Sainte-Maxime sits opposite Saint-Tropez across the Gulf. Quieter and more family-friendly, the town offers a welcome alternative for visitors wanting to avoid the Saint-Tropez crowds while staying just 25 minutes from the village. We run a chauffeur service for the residences at La Nartelle, the villas around Sémaphore, and the seafront hotels (Hôtel des Palmiers, Villa Royale). The coastal road from Sainte-Maxime to Saint-Tropez is spectacular but slow: off-season our fleet favours the D559, and the maritime shuttles (Bateau Vert) at the July–August peak when they make sense. We also run round trips to Nice Airport via the A8, optimised at 1h20 under normal conditions.
Boat or road to Saint-Tropez?
It is the question every visitor staying in Sainte-Maxime asks. Both work. The boat crosses the gulf in about twenty minutes and avoids the traffic, but it ties you to the shuttle timetable, stops early in the evening, and assumes you can park at the departure end, which, in August, is already the problem. The road takes about 25 minutes for 14 km out of season. Its advantage is door to door, at any hour, with your luggage and no connection. For dinner in Saint-Tropez and a return at midnight, it is generally the only workable option.
The seafront, La Nartelle and the residences
Sainte-Maxime stretches over several kilometres of seafront, and the address matters: the centre and the port are one thing, the Nartelle area, about 3 km out, quite another, with its own residences and beaches. We cover all of it, including the hillside residences whose access roads sometimes wind. As everywhere in the Golfe, we ask for the name of the residence rather than just the street: it saves circling on arrival.
The right side of the gulf for the airport
Sainte-Maxime has an advantage the peninsula does not: it sits on the north shore, so closer to the A8. Nice is about 1h20 away for 83 km, ten minutes less than from Saint-Tropez, without crossing the peninsula at peak times. Toulon-Hyères, on the other hand, is further than it looks: 1h10 for 72 km, against an hour from Saint-Tropez. The trade-off therefore depends on which airport you use.
Typical trips from Sainte-Maxime
- Nice Côte d'Azur Airport≈ 83 km · ≈ 1h20
- Toulon-Hyères Airport≈ 72 km · ≈ 1h10
- Saint-Tropez centre≈ 14 km · ≈ 25 min
- Port Grimaud≈ 6 km · ≈ 10 min
- La Nartelle Beach≈ 3 km · ≈ 5 min
- Monaco≈ 105 km · ≈ 1h35
Places served in Sainte-Maxime
- La Nartelle Beach
- Sainte-Maxime Port
- Sémaphore
- Promenade Simon Lorière
- Casino Barrière