Var

Visit Var

This popular region of Provence includes a great deal of magnificent coastline and many interesting towns and villages - enjoy the busy coastal resorts or head towards the quieter interior for a change of character.

Selected places to visit in Var

Highlights in the Var, Provence

The Var department of France is the central-southern part of Provence, along the coast between Bandol and Saint-Raphael (see also Cote d'Azur) and inland through the Cotes de Provence wine region and to the Upper-Var.

Var Coast

The western half of the Cote d'Azur falls in this department including the well-known resorts of Saint-Tropez, Saint-Raphael and Frejus...and many others. Among the highlights: The Iles d'Hyeres just off the coast and including the Ile de Porquerolles are a major (and very beautiful) coastal attraction; at the eastern end of the department the coast road to the south of the Massif d'Esterel is one of the finest coast roads in France; visit the vineyards and wines around Bandol. a little way inland from Les Issambres is the village of Roquebrune-sur-Argens.

See Cote d'Azur for the coastal resorts in the Var

Cotes de Provence

Crossing the hills of the southern part of the Var department region, and the Massif des Maures, is the highly esteemed Cotes de Provence wine region. The attractive landscape is interspersed with numerous small towns and villages, including several of the well known 'perched villages' of Provence.

Some of the towns to visit here, west of the bustling town of Draguignan, include Les-Arcs, Lorgues, Entrecasteaux, while Thoronet Abbey is a listed French national Monument in this region. See also nearby Flayosc then head to Villecroze, best known for its troglodyte caves that are well worth visiting.

Head east via Bagnols-en-Foret to visit the most beautiful village at Seillans, and some of the other perched villages in the 'Pays de Fayence' region (eg Callian, Fayence, Mons, Montauroux, St-Paul-en-Forêt, Tourrettes, St-Paul-en-Foret and Tanneron).

Haut Var

Among the towns to enjoy here are Aups, Salernes, and the classified most beautiful village of Tourtour. Further north again, enter into the countryside of the Upper Var (Haut-Var), just south of the deep and impressive Gorges du Verdon (also known as the Grand Canyon of France) where the landscape becomes more remote and wild.

At the end of the Gorges du Verdon, the very extensive Lake Sainte-Croix has a developed tourist industry and is popular with visitors exploring the gorges, while to the east of the gorges is the isolated village of Bargeme (a 'most beautiful village' and also the highest village in the Var).

The Massif de la Baume

This extensive scenic area is centred around the cathedral town of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, in the north-west Var with Barjols to the north of here.

See a list of all Var communes

Page in French? See Var (Francais)