Sanary sur Mer
This blog is actually not only an ode to Sanary sur Mer, but here I describe so much more to discover around this beautiful village. I am sure you will get enthusiastic about spending a day or more with kids around this provençal coast area. It is a wonderful coast to explore with kids thanks to its beautiful long beaches, famous market as well as islands and climbing park in the area.
The most beautiful market
When you live in, or visit the Provence, Sanary sur Mer is just so beautiful that it is really worth a visit. The little town is wonderful to stroll with your kids. Sanary sur Mer is famous for its market, which was chosen as the most beautiful market of France in 2018. Every Wednesday morning you have the chance to admire the fresh and local products. From here you can enjoy the beautiful port of Sanary, perfect for holiday pics. What makes it even better is that there is a little playground near the port. But beware, next to it is a paid carousel. Good luck ;-). From July until the end of August Sanary celebrates summer with her festival Sous les étoiles, you can find the 2021 program here. In summertime you can also visit the night market, from 19:30 till 00:30. OK, quite late with younger kids, but hey, it’s their holiday too ;-).
Long sandy beaches
After you might have filled your provençal basket with fruit and bread, you and your family are ready to go to one of the gorgeous beaches of Sanary sur Mer. They are long sandy beaches, so not so crowded and you can also find restaurants at the beach. We loved the main beach called Ludo, just perfect… No wonder the famous French Clara Luciani shot her music video for Le Reste in Sanary sur Mer. Look at this video and you are in the good mood!
Climbing parc
When you are planning to spend some more time around Sanary, I can certainly recommend you two other activities: one of them is visiting a climbing parc. Since we live in France, we discovered the fun of going to an accrobranche parc. In the nearby Six Fours les Plages you find Coudou parc. This parc was great fun for our kids that were aged 3 and 5 at that time. Our nieces of 7 and 9 years old had a blast as well. For the younger kids from 2 years, there are dedicated tracks in a cool pirate theme. The older kids can go as high as they (and you!) would like, wow, that height!
Islands of Ricard
Ricard, that might seem familiar to you. Indeed, you know Paul Ricard for his famous anis liquor. This drink is so popular among the French as an aperitif, I love it and made it part of our integration. Paul Ricard made a fortune with his brew and bought two islands in front of Six Fours les Plages, named Île d’Embiez and Île Bendor. From the harbor of Six Fours you can take the ferry to one of these beautiful places. Taking the boat is already a great adventure for your kid, definitely a tip!
We chose Île d’Embiez and found out all the bikes were already taken (make a reservation on time). So we took the little train instead, really not something my cool twenty-something version would think I’d do as a grown up. Still, it was a good way to explore the island and very kid-friendly. We had lunch near one of the beaches, at the American style food truck Le Truck de l’Île. Perfect, laid back environment for kids. If you stay long enough at one of the islands, you might see a perfect sunset too.
Where to stay?
As you might have thought, I am just a mum and no professional tourist guide. So if you’d like to stay around for a while I can only advice you the one accommodation we visited. And it was quite a nice one, if you like camping though. We stayed at Huttopia Forêt de Janas at La Seyne sur Mer. Though the camping is kind of saturated with glamping cabins close to each other, the common area is nicely styled. Apart from what I already described, we rented electric mountain bikes with kids seats and visited raw Toulon with its marine museum, mondain Bandol and the pretty town Bormes les Mimosas.
Did I convince you to visit this wonderful coast to explore with kids? Enjoy!
