Sanary-sur-Mer France Riviera
83
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Atlas Ocean Voyages (4 Cruises)
Azamara Club Cruises (2 Cruises)
Emerald Waterways (6 Cruises)
Seabourn Cruise Line (34 Cruises)
Seabourn Ovation
34 Cruises
SeaDream Yacht Club (7 Cruises)
Star Clippers (7 Cruises)
Windstar Cruises (19 Cruises)
Star Legend
15 Cruises
Wind Surf
4 Cruises
Frequently Asked Questions
By tender, right in the heart of the village: small ships anchor in the bay and land passengers facing the pink and ochre facades of the seafront, under the palms lining the quay. Few calls place a visitor into Provençal ease so quickly.
Everything on foot. A loop of the harbour and the pedestrian lanes, the Romanesque tower and its museum, then the climb to Notre-Dame-de-Pitié, about twenty minutes on a shaded path. No excursion is needed to fill the day well.
The brightly painted fishing boats that bob all along the quay, emblems of the village. Sanary still lives from its fleet: in the morning, fishermen sell sea bream and sea bass straight off the quay under the plane trees, as their grandparents did.
Wednesday. Stalls stretch the full length of the harbour: olives, tapenades, melons, Provençal fabrics and bunches of lavender make it one of the most respected in the region. If your call falls that day, plan nothing else for the morning.
Because it was in these waters and nearby that the trials leading to the invention of the aqualung took place in the 1930s and 1940s. A 13th-century medieval tower houses the museum of Frédéric Dumas, an early companion of Commander Cousteau: old diving suits, underwater cameras and amphorae.
In the 1930s the village became the refuge of German and Austrian intellectuals fleeing Nazism: Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht, Lion Feuchtwanger and Franz Werfel lived or stayed here. It has been called the capital of German literature in exile. A plaque near the tourist office lists their names, and a signed route leads to the villas they occupied.
At Sanary-sur-Mer, living away from the centre. It is one of those details that give this seaside resort a depth nothing suggests at first glance.
Yes. Small sand and pebble beaches follow one another along the coastal path, toward the Cousse bay or the golden beach of Portissol. They are within walking distance of the quay, which makes swimming easy on a port call.
Yes, Bandol is a few kilometres away. The appellation produces respected Mourvèdre reds and rosés, and several estates welcome visitors for a tasting among the vines facing the sea.
The euro, and the feel of a village that does not try to dazzle. Cards are accepted everywhere. Before returning aboard, sit once more facing the pointus, when the sun drops behind the hill and the pétanque balls click on the nearby square.
