I’ve stayed on the same campsite in Port Grimaud (Camping Les Mures) for at least a week every autumn for the last 8 years minus the covid year when we couldn’t travel abroad. This is not something I make a habit of, as I like to see new places and partake in different adventures. However, I’ve been pulled back here mainly because I visit family who are there seasonally, but also because it has such a great relaxed vibe to it all along that coastline, and as you’ll see from the photos, it has a magnificent view across the bay to St Tropez.
Port Grimaud is far from the poor man’s St Tropez. It has its own uniqueness with its waterways resembling a mini-Venice and beautiful houses surrounding the village. It is a place of two halves; the port which is the ‘seaside’ and beach area, and the old village of Grimaud up in the hills. I love the beach, but you must experience the old village too, it has such a traditional feel to it.
Things to See and Do
Beach - If you stay on one of the three campsites along the shore of the bay, you are literally on the beach dipping your toes into the sea. It is perfectly golden and sandy with crystal clear flat water to swim in. We’ve spent many happy hours on this beach, hubby loves to fish off the rocks, and we love a good pétanque tournament with our family and friends. Don’t be mistaken though, because we’ve been there in a mistral (wind howling down through the mountains that surround the bay) and the waves are crashing up the beach taking the sand away. Every year in the Spring, lorry loads of sand are delivered to recreate that perfect golden beach we see on a daily basis throughout the holiday season. Whilst whiling away your days on your sunbed, make sure you take your binoculars because the yachts that sail into St Tropez harbour are out of this world. Top tip, use the boat finder app to look who owns them and how much they cost, the biggest we’ve seen was a Russian owned vessel costing just under £200 million which had its own bodyguards circling on jet skis around it and patrolling the perimeter of the decks with their guns slung over their shoulder!
Port Grimaud – You can walk along the beach through to the last campsite (Prairies) and exit straight opposite the port. Go over the humpbacked bridge just wide enough for a car, and you arrive in the middle of the waterways known as little Venice. There is a weekly market held here in the square, and many boutique shops and restaurants along the sides of the canals. From here you can also catch a water taxi over to St Tropez or down the coast to Sainte Maxime. It is only a few euros each way, they run every 20 minutes and drop you right in the harbour at St Tropez. Warning - don’t go near the ‘White Shop’ clothing store with your chocolate ice-cream or strawberry slush, it is very dangerous having those kinds of shops for a clumsy clot like me; wide berth always given!
Grimaud – From within Prairies campsite, you catch a land-train which takes you half an hour ride up the mountain to the old town of Grimaud. It has the most beautiful narrow streets with traditionally French architecture, a couple of restaurant/bars which serve nice food and a pretty village square. There are a number of festivals/fetes that take place throughout the year in the village, we were lucky enough to visit on the Wool Fair which occurs on Ascension Thursday where we saw traditional dances, got up close and personal with the farm animals and ate/drank local offerings which were very tasty and all free of charge!
St Tropez – Catch a water taxi from the port, or there is a great cycle path set back off the very busy main road which circles the whole bay and runs outside the campsites that takes you right into St Tropez, 20 minutes cycling. The track also has a walking path which takes 45-60 minutes, or the local bus stops outside the campsite entrance and for 3 euros return it gets you into the centre in 10 minutes. The harbour houses a myriad of elite boats and some nice traditional small fishing boats and is overlooked by a multitude of restaurants, some of which are surprisingly reasonable at lunchtime. A fellow camper once held Piers Brosnan’s dog while he went to the toilet in a restaurant and chatted to him about everyday life, bless her she didn’t know at the time who he was, and he was happy to chat anonymously to her until her friends arrived for lunch. You just never know who you will meet! There is a lovely Breton creperie towards the end of the harbour which serves the most amazing savoury galettes, my favourite is a Mariniere (smoked salmon, spinach and crème fraiche). These are usually only available in Brittany so it’s a real treat to eat here for me, there’s also one on the edge of Sainte Maxime.
Leave the shore and wander along the backstreets looking at the designer stores, don’t try and enter unless you are prepared to tussle with the burly bodyguards in every shop door; no shorts and flipflops in these stores and only those walking around with their own bodyguard seem to gain entry! There are some beautiful traditional buildings and a great marketplace behind the façade of millionaires’ row, and a lovely church up on the hill with a fabulous viewpoint over the bay back towards Port Grimaud. The hillside above the port is scattered with enormous villas, most of which are owned or rented by the rich and famous and can only be reached by helicopter, they fly over regularly from the heliport behind Grimaud.
