Mooring place in SOF for next summer,

BartW

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Was quite surprised that a berth in the old harbour of Toulon is available for next summer, while the price is very low.
Yes I agree it is not the most flashy city, and far away from Nice … area,
but still, it is right at the beginning of cote d’azur,
very close to Les Porquerolles, and some other nice cruising destinations,
2 airports (Marseille and Toulon- Hyères) within an hour car drive distance.

Toulon looks a bit like a poorpeople city,
and the old harbour right in the center is not the best looking,
but still the nearby old town at walking distance is nice.
Am I missing something ?
 
Was quite surprised that a berth in the old harbour of Toulon is available for next summer, while the price is very low.
Yes I agree it is not the most flashy city, and far away from Nice … area,
but still, it is right at the beginning of cote d’azur,
very close to Les Porquerolles, and some other nice cruising destinations,
2 airports (Marseille and Toulon- Hyères) within an hour car drive distance.

Toulon looks a bit like a poorpeople city,
and the old harbour right in the center is not the best looking,
but still the nearby old town at walking distance is nice.
Am I missing something ?

perhaps it is the poorpeople city putting rich folk off? ;)
 
Was quite surprised that a berth in the old harbour of Toulon is available for next summer, while the price is very low.
Yes I agree it is not the most flashy city, and far away from Nice … area,
but still, it is right at the beginning of cote d’azur,
very close to Les Porquerolles, and some other nice cruising destinations,
2 airports (Marseille and Toulon- Hyères) within an hour car drive distance.

Toulon looks a bit like a poorpeople city,
and the old harbour right in the center is not the best looking,
but still the nearby old town at walking distance is nice.
Am I missing something ?

The French Navy?

Your description is pretty accurate, I would never describe Toulon as a "Tourist" or "Fun" city; being pedantic I would say a long way to cruise to the hotspots (apart from The Porquerolles ) ... but depends how much time you actually need to spend in the near vicinity and length of time of each visit.
 
It gets a lot of mistral Bart. Proper F5-6 stuff. You will have more days that you cannot go to sea, compared with Cannes -Italy section
 
I can confirm what jfm says ref the mistral. We found the Porquerolles to be a sort of dividing line. Stay east of them and the weather is usually calm but venture west of them and it seems to be blowing more days than not. On the bright side though, when you can't go to sea, you can watch some old ex England has beens play for the local rugby club:)
 
Agree with all above,especially the wind dividing line@ Poquerolles . But with a70 you will be able to cope. When you venture over to Cannes / Cap Ferrat area in the summer I presume you will try not to use the marinas and anchor off - tender in etc ,ie set off on a mini expedition / adventure.
We have stayed at St Mandrier and nearby Bandol, all very pleasant.
Going West the Calanques are an interesting alternative and good for shelter if windy,
The French navy are very polite, and professional, passage making can be livened up a bit with all the activity around Toulon,exercise area.
For the reasons you have suggested it seems to be a good base in this case . Give it go and tell us all about it next season.
 
this summer we have spend a lot of time around Hyeres - porquerolles area,
and this dividing line was so apparent !
a lot more wind most of the time just around the corner west from presqu'ile de Giens,
so yes, fully agree the above,

but otoh sinds september the boat is moored in Cassis (near Les Calanques), and we have been on her one week in sept, one week in October and recently the first week of november,
and each time we were able to go out with the boat
in October we had lots of sunshine, and perfectly flat sea, but I realize that we were very lucky with that.

for next year summer holiday, we intend to discover the Cannes - Italy part, and after that maybe setup a plan to get a berth in Antibes or Golfe Juan, but this could be done using Toulon as a home base,
and this will enable us still to do some short trips to our favourite SOF harbour Cassis in the pre and after season,
or Bandol, St Mandriez or Sanary sur mèr, yes all very pleasant.
or do some dive cruises towards iles Riou, Maire and Jarre….(between Cassis and Marseille)
this is the region where J. Cousteau has developed the scuba diving,
or around porquerolles ,
cruise planning depending on weather forecast.

But for now, I would like to have no mooring place search issues for a while.:)
 
But for now, I would like to have no mooring place search issues for a while.:)

Yes - that for me was the major downside of the s of F. we spent a year there with no fixed abode and it was a nightmare. Lovely cruising but the endless phone calls and and advance bookings took all the freedom out of it. With hindsight, wouldn't have done it without a fixed base.
Toulon - yes it is a windy working town with no interest in tourism. but that has its advantages and as you say - good value for money.
 
Did the gendarmes get you then?

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