Saint-Tropez has a reputation problem: people picture the port in August, decide it's too much, and go elsewhere. That's a mistake born of staying in the wrong place. The town is small and loud for about 400 metres. Step back from it and the peninsula is one of the most comfortable weeks on the Riviera.

Here is how we think about it.

The port: for arriving, not staying

The old port is theatre — the stern-to line of yachts, the cafés, the passeggiata at seven. It is worth one evening and one lunch. It is not worth basing a family there for a week; the noise runs late and the villas closest to the quay pay for the location in sleep.

If a client wants to be in it, the answer is a yacht on the quay rather than a house — you get the view and the walk-off access, and you can move the whole base to a quiet anchorage off Pampelonne when you've had enough.

The vineyards: where the villas are

Behind the town, towards Gassin and Ramatuelle, the land climbs into vineyards and umbrella pines and the serious houses. This is where a family week actually happens: a staffed villa with a pool and a view back to the bay, ten minutes from the beach clubs by car and far enough that you don't hear them.

Our three Saint-Tropez picks each sleep 10–22 across this band. They book from Easter for July and August, and the best of them are gone by February.

Pampelonne: book the beach before the house

The beach clubs — Club 55, Loulou, Verde — are the actual reason most people come, and a table at the ones that matter is harder to secure in August than the villa is. We reserve those first, in the client's name, for the specific dates, before we confirm anything else. A house with no lunch booked is a house with a very frustrated first morning.

Getting there

Nice is the airport; the drive down is 90 minutes on a good day and well over two on a Saturday in August. A helicopter transfer from Nice to the La Môle or Grimaud pad is 15 minutes and removes the single worst part of the trip. For clients coming from Dubai we tend to route the private jet into Nice and have the helicopter waiting on the apron.

We keep a live view of what's available on the peninsula for the coming season. Tell us your dates and we'll tell you what's real.