Saint-Tropez

1. ~9:00aCafé on the quay

   Coffee and a warm croissant at a port-side café, the yachts and pastel houses of the Vieux Port waking up around you.

2. ~10:30aLa Ponche & the old streets

   The original fishing quarter behind the port — narrow pastel lanes, little squares, and the small harbour where Brigitte Bardot's Saint-Tropez began.

3. ~12:00pThe Place des Lices market

   The town's beating heart — a Provençal market of olives, cheeses, linens, and antiques under the plane trees (Tuesdays and Saturdays), and the boules pitch the rest of the week.

4. ~1:30pLunch in the old town

   A shaded terrace for a Provençal lunch — a salade niçoise or grilled fish with rosé, in a quiet square away from the port.

5. ~4:00pThe Citadelle & maritime museum

   Up to the 16th-century hilltop fortress for the best view over the town and gulf, and a small, well-done museum of Saint-Tropez's seafaring history.

6. ~6:30pSunset rosé on the port

   A port-side or rooftop terrace for the magic-hour ritual — a glass of cold Côtes de Provence rosé as the yacht lights come on.

7. 8:30pDinner in townAnchor table

   A refined Tropézien table — Mediterranean cooking and a serious wine list, the marquee meal of the day. Book ahead in season.

Saint-Tropez is at its best early and late — beat the day-tripper crowds at the port and market in the morning, then claim a rosé terrace for the magic-hour glow. The old quarter and the Citadelle hold the real charm beneath the glitz.

1. ~10:00aA day at Pampelonne

   Out to the legendary 5km arc of Pampelonne Beach — a daybed at a celebrated beach club, with the soft sand and clear water that built the Saint-Tropez myth.

2. ~1:30pLunch at Club 55

   The long, lazy beach-club lunch — crudités, grilled fish, and rosé under the bamboo, the most Saint-Tropez thing you can do.

3. ~4:00pBack to the beach, or a boat

   An afternoon on the daybed, or charter a small boat to see the coast and the calanques from the water — the way Saint-Tropez is meant to be seen.

4. ~7:00pRamatuelle hilltop apéritif

   Up to the perched medieval village of Ramatuelle for a quieter sunset apéritif — old stone lanes and a view over the vineyards to the sea.

5. ~8:30pDinner in Ramatuelle or back in town

   A Provençal village restaurant for grilled lamb and local wine, or back down to Saint-Tropez for a late, lively dinner.

Pampelonne is the legend — reserve a beach-club lounger and lunch at Club 55 well ahead in summer. The perched village of Ramatuelle, just up the hill, is the quiet, beautiful antidote to the beach-club buzz.

1. ~9:30aA Côtes de Provence wine estate

   Into the hills behind the coast for a morning at a rosé estate — a cellar tour and tasting among the vines that supply the world's most famous pink wine.

2. ~12:00pThe hilltop village of Gassin

   One of France's 'most beautiful villages' — a tiny perched maze of stone and flowers with a panoramic ridge looking out over the whole gulf and peninsula.

3. ~1:30pLunch with a view

   A village or vineyard terrace for a long Provençal lunch — local rosé, regional dishes, and the gulf spread out below.

4. ~3:30pA walk to Cap Taillat

   The wild, protected headland at the peninsula's tip — a coastal-path walk to a pristine double beach on a sand spit, the unspoiled flip side of glamorous Saint-Tropez.

5. ~7:30pA final Tropézien dinner

   Back in town for a last seafood dinner on the port, the yacht lights and the buzz of the quay seeing the trip out.

The hills behind the coast are the antidote to the beach scene — rosé estates, the perfect perched villages of Gassin and Ramatuelle, and the wild walk to Cap Taillat. It's the authentic Provence that surrounds the glamour.