Saint Tropez Tours Compared: Boats, Villages, Wine and Day Trips

A tour here buys one of four things: a few hours on the gulf, a morning in the hill villages by van, a day among the wine estates, or a day in town from Nice or Cannes. The cards look alike and the prices run from $74 a head to $3,019 a boat, so decide which of the four you want before you compare. This guide sets the Saint Tropez guided tours side by side, then takes the questions that usually decide it.

Which kind of Saint Tropez tour fits your trip?

Here is every kind of tour on sale, with its length, its price, what you pay on top, and where it starts. Read the last two columns before the price: they are where most surprises hide.

If you have one free day, weigh a full day on a Pershing against the wine day and a day trip. If you have a morning or an evening, look at the catamaran, the bay boat, the sunset boat and the van tours.

Sea or land?

The sea, if the weather lets you. What the town sells is the gulf: the superyachts in the port, the bays below the villas and the capes you cannot reach by road. The page on Saint Tropez boat tours sets out every way onto the water, from a $74 place on a catamaran to a whole Pershing for the day.

Land wins on a rough day, for anyone who can't be on a boat, or when the hill villages are the point. The van tours take you to Grimaud on its hill, to Gassin and to the canals of Port Grimaud, and one goes west to Bormes-les-Mimosas for two hours. Pregnancy, back trouble and heart conditions rule out the boats; they do not rule out the van.

A seat, a place, or the whole boat?

This is the question the cards do not answer for you. A seat on the scheduled boat from Nice or Cannes is a crossing and five hours ashore: no guide and no swim stop. A place on the shared catamaran puts you with other travellers, priced per head, and it needs eight people to sail. The whole boat is yours, priced per group, and every motor charter adds fuel on top of the price you see.

For two of you, the catamaran at $74 a head is nearly always the cheaper way onto the water. For six, the bay boat at $435 works out at about $72 each before fuel. Our guide to what a private boat costs runs the sums boat by boat.

What does each price leave out?

The fare on the card is not always the bill. Here is what comes on top, tour by tour.

• The bay boat: fuel of €90 for three hours or €120 for four, paid before you sail, and €50 if you are collected from the town's port, Sainte-Maxime or Port Grimaud rather than the Cogolin marina.
• The sunset boat: €100 of fuel per booking.
• The Pershings: a fuel surcharge whose amount the operator does not publish. Ask for it in writing before you pay.
• The wine day: the tasting fees, paid at each estate.
• The catamaran: an €18 lunch box if you want one, from the Cogolin harbour only.
• The scheduled boats: food and drinks, sold on board.

Nothing else is hidden. No tour sells a ticket to the town, because there is no gate, and the three museums charge €5 each at the door.

Which leave from the town, and which from Cogolin?

Fewer start in town than you would think. Most of the boats berth at Marines de Cogolin, round the head of the gulf, and the bay boat meets outside the harbour master's office there. The catamaran sails from the same marina or from Cavalaire and Le Lavandou, farther west.

In town you have the sunset boat, which boards by the harbour master's office on the port, one Pershing half day from the same quay, the shared van in front of the Hôtel de Paris, and the private van tour, which collects you anywhere in town. The ferry across the gulf reaches the Cogolin marina in about 25 minutes if you are staying in town. Our map of the meeting points places each one.

Which take children?

Most of them, with limits that differ. The bay boat is the family pick: the whole boat for up to six, buoyancy aids, tubes and paddleboards, and two swim stops. Infants ride on a lap on the boats, and the regatta catamaran takes children from one year old.

On land, the van days list strollers and infant seats as fine, and the town's museums are free for anyone under 12. Our post on bringing children goes through every age rule.

What if you can't swim?

Then you lose very little. The scheduled boats and the sunset boat ask nothing of you in the water, and on the catamarans and the charters the swim stop is optional. The bay boat carries buoyancy aids for anyone who wants to try.

On the catamaran you pay the same fare whether you swim or stay on deck with the aperitif. If the sea is the point and swimming is not, the sunset boat gives you two hours afloat for the price of the view.

Which include food or drink?

The sunset boat pours a bottle of bubbly and drinks. The Pershings carry snacks, soft drinks and water. The catamaran pours an aperitif as it leaves the dock and sells an €18 lunch box, and the regatta boat pours two aperitifs. The wine day lists drinks, but you pay the tasting fees at each estate.

On the bay boat you bring your own food for the coolbox, and the scheduled boats sell food and drinks on board. No tour here includes lunch, so budget for it wherever you stop.

Which work with limited mobility?

Very few. The shared van tour is the one product that says its vehicle and surfaces are wheelchair accessible: three and a half hours, with an hour in town, an hour in Grimaud, half an hour in Port Grimaud and 45 minutes in Gassin. No boat is accessible, and every boat warns off anyone with back problems.

The private van tour says it is not suitable for wheelchairs. One traveller on it wrote that a companion who used a walker could not follow the group up to a high viewpoint, so ask the guide to adapt the stops before you book.

Which still run in October?

The scheduled boats run from May to October. On the Cannes route in 2026 the regular sailings run until 20 October, with extra sailings from 23 to 25 October. The regatta catamaran sells only in regatta week, which in 2026 runs from 26 September to 4 October.

The private boats and the van days list their own dates. October brings 115.5 mm of rain on the Météo-France normals for Fréjus, the nearest coastal station, second only to November, so keep a spare day if you book a boat.

Coming from Nice or Cannes for the day?

You have three ways. The boat from Nice sails at 09:00 from Quai Lunel, two and a half hours each way, for $112. The Cannes boat takes an hour and a quarter for $93. The road day from Nice collects you at your hotel, crosses the gulf by ferry and stops in Port Grimaud on the way home, for $145.

The page on Saint Tropez day trips compares the three side by side, with what each includes.

How do you combine a boat and a day on land?

Pair one on the water with one on land, on different days. The sunset boat fits the evening of a day in the villages, and a van tour fills the morning after a day at sea. Put the boat early in your stay, so a rough sea leaves you a spare day to move it to.

If you only have the one day, our plan for one day in town shows what it holds.

What should you book first in summer?

The private boats, because each takes one group a sailing, and July and August fill first. The regatta catamaran sells for one week a year, so book it as soon as you know your dates. Every booking refunds in full up to 24 hours before, so booking early costs you nothing.

Frequently asked questions

Tours for a first choice

Côte d'Azur: Half-Day Coastline Catamaran Sailing Tour

Three hours under sail on a big shared catamaran from one of three harbours: an aperitif, then a swim with kayaks and paddleboards. Priced per head, with a lunch box to add.

From $74 per person

Check Availability

Saint Tropez Private Boat Charter in the Bay of St Tropez

Three or four hours on a sports boat for up to six with a skipper: the port, two swim stops and an hour ashore in the canal town, with skis, tubes, paddleboards and buoyancy aids.

From $435 per group (up to 6) plus fuel, €90 for 3 hours or €120 for 4, and €50 to collect you in town

Check Availability

Saint-Tropez Small-Group Shared Tour

Three and a half hours in a shared van of up to 13 with a driver-guide: an hour in town, an hour in Grimaud, half an hour in the canal town and Gassin. Its vehicle is wheelchair accessible.

From $145 per person

Check Availability