, alongside straightforward hole-filling salads and tartines (toast topped with various toppings).
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Sénequier
Sartre wrote parts of Les Chemins de la Liberté (Roads to Freedom) at this portside café and hot spot with boaties, in business since 1887. Flop around pillar box-red tables and directors chairs on its terrace and watch the world razz by. Breakfast is served from 07:30.
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De Puta Madre 69
Buy a skimpy black bikini with 'playmate' emblazoned in pink sequins, a belt for your jeans with digital display flashing your very own personalised logo and other rebel-yell designs in the brand created by a Columbian drug dealer in a Spanish jail from De Puta Madre 69, next to Papagayo.
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