St Raphael, getting to St Tropez

St Tropez is a wonderful place – not just the beautiful bay, the vibrant market, the fashionable shops and the opportunity for celebrity spotting (we’ve never seen one – not even a B-Lister!) and rubber necking at the multi-million pound/euro/dollar/rouble boats in the harbour. Its whole ambience epitomizes the Cote d’Azur. 

But it is a bit difficult, to say the least, to get there by car. We’d been stuck on the Cogolin roundabout before but that was with the children in August. Surely it wouldn’t be he same in June? It was! Coming along the road from St Raphael/Frejus it was stop start all the way. The previous day we’d picked up brochures in St Raphael for boat trips from the port, or from Agay a little further eastwards and nearer to our campsite, and tutted at the price (22 euros return adult, 12 euros children from 2 to 9, June 2008). 

Sitting somewhere hot between St Aygulf and Ste Maxime on the N98 we wished we hadn’t been so tight. This was reinforced when fellow campers told us, on our return, how relaxing and enjoyable the boat trip had been. 

There is a Provencale market in St Tropez on Saturdays and Mondays and as you sail along the coast viewing the impressive Cap du Dramont (from Agay), St Aygulf, Les Calanques and the Cap de Sardinaux you can dream, as you enter St Tropez harbour , of being a celebrity – even if only a B- Lister! All in all, with the cost of parking( quite steep in the huge car park adjoining the harbour), and fuel, not to mention the stress, we wished we’d gone par bateau. 

However, if you are determined to go by car(we have friends and family who aren’t great sailors) an early start is a good idea. We did this one year and avoided the worst of the congestion but remember you can get snarled up at that nasty roundabout on the return journey – we know, we did!