Sainte Maxime – Just 3 miles away you can cycle, walk, catch the bus or water taxi in the opposite direction from the campsite to this lovely port town. It has a large harbour which is home to the lesser yachts, although don’t get me wrong they are still worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. There are an abundance of restaurants and cafes across from the harbour and the small town sits behind these with winding streets full of independent shops and more restaurants. I highly recommend taking a trip on the Petit Train, which is a road train that leaves the harbour and takes a tour around the vast array of beautiful villas above the town, it has English commentary. Sainte Maxime has a bakery opposite the harbour which sells the biggest Tarte Tropezienne you will find in the area, not to be missed it is a local donut-textured cake but lighter with crème pâtissier filling and dusted with icing sugar and sugar crystals; my mouth is watering as a type!
Adventure on the bus!
It wouldn’t be an adventure with us if there wasn’t a minor disaster or mishap occasionally, we are known as the Meldrew’s among our nearest and dearest after all! On this occasion we woke to rain pelting on our van roof (this is unusual but not unknown in autumn on the odd days), we consulted with the neighbours on the next pitch and decided to take a bus trip along the coast to a place we’d not visited before – Cavalaire-sur-Mer. On paper (google maps to be precise) it is 9.8 miles or a 23-minute drive. We donned our waterproof coats and trotted to the bus stop outside the camp gate. At 3 euros per person return it was a bargain. Fortunately for us the local buses are akin to our international coaches in the UK with extremely comfortable seats and aircon. After 50 minutes on the bus we looked up and realised we were just circling back past the supermarket which is a 5-minute drive from our campsite! You can imagine our shock, thinking we’d got the wrong bus we sent sis to speak to the driver. It transpired we were most definitely on the right bus, and we’d now be leaving the port and arriving in Cavalaire within the hour. So, after almost 2 hours on the bus we arrived laughing that it had taken so long, then we realised we had the same journey back! We metaphorically filled our soggy trainers with a lovely 3-course lunch and a few glasses of vino, had a walk around the harbour and along the beachfront then headed back for the mammoth bus ride home. It is a lovely place to visit, even in the rain, and has a great campsite just behind the town that our friends have stayed on. Just beware the buses are not always direct!
A night out not to be missed!
I can’t talk about Port Grimaud and not mention Melvis. We have a tradition when we are at Camping Les Mures, we have to go to the Elvis night held fortnightly at the Restaurant de la Plage on the next campsite to us, you must do it at least once in your lifetime. The restaurant is on the beach and open to the public, we’ve eaten there many times, the food is always great with a varied menu and good takeaway pizza that we’ve eaten on the beach watching the sun go down. I digress, as the thing not to be missed is not the food but Elvis, or Melvis as we’ve affectionately named him; his show name is Mel Bovey. He’s not just your average act, he’s played in Las Vegas and across the world and is an opera-trained singer, so what on earth he is doing offering a regular gig to the beach restaurant baffles me. I’m not an Elvis fan but this is not just an impersonation act, he has an amazing voice, and he throws in humour and other songs (Sweet Caroline is a favourite of ours which we belt out after a few Mojitos), he mixes with the crowd and is literally just stood on a mat on the decking doing his act all in English when he’s most definitely French. Tables have to be booked in advance if you want to eat, but other than paying for your food and drink it is a completely free night of entertainment with a fantastic atmosphere, ended with the classic Nessun Dorma which brings the house down.
In a Nutshell
I highly recommend Port Grimaud and the surrounding area. In my opinion it has so much to offer in its own right it cannot possibly be the poor man’s St Tropez. Plenty of places to visit in the area within just a few miles, all as lovely as each other. Lots of fabulous food and drink to be had, plenty of celebrity spotting; my claim to fame is Jeremy Clarkson and his girlfriend walking round the harbour, not the best I know! I’m not sure if I love it so much because of the company we have when we are there, or if it is genuinely the place itself, but for now I’ll keep returning. You can even get the local train and bus from Nice Airport to the campsite in an hour if you don’t want to drive all the way to the South of France.
Travel Tip
If you are arriving in your motorhome or towing a caravan do not take the first exit signed to Grimaud from the motorway that most sat nav’s urge you to take, go on to the next junction. I’ve only made the mistake once and it is a series of hairpin bends on a narrow road with no barrier to stop you dropping off the cliffside, not a journey I would wish to repeat. The next junction brings you into Sainte Maxime where you follow the main road along the shoreline towards St Tropez, this doesn’t require a change of underwear on arrival!
On that note I’ve waffled enough. If you’ve been to the area, let me know what you think of it in the comments, do you love it as much as I do? If you’ve enjoyed reading this article, please like and subscribe to future blogs as it really does mean the world to me having you on board and it is completely free.
Happy travels
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