France Hyeres beach Travel Information

The Hyères Islands is the marine paradise of the Var district. The Hyères Islands are made up of Porquerolles, Port Cros and Levant. These islands, also known as the “Iles d’Or” (Golden Islands), are accessible from the presqu’île of Giens, Lavandou, Hyères and Toulon. Because of the light reflected from the golden-brown mica rocks.

Porquerolles is the largest of the islands measuring 8 km by 2 km. The north coast of the island shelters beaches with fine sand and turquoise seas. On the south, the coast is more hilly and rocky. It is best to visit the island in mid-season as it is always packed in summer.

Port Cros is a national park protected since 1963. Its surface and marine life is closely watched. The island is essentially rocky and measures 4.5 kms by 2.5 kms. Many of the places have Roman names such as: Pointe de la Galère, Vallon de la Solitude, Vallon Noir, Route des Crêtes, etc. Many fortresses: Estissac, Eminence and Vigie reminds one that the Hyères Islands used to be an important control post on the coast.

The Levant Island is a real paradise for nudist in summer. There is not much space here to walk around, but then again one comes here to get rid of your bathing costume and to sip on a drink under the mimosas and bay leaves. Except for the beach, the island is made up of little cliffs

Hyères is a fabulous town, and vastly different from the seaside resort area of the coast. Coming up from the beach, or turning in from the end of the autoroute, you'll drive up through a commercial-residential district on the Avenue Gambetta with its wide sidewalks lined by double rows of palm trees. If you come into town by train, you'll have a 10-15 minute walk from the station to the center. However you arrive, don't plan on leaving soon; if you have only one day you'll miss a lot of Hyères.

The Place Massillon is a large, open square, with the 12th-century Tower of Saint-Blaise and several good terrace cafè-restaurants. The daily market is held here, and the tiny streets leading to the square are packed with market stalls and shops. The well-restored old "tower" was a Knights Templar commandery.

Behind the observation table, the medieval Porte Pensicola leads upwards tint even narrower streets, many of them paved with thick round cobble stones and bordered by stone walls, with shrubs and flowers everywhere. A lot of the streets of the upper vieille ville have the stone roots of the underlying rock joining streets and walls.