Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)
-   Europe (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/)
-   -   Port Grimaud help please (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/port-grimaud-help-please-555934/)

melodyt13 Sep 2nd, 2005 03:36 AM

Port Grimaud help please
 
Hello

Trying to plan my trip to St. Tropez and have found some villas here on the water that are very nice ,and less expensive than right in St. Tropez.. HOw's the Port Grimaud beach?? Is access to ST. Tropez easy??

Would it be better to stay in Ste. Maxime or Cavaliere to be closer to St. Tropez??

Thanks very much

vedette Sep 2nd, 2005 06:53 AM

Port Grimaud has a good beach. Access to St-Tropez is uncomplicated and direct, but summer traffic is horrendous and will make the drive slow. St-Maxime is twice as far from St-Tropez as PG is. In fact, you have to drive past PG to get to St-Tropez. Cavaliere is also farther than PG is, but in the other direction, and I am not familiar with the traffic on that side, though I imagine it is horrible too in summer. Port-Grimaud is unique and I think you will enjoy it. Just be advised that the whole area is a madhouse in summer.

melodyt13 Sep 2nd, 2005 08:03 AM

Thanks

Port Grimaud it will probably be then..

I'm thinking June...Is June crazy too??

vedette Sep 2nd, 2005 08:12 AM

August is insane, July is moderately loony, June is merely somewhat dysfunctional. Driving to St-Tropez is not bad in the morning.

Port Grimaud is unusual and special and not visited by many Americans. I don't recall ever seeing a post about it. You will have something on all your friends.

vedette Sep 2nd, 2005 08:20 AM

One more thing. Try to get really specific directions on how to access the place you are staying. If you are renting from an agency, you will need to park in the huge parking lot at the entrance to the city and walk in. That puts you in the commercial district and you shouldn't have any trouble finding the office. The agent will then guide you to your place and explain the water bus system. If you are renting privately, you are also likely to have to park in the lot and find the water bus. There are very few houses in PG that can be accessed by car.

melodyt13 Sep 2nd, 2005 04:40 PM

Thanks Vedette,

I am renting privately and there seems to be a spot in front of the home for use...
But how do I get to the beach then if I can't drive?? Do I walk to the Port Grimaud Plage from my harbor house?? They say it's 500 meters... Can't really visualize how far walking that is..

Thanks so much

MyriamC Sep 2nd, 2005 11:30 PM

I'm not familiar with the beaches in Port Grimaud. The town itself is very pretty, with lots of canals and an fresh feel with the water all around.
As to Cavalière, we were there the first half of June of this year. We drove to St. Tropez once (we simply must do that every time we come in the area) and traffic was horrendous! That's why we only went once.
Although Cavalière's location is not excellent for a visit to the village of St. Tropez, it would be a good base if you want to be close to the beaches of St. Trop, as they are in fact in Ramatuelle, south of St. Tropez.
Hope this helps.

MyriamC Sep 2nd, 2005 11:45 PM

A 500m walk will take about 10 min.
When mentioned 500m in a brochure it's usually a little longer ...

4totravel Sep 3rd, 2005 05:35 AM

We've stayed in Cavalaire the last week of June (2 yrs agao) and the traffic was fine - we took daily trips to Bormes, Lavendou, Cannes, Vallauris, Antibes, St. Tropez and didn't experience ANY bad traffice UNTIL the day we were leaving - which was a Saturday morning which had us sitting in traffic for a long time.
We noticed (since it was the first weekend in July that we left) a huge increase in people in the area the day before...it was like an invasion - and I am glad we got out of there when we did.

We went this year in July on a Monday morning to Cavalaire for the day and the 2 hour trip from St. Remy turned into a 4 hour trip (of which 2 hours were in St. Tropez traffic). July is very different then June IMHO.

Once you pass the turn for St. Tropez though you are free and clear driving. Staying in Port Grimaud or Cavalaire, traffic wise - makes no difference.

I don't know what the beaches are like in PG but in Cavalaire they are quite nice....all the same stretch of coast.

If you stayed in St. Maxime you would have much more traffic issues than if you headed further West.

vedette Sep 3rd, 2005 07:49 AM

Melody --

Not knowing specifically where your place is, I would assume that if they told you 500 meters walk to the beach, then walking must be the most efficient way to get to the beach. 500 meters is about 1/3 of a mile. It has been a long while since I have been to PG and I cannot remember the arrangements that have to be made to drive in to one of the houses that has automobile access. Be sure your landlord provides complete info, along with a parking pass.

MyriamC Sep 4th, 2005 10:52 AM

@ melodyt13
Cavalière and Cavalaire are two different places! Cavalaire is closer to St. Tropez than Cavalière.

ScottishChic Jan 29th, 2006 07:18 AM

Port Grimaud is beautiful and very easy to reach St Trop from. An MMG 'taxi boat' goes straight from its port and takes 10mins at most to get to St trop, and costs no more than around €3! It will take forever to reach from Ste Maxime or Cavaliere in the traffic!


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 07:22 AM.