Sights in Saint Tropez — 10 of Our Favourites

Located inside a 16th-century chapel, this small museum is a great example of how Saint Tropez was an important avant-garde centre at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the painter Paul Signac who discovered this traditional fishing port in 1892 while travelling around the French coast in his yacht Olympia. He fell in love with the town and bought a house here, where he set up a workshop, La Hune, inviting other famous artists such as Matisse, Cross, Derain or Marquet to join him.

The artists displayed have based their work upon the study of colour, light, as well as shape. The whole collection is composed of pictures essentially belonging to the pointillist, Nabis and Fauvist movements. You can check out pieces by Klee, Matisse, Signac, Serat, Braque, Bonnard, Gauguin... lots of them depicting the village of Saint-Tropez.

Check their website for opening dates and times.

The museum was created by painter Dany Lartigue in his own private house, a typical Tropezian home. Lartigue is a passionate butterfly aficionado and has been collecting specimens for decades. His collection is mainly focused on French species, such as the rare Apollon Noir from the Mercantour region.

Being a painter himself, all the butterflies are arranged in an artistic way, so that visitors can appreciate the colours and details of these wonderful animals in the best way possible, displaying them over landscapes painted by Lartigue. A great place to learn more about butterflies and spend hours contemplating their beauty.

Visitors will follow the town’s seamen across the seas of the world, whether on short trips and fishing expeditions along Provence’s coast, or voyages aboard large merchant sailing boats beyond Cape Horn, journeys along the coasts of Africa and India or on liners of the famous Far East steamship company.

The museum of maritime history is an invitation to discover famous Saint-Tropez heroes such as Bailli de Suffren, General Allard or Hyppolite Bouchard, as well as thousands of anonymous folk who served the nation aboard the navy’s vessels or who faced stormy seas aboard merchant ships. You can also learn about the town's daily life and relationship to the sea, through traditional fishing techniques.

Open every day except certain public holidays, so check first. Guided tours need to be booked in advance.

Saint-Tropez was brought to the attention of the cinema world in the 1960's with a series of French cult films about the comic lives of the gendarmes (police) based in the pretty port town of Saint-Tropez.

The building that housed the real gendarmerie from 1789 until 2003 became legendary in the films of director Jean Girault. Brigitte Bardot, known as the face of Saint-Tropez, also features in the museum as it was here that Roger Vadim realised the film “…And God Created Woman”, creating with it the myth of Saint-Tropez.

The museum offers an introduction to the history of cinema in Saint-Tropez and reveals the many films shot in the Var peninsula, along with the various trades related to the cinema.

An initial defence post was erected on the so-called 'Moulins' hill in the late 16th century, during the Religious Wars. The hexagonal tower, which formed an essential part of the village's defence system, was erected between 1602 and 1607. The Citadel underwent numerous modifications over the centuries, before falling into disuse in the 19th century, when the strategic interest of this perfectly-preserved fortress finally diminished.

The old cannons are still in place facing out towards to sea, and the views from the top are stunning across the Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea.

Bought up by the town in 1993 and made a listed monument, today it hosts a museum dedicated to the history of Saint-Tropez and its relationship with the sea.

Its walls are decorated with many ex-votos, thanking Saint Anne, patron of seamen, for her help. The chapel sits on the highest point of a hill overlooking the village of Saint Tropez, therefore offering breath-taking panoramic views of the city and the Mediterranean Sea.

If you're a Rolling Stones fan, you must visit this chapel where Mick and Bianca Jagger got married on May 12th 1971, when she was four months pregnant. Guests included Paul and Linda McCartney, Ringo Starr, film director Roger Vadim, Eric Clapton, as well as Jagger's bandmates. The ceremony turned out to be not the quiet affair Mick had imagined and pararazzi surrounded the tiny chapel. The pictures of Bianca wearing a white trouser suit by Tommy Nutter, with a bit more cleavage on show than what is normal for a Catholic wedding, are iconic.

This building replaced an older 16th-century church which became unstable when the current chapel was erected. There had been an earlier 11th-century religious construction on this same site, destroyed during Queen Jeanne's succession wars.

Inside, you can admire statues and wood carvings dating back to the early 19th century, along with the bust of Saint-Tropez, which is paraded through the streets every year during the famous 'Bravades' celebration.

Made famous by Camoin, a member of the original group of Fauvists (or "wild beasts") that gathered around Matisse at the beginning of the 20th century, the Place des Lices is also well known for its fresh Provençal produce market every Tuesday and Saturday.

Its name comes from the medieval word for jousting ground, "lices", so it was probably a place were games and tournaments took place in the Middle Ages. The current square was started in the early 1800's when 12 plane trees were planted. You can now enjoy a quiet walk around the square and immerse yourself in the authentic local Tropezian lifestyle.

Construction of the chapel started in 1635, finishing only a year later. The Black Penitent Brotherhood's mission was to visit and help the sick and transport the dead.

Exceptional items featuring there include the serpentine stone door, from a quarry between La Croix-Valmer and Cavalaire-sur-Mer, and the bell tower with its tile glazed dome

This monument belongs to the village. 

Originally, four towers were built to protect the coast and the port: the Tour du Portalet, the Tour la Vieille, the Tour de Suffren (now lost), and the Tour Jarlier.

The Tour du Portalet and the Tour la Vieille, or Old Tower, look right out over the sea and are situated on either side of a cove called La Glaye, watching the entrance to the town from the Mediterranean. These two towers date from the 15th century and are situated in the historical fishermen quarter of La Ponche.

The last tower, and the most central one, is to be found on Rue Jarlier. This structure, built a little later than the others, dates from the 16th century. It confers a tranquillity and charm upon a street which is of considerable architectural interest.

The Tour Suffren bore the name of the ancient lords of Saint-Tropez. Even if the tower is now lost, you can see the castle which they turned into their family home in the 18th century, in Saint-Tropez's main square. It cannot be visited, but you can see its imposing stone exterior.