Toulon as meeting place. ..

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

We are booked for Barcelona roundtrip on QE in October. For us the highlight of the trip will be our stop in Toulon simply because our son, his wife and their two littles (4 and 6), who live in Marseille, will come to join us for the day. We will research potential family-oriented pleasures in the area, but we are most concerned about making it easy for them to find us and us them. I doubt that will be at the port, but we don’t know.

 

So if anyone can shed light on how to make this easy on the “kids,” we’d be very appreciative. Ease of parking for them? Easy place to meet that won’t overwhelm their children? Anything else that might help?

 

Thank you.

[marazul]

I would leave it up to them.  If they live in Marseille, they probably have been in Toulon or can ask their friends for good recommendations.  It is close enough.  You will be their visitors. Let them show you around.

Have a wonderful visit.

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

5 minutes ago, marazul said:

I would leave it up to them.  If they live in Marseille, they probably have been in Toulon or can ask their friends for good recommendations.  It is close enough.  You will be their visitors. Let them show you around.

Have a wonderful visit.

Thank you. I understand your meaning. However, we prefer to at least try to make this easy on them, with two full-time very demanding jobs and two kids under 7. They’ll be doing the driving while we relax on board. 

[edinburgher]

This is a trickier question to answer than you may have initially thought, due mostly to the fact that cruise ships do not always dock in Toulon itself, but could use la Seyne  s /mer instead, as some do.  I guess the first thing you would need to do is verify which is to to be your actual location.  Other than that I cannot help as I am not familiar enough with Toulon to suggest any meeting point.  Because of this, I held back from replying, but as nobody else has come in, you may find some of what I have written helpful, so here goes......

 

What I do know better, is the area west and south of Toulon as we have been visiting la Ciotat on and off for over 40 years where French friends have a holiday home..  With a car, you have many options and your family there are likely to be familiar with most, if not all, of them.

 

For children, there is a waterpark at St Cyr and a lovely main beach at la Ciotat, just a few minutes walk from the old town and harbour, of more interest to the adults.

 

Closer to your port, you could head to the area behind nearby Bandol for the vineyards and wine estates, especially for rose. Whether the grapes are still there or have already been picked will be determined by the weather between now and then as September and/or October are when they are usually picked.. Even without the grapes, the vineyards are still pretty. You could combine this relatively short but scenic drive with a visit to le Castellet within that same area, although we think it has lost its charm over the decades and now resembles more of an open air, very touristy market, although reviews on TA show that some still like it.We actually prefer la Cadiere which still retains some authenticity.

 

Or there is Cassis where you can take a boat trip around some of the Calanques.  Check boats though, as they may have finished for the season by October.  If there are no boat trips, we don't find the town especially interesting, although there is a fantastic scenic  drive called la Routes des Cretes which runs between la Ciotat and Cassis (or vice versa).  Whatever,lucky you with access to a car, this route could be combined with either la Ciotat with beach for the kids, or Cassis with a possible boat trip for the kids. 

 

Alternatively, there is the option of some wine tasting without having to visit separate domains/estates. At  Maison des Vins de Bandol  you can sample( free) a small selection of local rose wines under one roof.  It is located jn a modern building across from the promenade and car parking, but IMHO pretty soulless.  A far lovelier option would be to visit  the second outlet called Maison des vins de Bandol (le Castellet) on the outskirts of le Castellet.  Look for online reviews and photos.  Absolutely beautiful setting in amongst vineyards and in a rustic building far more attractive than the soulless modern one in Bandol.  You will be taking photos before you even enter.

 

Mostly for adults,(sorry kids) and most importantly, wiith a car,  I would be looking at the drive through the vineyards to le Castellet stoppping at the maison des vins just before entering the village-look for signage, , spending time in le Castellet , much as I detest it nowadays, (la Cadiere is actually close to there) or heading for la Route des Cretes and Cassis. 

 

Info on all of these suggestions should be easily found online. despite my spelling/punctuation errors, as  acutes, graves and circumflexes are not to be found on my qwerty keyboard.

 

There are also places such as Sanary s/mer and la Seyne,just like Bandol, minor holiday towns, but having access to a car opens up the best options IMHO .

 

So, not quite what you asked about but maybe something I suggested will appeal to some of you. You could also run the suggestions past your family in Marseille and see what might appeal to them.

Edited April 3, 2022 by edinburgher

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

How kind of you to take the time to give us all this! Thank you so much. I will look into these excellent suggestions.

[edinburgher]

And thank you for  acknowledging the info given, as not everyone does.

 

Suggest you run it all by your family in Marseille who may have alternative suggestions of their own, or it could be they too like one or more of these suggestions.

 

"les maisons des Vins de Bandol are actually showcasing rose wines from all the domaines around the area, and the producers showcase them in both these locations, so they are all under one roof.  They only have 4 or 5 open at a time, and when one bottle empties they open another, so there is no way of knowing what your sampling  choices would be until you arrive.  Having said that, all around the area , especially between Bandol and le Castellet there are multiple domains, some of which are open to the public, but you should check ahead as post covid, who knows? 

 

Most prestigious is, I believe Domain OTT, and certainly they are either the most expensive or close to that in terms of price. We went there as our friends were keen. That was September 2019 and they had a couple of fig trees  in the parking area.  At that time they were fully ripe and dropping to the ground, which was littered with them. We picked up a few and had them that evening after dinner, and delicious they were too, so if you visit Domaine Ott, do watch for dropping figs!!

 

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by edinburgher

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

“Dropping figs!” I love it. The kids have a fig tree in their garden in Marseille. Feels exotic to us, as we live in snowy Syracuse. 
 

thanks again!

[JohnGinPBG]

We are stopping in Toulon as part of our TA in October. Our plan is to walk or taxi to the cable car and ride up to Mont Faron, with great views, hikes and even a small zoo with big cats nearby. Sounds like something the kids would enjoy. https://www.francecomfort.com/en/sights/807/Cable-car

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

6 hours ago, JohnGinPBG said:

We are stopping in Toulon as part of our TA in October. Our plan is to walk or taxi to the cable car and ride up to Mont Faron, with great views, hikes and even a small zoo with big cats nearby. Sounds like something the kids would enjoy. https://www.francecomfort.com/en/sights/807/Cable-car

Yes! I found that and will talk with our son about doing it. I think he knows about the zoo already. They’ll love it! Thank you!

[JohnGinPBG]

1 hour ago, 2Oldpeopleinlove said:

Yes! I found that and will talk with our son about doing it. I think he knows about the zoo already. They’ll love it! Thank you!

Hope it works out!

[edinburgher]

Yes! I found that and will talk with our son about doing it. I think he knows about the zoo already. They’ll love it! Thank you!

 

i wondered why our friends had never mentioned going to that zoo with their daughter, son-in-law and their kids, or even mentioned  taking the grandkids there themselves. 

 

I just now had a look at TA reviews and now understand why they never mentioned going there.  JohnGinPBG and 2oldpeopleinlove, PLEASE read the reviews before planning a visit.

Edited April 6, 2022 by edinburgher

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

I saw a couple of negative reviews, but I also saw some positive ones.

 

then I went to the direct zoo site and saw MANY terrible things about it. I can’t go there, so I certainly wouldn’t take little children there. Thanks for pushing me to read further.

 

i wonder now whether it will be possible to take them on the sky tram without visiting the “zoo.”

Edited April 6, 2022 by 2Oldpeopleinlove