Out & About

Sports Facilities

  • Tennis
  • Squash
  • Horse Riding
  • Golf
  • Water Sports
  • Boat Rental

    There are tennis courts close to Le Beausset, and a squash club near Sanary. Riding lessons and country treks can be booked by visitors and all equipment can be hired at the Equestrian centre in Le Beausset. There are a number of golf courses within easy reach (including the outstanding Fregate course) and numerous water sports, at local resorts, such as wind surfing, water skiing and sailing. Boats can be rented on a daily or weekly basis from Bandol or Sanary and there are many regular boat trips along the coasts and to the islands. Some beautiful walking country also surrounds the house.

    Food, Wine and Restaurants

  • Street market
  • Supermarkets
  • Restaurants
  • Wine
  • Olive mills

    Le Beausset has a large weekly market in the colourful Provencal style selling local produce and regional products such as soaps and fabrics. In addition there are two supermarkets in the town and a number of smaller specialist shops and traiteurs. There are a number of notable restaurants within easy reach detailed in the guides in the house. The house is situated within the Bandol appellation area and so is surrounded by domaines and caves producing some excellent wine, including Tempier, Ott, Pibernon and L’Hermitage (where the grapes from the Mas Carignan vineyard are processed). All welcome visitors for ‘degustations’. Various olive mills locally also produce olive oil of a very high quality.

    Places to Visit

  • Hilltop villages
  • Coastal resorts
  • Roman towns of Arles and Nīmes
  • University town of Aix-en-Provence
  • Nature reserve of the Camargue
  • Zoos
  • Museums
  • Tortoise sanctuary
  • Marseilles, Toulon and St Tropez

    There are numerous visits accessible from the house to suit different interests. Within the region there are many hilltop villages and coastal resorts to explore (from the house you can see the bay of La Ciotat and you look down on the medieval villages of La Castellet and La Cadiere). The Roman towns of Arles and Nīmes with their amphitheatres and arenas are easy day trips as is the university town of Aix-en-Provence. The nature reserve of the Camargue with abundant bird life and wild, white horses or the fantastic scenery of the Gorge du Verdon are also day trips. There are zoos, museums and even a tortoise sanctuary close by and in summer there are often festivals, village 'balles', and circuses. Marseilles, Toulon and St Tropez are only a car drive away.

    The views from the house include the chapel to the North, the Mediterranean at La Ciotat to the West, the medieval hilltop towns of Le Castellet and La Cadiere, Mont Caume to the East and the vineyard and pinewoods to the South. Sunsets and sunrises can be, and frequently are, spectacular.

    Le Beausset is still a relatively unspoilt Provenēal town with a variety of shops, including two supermarkets, and excellent street market and various cafes and restaurants. The coast is about 7 miles away at Bandol, a fishing port with various sandy beaches. It is a pleasant town retaining a more French atmosphere than many other Mediterranean holiday towns. The very pretty resorts of Sanary and Cassis are also nearby, and the cliff-top walks west of Bandol (near Port d’Alon) are particularly beautiful.

    Within a radius of about 50-100 miles there is a wealth of site seeing, including the Roman remains at Avignon, Nimes and Arles, Les Baux, Aix-en-Provence and the mountains of Luberon and Ventoux, the Camargue, and the Gorge of Verdon. The "Riviera" resorts of St. Tropez, Cannes, Nice and Grasse are also possible day trips.


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