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Ideas from Toulon Cruise Stop (Would love something like St Paul De Vence)

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We will be in Toulon on a cruise in early September.  My husband and I have been to France, but none of the rest of my family.  I thought about going to St Paul De Vence, as we loved it and it's such a picture perfect village and one good representation of the small villages of France.  It is about 1.5 hours from Toulon.  (Worried if we dock in La Seyne Sur Mer it is even farther.)  (only there 8-4)  We're not a fan of the bigness of Marseille.  I've looked at Cassis, St Tropez, but they don't seem to have the quaintness.  

(1) Are there any other suggestions of villages that can compare to St Paul De Vence?
(2) Would only need transport to and from St Paul, not a full tour.  Is there a good reasonable vendor for a van?

Posted by
1005 posts

St Paul de Vence is lovely but you only have eight hours in port so I'd look for an alternative instead. Remember that you won't be the first ones off the boat, so you might not embark until 8:30 or even 9 a.m., and you'll want to be back around 3:30 p.m. if your ship leaves at 4. You should reconsider Cassis, which is much closer and has some fishing village charm. I'd avoid St. Tropez--too much glitz for my taste.

Posted by
6883 posts

Sanary sur Mer is absolutely lovely (very similar to Cassis), and much closer. 20 min drive from La Seyne.

Posted by
27062 posts

How recently were you in St-Paul-de-Vence? What time of year is your upcoming trip?

I made a day-trip to St-Paul-de-Vence in May 2017, and it was totally overrun with day-trippers.

Edited to add: I thought the historic center of Hyeres (not on the coast) was very attractive, and there weren't many tourists there.

Posted by
5 posts

We will be in Toulon the first week of September. Are the roads a little less busy going to St Paul De Vence at this time of year? However, due to these posts, I am leaning to taking this off our schedule.

Cassis and Saint-Cyr don't have the same appeal as St Paul De Vence. May opt to go to Aix-en-Provence and then back to Marseille to go to Longchamp Palace, Pharo Palace for photo stop and then to Basilica Notre Dame de la Garde. If we did this, how much time do you think we should allot for the Marseille portion?

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If we stopped in Marseille to go to Longchamp Palace, Pharo Palace for photo stop and then to Basilica Notre Dame de la Garde.... approximately how much time should be allotted for this?

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113 posts

sherriecar what did you decide to do at Toulon? We're going in July. Thank you!

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5 posts

Not totally decided yet. Most likely going to Aix-en-Provence. (The ship has an excursion. The only be I’ll take the whole cruise.). It’s probably the best representation of a French provincial village, although a little larger than a village. Still wish something like St Paul de Vence were closer.

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