Beaches at the mediterranean city Toulon

As already mentioned, in Toulon, the tourism plays a very small role. Most of the visitors of South France straight do not get to Toulon; and if one or two tourists get lost in Toulon, then they look atr the city from above that is from the Mont Faron. Those who have a real stop at Toulon will enjoy a walk alongside the promenade of the old harbour and from there the obligatory and fascinating harbour tour.

But there are hardly tourists coming to Toulon in order to bath there. Toulon is finally not considered at all as a bathing resort. Meanwhile, I have learned that if a place is not considered officially as a bathing resort, this does not mean at all that at this place there are no excellent possibilities to bath. Many visitors of Toulon do not realize that there are some gorgeous beaches in the city, as one does not see these beaches straight away. One really has to find those beaches, as neither in the official city map of Toulon that one gets at the Office du Tourisme, one single beach is drawn.

Thus, where are those dream beaches in Toulon? A view to the city map shows the old harbour of Toulon and the huge port basin underneath it and/or at the west of it. From there, one can never look beyond the eastern boundary of the port basin. And exactly beyond this boundary, there are the public beaches of Toulon. Each section of the beach is arranged similarly to a bay. Thereby, the beaches are isolated from the strong sea waves, and there is clearly more space as it is the case in a long extended beach.

The beaches of Toulon are really a dream. One has the choice between beaches of purely sand and slightly pebbly beaches. I prefered the pebble beaches; the pebble is so tiny that it feels like sand but is still not blown by the wind. Right behind the beaches there is a wide promenade for having a walk and for buying some snacks and drinks.

What most impressed me in Toulon was the cristal clear water. The beaches are very shallow so that also by walking deep into the sea one can still clearly see the seaground. I found it very pleasant that at the beaches of Toulon, it was possible to get some real quietness: there was no disturbing and strong traffic at the background and no African sellers of cheap goods.

From the centre of Toulon one walks a little more than half an hour to the beaches. A very positive thing is that with the car, there are no problems to find a parking place. Of course, there are some euros to pay for it; but it is ok for an unlimited parking time. Those who do not like to walk and also do not want to take the car from the parking place can simply take the bus that departs right behind the harbour promenade.

In Toulon, bathing was good fun to me. The beaches are clean, never overcrowded, the water is clear, and there are showers everywhere in order to rinse the seawater from the body. I really wonder why there are not more people coming to Toulon for bathing.

There are, by the way, some further beaches in St. Mandrier sur Mer, the southern part of the country underneath the port basin. One gets there either by ship departing from the old harbour of Toulon or by a very long extended car drive around the whole port basin.

Copyright: Patrick Wagner, www.tourist-guide.biz