Saint Maxime is a pretty town facing St Tropez across the bay. The mountains of the Maures protect it from winds and with a small port and a pretty town make it a popular yachting location. St Maxime got its name in the 11th century, and has a number of prehistoric and Roman remains in the area.
St Maxime has many attractions as a yachting location like the clean beaches and harbour, ship chandlers and yachting boutiques, a number of small specialised food stores and wine merchants amongst the old cobbled streets of the town.
Yachting in this part of the Mediterranean is popular because the Gulf of St Tropez offers protection from the strong north westerly winds of the mistral and tremontane. The port lie directly opposite the port of St Tropez. There are regular ferry services as well as private water taxi's to take visitors across the bay. It is by far the most sensible option as there is plently of good parking around the port of St Maxime. The port is well protected but its moorings are for yachts under 30m.
This area has long been a place that has attracted both artists and poets alike due to the extremely mild climate and its beautiful location. One such famous novalist who lived here for many years was Jean de Brunhoff who wrote the Barbar the Elephant children's novels. The beach in one of the series is mentioned and is known as the Plage des Elephants (Elephant Beach). The beaches along the coast are excellent, golden sands and well manicured with small snack bars set back amongst the leafy promenade. In particular the beach known as the Croisette Beach and La Nartelle which can be found to the west of the town.
To visit the botanical gardens you will need to travel about 1 km southwest from the town center, just past the Croisette Beach. Entrances to these gardens are free and they are open from 08.00 until 17.00hrs. There are many interesting species of trees and bushes and its large shady walks, with wooden benches make a refreshing retreat from the hot summer sun. There are picnic areas as well as a play ground for small children.
The history of the town dates back to the 11th century, with some fine examples of the medieval period of the 15th and 16th century seen in the chateau and the fort of the tour Carrée, which was built by the Monks of the Islands of Lerins off Cannes. When they came and settled here they converted the town to Christianity. Outside of the town heading west approximately 2km at San-Sebastien and Haute-Suzanne there are examples of prehistoric settlements in the form of dolmens and a granite menhir. From La Nartelle heading northeasterly for about 3km are remains of Roman thermal baths. This area was a good trading place at this time for trading the local olives, oil and wine.
As a holiday yachting destination there is just about every type of water sport to try like scuba diving, sailing, wind surfing, and for those wishing to leave the yacht for a while there is mountain biking, horse riding and mountain walking excursions to try. To the north of the town there is clay pigeon shooting as well as an 18 hole golf club with hotel restaurant and tennis. The Aqualand at Les Bosquets with it numerous watershoots is a great day out for the kids and adults alike.
St Maxime is a yachting location that will fulfil the whole family's needs.