Hyères, French Riviera, France

Hyères is located about 50 km west of Saint-Tropez, and only 4 km from the Mediterranean Sea. It is the oldest resort on the Côte d'Azur. Britons used to spend the time here already at the end of the eighteenth century. Due to its location, the town was a resort in the winter months. Such a climate facilitated the cultivation of palm trees. Here you'll find the greatest number of these trees among all the resorts on the French Riviera. In fact, when you stroll the town you meet these plants every now and then.

Parking in Hyères

We parked the car in Clemenceau underground parking lot (P1; GPS: 43.120861, 6.132410) due to its proximity to the old town. Parking is quite huge - contains 416 places. Pricing is listed on the parking lot's internet site. You can also try to park the car in the Gambetta parking lot with 443 places located at Rue du Soldat Bellon (P2; GPS: 43.118988, 6.128403).

The Old Town

We walk down the Rue Portalet street towards the Massillon square, where impressive Templar tower (Tour de Templiers, GPS: 43.121401, 6.128506) stands, which is also known as the Chapelle Saint-Blaise. You can also climb the tower - as the reward you receive good views of the whole town. The tower was built by the Templar Knights in the twelfth century. You should also climb to the top of the hill where the ruins of the castle (GPS: 43.121173, 6.124636) are located. We walk down the street Rue de la Croix, Avenue Victor Basch, then turn to the right in a narrow Allee Castel Sainte Claire. The castle looks very interesting from the bottom, and when you find yourself at the top, the views of the town and the whole bay are breathtaking. Take care, however, about good footwear! There are a lot of small pebbles on the ground and it's easy to slip, the more that the road itself is sometimes quite steep.

The town of palms

We leave the old town and go in the southern direction along the Avenue Gambetta. We find palm trees everywhere - they are the trademark of the town. Reportedly, at the beginning of the twentieth century there was a million palm trees in the town and in the surrounding area. We move to the newer area of the town, passing by nineteenth-century villas built already when the town became a known resort. We head toward the beautiful Villa Tunisienne (GPS: 43.117645, 6.125826).

Villa Tunisienne

Villa Tunisienne was built in the late nineteenth century, in 1884. It was constructed by architect Pierre Chapoulart; it was then his place of residence. We can admire the original arches, battlements and polychrome decoration made in the Moorish style.

Tropical garden in Londe-les-Maures