Must-see attractions in Var

Not content with owning just one island (Bendor), in 1958 Paul Ricard also bought the largest of the Embiez archipelago, 1km off the Presqu’île du Cap…

A place of exile during the 17th century, once-desolate pinprick Bendor was subsequently abandoned for 250 years. Then in 1951 along came Paul Ricard, a…

Sitting in a delightful 500-hectare valley planted with ancient vines and olive groves, Château de Miraval was a monastery in the 13th century, then…

A eucalypt-shaded pétanque pitch dominates central place d’Armes, which, as its name suggests, was once a parade ground. Music concerts fill Église Ste…

A cubist maze of concrete and glass, the villa was designed by Robert Mallet-Stevens in 1923 as a winter residence for devoted lover of modern art Vicomte…

This research institute on the Île des Embiez, dedicated to understanding and conserving the Mediterranean's marine environment, has a small aquarium to…

While there's been a fortress on this site since the 11th centry, the present handsome pile was assembled piecemeal between the 15th and 18th centuries…

This wonderful ornamental garden is planted with palms, cypresses, vanilla and grenadier trees, cactus and bamboo, sweetly scented jasmine, and every herb…

Near the summit of Mont Faron, Mémorial du Débarquement de Provence commemorates the Allied landings of Operation Dragoon, which took place along the…

This 17th-century fort, strengthened by Napoleon after being partly destroyed by the English, crowns the northwestern part of Port-Cros. You can climb its…

One of three estates comprising Domaines Ott, a winemaking concern with roots in the late 19th-century, Clos Mireille is still run by descendants of…

Within sight of the Îles d’Hyères, this 52-acre vineyard abuts the early-18th-century Château de Brégançon.