The Belle Époque seafront, the red rocks of the Estérel and the sandy bay of Agay – the tables, the hotels and the quartiers, in one guide.
In Saint-Raphaël now
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Weather
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Photo: stevanzz/Adobe Stock
In this guide
Every table and hotel the MICHELIN inspectors have chosen in Saint-Raphaël – 1 Bib Gourmand, 1 more restaurants and 2 hotels – on one map, with our own stories as we write them.
A seafront institution revived in 2019, open every day of the year: reworked classic cocktails and local wines on a shaded sea-view terrace, with live music some evenings.
The town-centre food and flower market runs Tuesday to Sunday, 07:00–13:00, with producers alongside traders; the fish market on place Kennedy sells the local catch until noon.
Roman amphorae from local wrecks, menhirs and the crypts of the medieval church; in October it opens on Saturdays 09:00–12:30 (and 14:00–17:00), entry €2.
A 30-minute commented loop of the harbour and old streets from the foot of the Ferris wheel; October–December departures run 11:00–12:00 and 14:00–16:00 (adult €7, child €5).
Drive or take the TER to Le Dramont for the 3.8 km clifftop loop (about two hours, graded easy) past the Sémaphore and above the Île d'Or, with a detour to the painted boats of Port du Poussaï.
Drive up to the Rocher Saint-Barthélemy car park for the flat, car-free botanical lane – 3.2 km there and back, pushchair-friendly, with sea views and the red rock at the end.
Down to Agay's kilometre of sand under the red rocks, open all year, for a picnic (the Victor Hugo market also trades on Sunday mornings) and a paddle in the sheltered bay.
Back in town for the comedian's museum: film clips on vintage televisions and his voice on old telephones; Sunday opening 14:00–17:00 in the low season, adult €7.
✱ MICHELIN star · Bib Gourmand: good cooking at a fair price · ◆ selected in the Guide · € to €€€€: the Guide's own price bands, from «on a budget» to «spare no expense».
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Sunset and drinks
Where to drink
Cocktails on the Old Port and Santa Lucia, and the Belle Époque terraces of the seafront.
An art-deco hotel facing the Old Port, where Fitzgerald-era Saint-Raphaël is the theme: cocktails upstairs at the weekend, oysters and Japanese plates at the brasserie below.
A seafront institution of the late 19th century, revived in 2019: a shaded sea-view terrace, reworked classic cocktails, local wines and live music, DJs or karaoke some nights.
Restaurant, terrace bar and club · Vieux-PortLe Baïa
Three levels above the Old Port: an aperitif with live music on the new ground-floor terrace, Franco-Asian dinner upstairs with the bay below, and a DJ late.
Sources: Côte d'Azur France, the Saint-Raphaël tourist office, Var Tourisme (visitvar.fr) and Estérel Côte d'Azur's bar selection, read 27 October 2026.
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Where to stay
The hotels worth the trip
The MICHELIN Guide's selection and the hotels we would book ourselves.
The old customs path east of town, on yellow waymarks between the sea and the Estérel: red rocks, small coves and fishing ports the whole way.
Past Coves and small beaches of Boulouris and La Péguière, Port de Boulouris and Port du Poussaï, Plage du Débarquement and the Dramont lakes (1.2 km inland)
All year, weather permitting. Winter 2026–27 works: the usual descent to Port du Poussaï is closed – a 650 m detour via boulevard du Sémaphore is signposted.
Long and rocky as a whole; the tourist office suggests shorter sections out and back.
Start: Port de Santa Lucia (near the shipyard), or the other end at Camp Long beach, Le Dramont – both with parking
Sources: the Saint-Raphaël tourist office's hiking itineraries and Var Tourisme (visitvar.fr), read 27 October 2026. Coastal paths close in rough seas – check before you set off.
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With kids
Saint-Raphaël for children
Sandy beaches from the Veillat to Agay, a comedian's museum, ponies above the sea and the Estérel's red rock to climb.
A long pebble beach with a 150-metre stretch of sand, reached through a shaded public garden with a children's playground, mini-golf and a mini-car circuit.
Supervised beach with a first-aid post; HandiPlage service in season (dates not given).
A pebble beach with sand from 20 metres out, shaded by maritime pines and facing the red Île d'Or – and the place where 20,000 men of the US 36th Division landed on 15 August 1944.
Supervised from the first-aid post (season not given).
Museum · Ages Children's trail with games throughout the museum (no age given).Musée Louis de Funès
Four hundred square metres on the great French comedian, with film clips on vintage televisions, his voice on old telephones and a games trail for children based on drawings by Stephan Zimmerli.
1 October–30 April: Tue–Sat 10:00–17:00, Sun 10:00–12:00 and 14:00–17:00.
Roman amphorae from local shipwrecks, menhirs and flint tools, and crypts under the medieval church where 2,000 years of the town come up out of the ground.
November–February: Tuesday afternoon to Saturday morning, 09:00–12:30 and 14:00–17:00.
A giant screen and synced tablets bring 500 works from the Louvre, Versailles, the Pompidou and others into one room – free, and a good hour on a grey afternoon.
All year, Tuesday–Saturday 14:00–18:00; closed Mondays (Var tourism listing).
Four rooms on the porphyry quarries worked here from 1864 to 1959 by almost 1,000 men, with photographs and archives never shown before – and a 21-panel trail on the quarry site itself.
Opening hours not published on the official listings – ring 04 98 11 25 88 before going.
A free 135-hectare seaside park with a 1.5 km sandy beach, children's playgrounds, trampolines, a skate park, orienteering courses and a Mediterranean garden.
Open every day all year, 07:30–23:00 (to midnight in July–August).
Sources: the Saint-Raphaël tourist office, Var Tourisme (visitvar.fr), Côte d'Azur France, Aqualand and the places' own pages, read 27 October 2026. Drive times from the town centre without traffic. Check seasons and ages with the place before you go.
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The atlas
Saint-Raphaël at a glance
Every restaurant, hotel, sight, beach and shop we know of – 781 places, each with its own page. Choose a quartier, or a kind of place.
Photo: Olivier Magherini/Adobe Stock
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The directory
Every place in Saint-Raphaël
781 places, each with its own page – the six nearest the centre of each kind are here; every one of them is in the directory, A to Z.
