Port Grimaud is a lakeside town built on the water in the 1960s by the architect François Spoerry, with over 7 km of canals and houses that nearly all have their own mooring. It is an architectural success — and a logistical trap for anyone who does not know it. The town is organised in three districts with three separate entrances that do not connect directly by car. Picking the wrong one means either driving around the whole thing or crossing on foot over the footbridges, with the luggage. That is why we always ask for the house number or the quay name, never just "Port Grimaud".
Three entrances, three different addresses
Port Grimaud I, II and III are distinct developments, each with its own road access and car parks. The quays carry names a GPS reads poorly, and several addresses are only reachable on foot from a specific drop-off point. So we prepare the arrival in advance: house number or quay name, and if needed the owner's or the rental's name. On the ground, the difference between a drop-off at the door and a quarter of an hour on the footbridges rests entirely on that detail.
Saint-Tropez, the beaches and the D559
Saint-Tropez is about 12 km away, some twenty minutes out of season. In July and August the same trip can take 40 minutes at the end of the day: the D559 is the single road serving the whole Golfe, and it saturates. Pampelonne is further than it seems from Port Grimaud — about 20 km and half an hour, since you have to go around the bay. For a day at the beach, a chauffeur at disposal saves doing the trip twice while hunting for a space.
A practical base in the Golfe
Port Grimaud has a genuinely central position: Sainte-Maxime is 6 km away, Grimaud village a few minutes, Cogolin about ten, and access to the A8 via Le Muy is more direct than from the Saint-Tropez peninsula. For airport transfers that means about 1h30 to Nice and an hour to Toulon-Hyères, without crossing Saint-Tropez at peak times — a welcome gain for a morning flight.
Typical trips from Port Grimaud
- Saint-Tropez centre≈ 12 km · ≈ 20 min
- Sainte-Maxime≈ 6 km · ≈ 10 min
- Pampelonne≈ 20 km · ≈ 30 min
- Nice Côte d'Azur Airport≈ 88 km · ≈ 1h30
- Toulon-Hyères Airport≈ 68 km · ≈ 1h05
- Grimaud village≈ 5 km · ≈ 10 min
Places served in Port Grimaud
- The canals and footbridges
- Saint-François-d'Assise church
- Place du Marché
- Port Grimaud beach
- Harbour master's office
- Grimaud village