How to Visit Saint Tropez: Boats, Buses, Museums and What's Free (2026)

Quick facts for a first visit

• Entry: nothing to buy. The port, the lanes of the old quarter and the beaches cost nothing.
• Museums: the Citadelle de Saint-Tropez, the Annonciade and the Gendarmerie museum are €5 each for adults. The first and last are free under 12.
• Market: Place des Lices, Tuesday and Saturday mornings, 8:00 to 13:00, all year.
• Tourist office: Saint-Tropez Tourisme, 11 Quai de l'Épi, on the port. Check its hours before you go.
• Getting here: no train. A bus from Saint-Raphaël, a ferry across the gulf, or a scheduled boat from Nice or Cannes.
• Cancelling: the outings in this post refund in full up to 24 hours ahead.

What costs nothing

You can spend a whole day here and pay only for lunch. Walk the quays of the port and look at the boats. Climb into La Ponche, the fishermen's quarter at the edge of the old town, where two small beaches of coarse sand sit below the houses. Browse the market on a Tuesday or a Saturday morning. In late September and early October, watch the classic yachts race in the gulf from the shore.

The paid doors are few and cheap. The citadel on the hill holds a maritime museum in its keep, and the ticket covers the ramparts too. The Annonciade shows painters who worked on this coast, and it costs €6 while a major exhibition is on. Our page of things to do in town lists every sight with its price and hours, and the ones without a price.

Getting in without a car

The town has no railway station. The nearest stations are Saint-Raphaël, Les Arcs-Draguignan and Toulon. From Saint-Raphaël the ZOU! 876 bus takes about an hour and a quarter, from €3; the 878 runs along the coast from Toulon, also from €3. The nearest big airports are Toulon-Hyères, about 49 km away, and Nice, about 91 km.

The easiest way in is often by water. Les Bateaux Verts cross from Sainte-Maxime in about 15 minutes, and from Port Grimaud and the Cogolin marina in 20 to 25. From further away, a scheduled boat runs from Nice and from Cannes between May and October. The boat from Nice leaves at 09:00 and gives you five hours in town for $112 return. The visitor guide has the buses, the ferries and the car parks.

Arriving on a cruise ship

Ships anchor in the gulf and send passengers ashore by tender. From the landing you are already in town, so the port, the old quarter and the market are all on foot. If you want more in the time you have, the shared van meets in front of the Hôtel de Paris Saint-Tropez, close to the tender pier, and covers two hill villages and the canal town in three and a half hours. The private van tour meets you where the tender lands. Both refund in full up to 24 hours ahead, which matters if your ship skips the call.

Parking, if you do drive

The biggest car park, Parking du Nouveau Port, has 1,477 spaces by the port. Parking des Lices, underground near the market square, has 307. On the street, a meter charges €3 for an hour and €9.10 for three, and the price jumps after that. In July and August the queue into town is part of the day, so arrive early or come by boat.

Where a fare earns its place

On land you rarely need a tour. A fare earns its price where you cannot go alone: out on the gulf, round the hill villages without a car, to the wine estates without driving, or here from Nice without the road. The table sets the choices side by side.

On the water, the half-day catamaran is the cheapest way out, at $74 a person with nothing added. The private bay boat gives six of you the whole boat. Every way onto the water is compared on our page of Saint Tropez boat tours.

The fuel surcharge, in one paragraph

Every private motorboat here adds fuel to its price. The bay boat charges €90 for three hours or €120 for four, paid before you sail. The sunset boat adds €100 per booking. The Pershing charters add a surcharge whose amount they do not publish, so ask for it in writing before you book. It is per booking, not per person. Our page for a private boat tour Saint Tropez prints each fee beside each price.

How long to allow

• Five hours: the port, the old quarter, the citadel and lunch. That is what the boats from Nice and Cannes give you.
• A morning: the market, then the Annonciade, which closes on Mondays outside July to September.
• Three hours more: a boat on the gulf, or the hill villages by van.
• A second day: the capes and the long beach, by boat or by road.

Two or three nights suit a first visit. Where to stay compares the town with Sainte-Maxime across the water and the villages behind the beach. For the town piece by piece, read the town, area by area.

When to come

July and August are the hottest months, with average highs of about 29 °C at Fréjus, the nearest Météo-France station, and the busiest. October and November bring the most rain. The Bravades fill the streets every 16 to 18 May, and the museums close on the 17th. Read the best time to visit before you fix your dates.

Boats and days out that start the right way

Cannes: Round-Trip Boat Transfer to Saint Tropez

A scheduled boat from the Old Port of Cannes: an hour and a quarter each way and five hours ashore on your own. There is no guide, and drinks are sold on board.

From $93 per person

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Saint Tropez Private Sunset Yacht Charter on 13m Motor Yacht

Two hours at dusk on a 13-metre motor yacht for up to eight, from the harbour master's office in town: past the waterfront, then at anchor in the bay of villas with a bottle of bubbly.

From $923 per group (up to 8) plus a €100 fuel surcharge per booking

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Private Luxury Wine Tour in Saint-Tropez and Provence

Six to seven hours with a driver-guide to the Côtes de Provence estates round the gulf and inland, with free pickup near town. The guide picks the estates on the day, and tasting fees are paid at each one.

From $487 per person plus tasting fees, paid at each estate

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