In the Haut Var, you will find the calm and tranquillity of old villages perched up high. Beginning with Montaouroux in the East, stretching to Bargème in the North, Artignosc and Artigues in the West. Here, the culture and tourism are close to nature. Cliffs, ravines, rivers, torrents, cascades and lakes offer a large variety of leisure activities: fishing, bathing, rafting, canyoning, hang gliding, climbing… The Varois outback, that stretches in the East from the Adrets de l’Esterel to Le Castellet, counts three medium sized towns: Draguignan, a town with a rich historical past, Brignoles and its castle of the Counts of Provence and Saint-Maximin dominated by its magnificent Royal Basilica containing the relics of Marie Magdalene. It is an area characterized by green hills and small valleys, cultivated plains, rivers and friendly riversides, “garrigues” and scented pine forests. The Var coastline represents 300km of coast along the Mediterranean Sea. Here you will find the most beautiful fine sandy beaches in the region, protected nature reserve islands (Porquerolles, Port-Cros and Le Levant) and the surprising marina or “lake-dwelling” city Port-Grimaud. Who hasn’t heard of Saint-Tropez? In summer this burnt ochre village becomes the playground of the jet-set. Compared with Saint-Tropez, the neighbouring towns of Saint-Raphael, Sainte-Maxime, Cavalaire, Bandol, Le Lavandou, Saint-Cyr … are more down to earth.
Ups: A large variety of property available, from town houses to Saint-Tropez palaces
Downs: Large numbers of tourists in summer and the jet-set price of property in Saint-Tropez.
Ups: more affordable property
Downs: further away from the TGV stations (Aix-en-Provence and Avignon) and from the Marseille-Provence airport (1 hour).