Things to do in Saint-Tropez: a concierge's notebook

Saint-Tropez fits in the palm of a hand, yet everything here must be earned. What I’m about to share isn’t the postcard checklist, it’s what I genuinely tell my clients to live the peninsula like an insider, not stuck in the August crowd.

And I always start with the same question, which isn’t “what do you want to do?” but “when are you coming?”. Because in Saint-Tropez, the date decides everything else.

• May and June, my favourite window, without hesitation. The water is warming, the beach clubs have just opened, the teams are fresh, and you get everything that will be impossible six weeks later.
• July, the build-up. Still workable in the first fortnight, saturated after that.
• August, the village at its maximum of everything: people, prices, energy, traffic. If you come in August, come knowing it and let me lock things down well ahead.
• September, the second-best window. The sea at its mildest of the year, superb light, tables available the day before. And Les Voiles at the end of the month, a spectacle in itself.
• October to April, a different village. Many addresses close, but those that stay open are alive and you rediscover a genuine Provençal town. It’s my quiet season.

The heart of the Tropezian lifestyle, and the subject I spend the most time on. First thing to understand: Pampelonne isn’t in Saint-Tropez but in Ramatuelle, along nearly five kilometres of sand, and you need ten minutes by car from the village, forty-five on an August Saturday.

A golden rule half of people miss: at each beach restaurant, your sunbeds must be claimed before noon or one o’clock, even if your lunch is booked for 3:30pm. After that they’re released, and you end up with nowhere to lie down despite your reservation. Sunbeds and table are requested separately: that’s mistake number one.

• Classic chic : Club 55, La Réserve à la Plage, Jardin Tropezina. You genuinely lunch here, you stay the afternoon, the mood never tips over.
• Festive: Loulou, Bagatelle, Casa Amor, Shellona, Gigi Beach. Lunch drifts into a dancing afternoon, and in the most party-minded places children are generally not admitted at the second seating.
• The row matters as much as the address. Front row facing the water or third row behind the service walkway is not the same day for the same money, and it’s negotiated when booking, never on arrival.

It’s the request I get most often, and by far the day my clients still talk about a year later. Three programmes hit the mark every time.

• The 3 Capes: Camarat, Taillat, Lardier. About ten nautical miles over the day, so very little cruising, the finest water on the peninsula and shelter available whatever the wind. It’s the one I offer first.
• The 3 Islands: Levant, Port-Cros, Porquerolles. Some thirty nautical miles each way: magnificent, but only on a fast boat, otherwise the day is spent under way.
• The Lérins islands with lunch at La Guérite, on the Cannes side. Which I always book at the same time as the boat, never after, in July and August, the table goes well before the yacht.

My favourite Saint-Tropez is early morning, before the crowd. The Place des Lices market, Tuesday and Saturday mornings, where you meet as many locals as visitors if you get there before nine. The lanes of La Ponche, the old fishermen’s quarter, the part of the village the postcard always forgets.

And two visits I recommend without reservation, precisely because nobody expects them here: the citadel, which overlooks the village and houses a maritime history museum, and the Musée de l’Annonciade, set in a former chapel by the port. A remarkable painting collection in a village nobody visits for that, which is exactly what makes it pleasant. Allow an hour for each, and go in the morning.

• 8:30am, the village before everyone else: coffee on the port, the market if it’s Tuesday or Saturday.
• 10:00am, departure by boat towards the capes, swimming, water toys.
• 1:00pm, lunch on board at anchor, or ashore at Pampelonne for the first seating.
• 4:00pm, back to the village, a nap or the spa, and an hour of shopping while the streets empty.
• 8:30pm, dinner at the first seating, the one where you can hear each other.
• 11:00pm, and from there, it’s no longer up to me.

Saint-Tropez has a reputation as an adults’ destination. That’s partly true in the evening, and entirely false during the day, provided you choose the right addresses.

• The first seating at the beach clubs, at 12:30. Calm, family-friendly, and nobody will look at you sideways.
• Les Salins beach and the coves at l’Escalet, more sheltered and far quieter than Pampelonne.
• Half a day at sea rather than a full one: beyond four hours, the youngest lose interest.
• The coastal path late in the day, on a short section, it’s a stroll, not a hike.
• And a babysitter for two or three evenings, decided before arrival: the request I’m thanked for most.

Saint-Tropez isn’t only its beaches, and that’s where I most enjoy surprising my clients. A few ideas I arrange often:

• A private tasting at an estate on the peninsula: Minuty in Gassin, Fondugues Pradugues in Ramatuelle. Twenty minutes from the beaches, and almost nobody thinks of it.
• A perfume workshop, to leave with something you’ll actually use all year.
• A helicopter flight to see the coast from above, a few minutes is enough to understand the peninsula’s geography.
• A Mini Moke to run the roads of Ramatuelle and Gassin, which are narrow and where a supercar is a handicap.
• The coastal path between Ramatuelle and l’Escalet, at golden hour.

And then there’s the night, as much a part of Saint-Tropez as its beaches. One thing to know before planning: nothing starts here before one in the morning. Arriving at a club at midnight means arriving two hours early.

• Les Caves du Roy: the institution, beneath the Byblos, without equivalent on the coast.
• L’Opéra, dinner-show, when you want the full spectacle.
• Pablo, unapologetic partying, Place des Lices.
• Raspoutine, the iconic Russian cabaret.
• Lily’s, to keep the night going.

• Driving into the village in the middle of the day. A single road serves the peninsula, and it seizes up. Park once for the week and be driven.
• Underestimating journeys. Saint-Tropez to Pampelonne is ten minutes out of season and can be forty-five in August. Nice to Saint-Tropez is 1h30, and more.
• Booking the boat without booking lunch. In July and August, beach tables go before boats do.
• Planning dinner straight after a day at sea. You come back late, salty and tired. Leave two hours.
• Arriving on a Saturday. It’s the day the whole peninsula changes over, and the road stops moving.