Toulon: Discover culture, Mont Faron and the coast

If you’re looking for a hotel in Toulon, you can plan your trip around the experiences that interest you most: maritime history and art, Mont Faron, coastal scenery or the market in the old town. The attractions offer a range of different highlights. Museums take you from the history of the arsenal to art collections, while the sea and the heights focus on landscapes and trails.

Maritime history and art

The Musée national de la Marine opened in 1814 in Toulon’s arsenal. It was the first maritime museum to open in France. Its collections include models, scale models, relief plans, paintings and scientific instruments. They relate to the human and technical history of the arsenal, as well as the military history of Toulon’s port. This means the museum looks beyond individual ships or objects to include the development of the arsenal and the port.

The Musée des arts asiatiques has a different focus. It is located in the Villa Jules Verne on Toulon’s Frédéric Mistral waterfront, near Fort Saint Louis. Its permanent exhibitions are arranged by geographic origin. The Musée d’art de Toulon, in turn, focuses its collection of old and modern art on landscape painting and marine painting. If you want to choose art by subject, you can distinguish between exhibitions arranged by geographic origin and those focused on landscapes and the sea.

On the heights above Toulon, the Mémorial du Débarquement et de la Libération en Provence commemorates the operation of 15 August 1944. A permanent exhibition covers the events of the landing and the consequences of the operation. The visit thus links a specific historical event with an exhibition that also explores its wider impact.

Mont Faron, the coast and trails

The Téléphérique du Faron connects Toulon with the summit of Mont Faron, at an altitude of 584 metres. The ride to the summit takes six minutes; from there, the cable car provides access to the hiking trails on Mont Faron. If you include the ride in your day’s plans, check the current timetable in advance, as operating hours may change.

The coastal destinations also differ considerably. The Plages du Mourillon comprise four coves, with 19 hectares set aside for swimming. Anse Méjean offers a different landscape, with a white-sand beach and fishermen’s huts. Trails wind among the trees in Parc paysager de la Tour Royale. A submarine is also on display there, and the park offers views of Toulon’s large bay.

In Toulon, the Sentier du Littoral includes the route “Sur les traces des contrebandiers” (“In the footsteps of smugglers”). The Métropole’s full trail network includes 17 different routes along 47 kilometres of coastline, one of which runs through Toulon. The 47 kilometres refer to the combined coastline covered by these routes, not to a single Toulon route. This lets you distinguish between a named route in Toulon and the wider Sentier du Littoral network.

The market and a Toulon speciality

The Marché du cours Lafayette is in the old town and stretches for one kilometre. Food is sold there in the morning, and a fair takes place in the afternoon. The market offers fruit, vegetables, olives, cheese, cured meats, fresh fish and spices. One stall also sells cade, a Toulon speciality made from chickpea flour and baked over a wood fire. The selection at individual stalls and the availability of products may vary.

These topics offer different starting points for planning a stay in Toulon.

Discover more destinations: Montferrat, Forcalqueiret, Le Cannet-Des-Maures, Cuers, Fayence, La Garde-Freinet, Grimaud, Tourves.

For the broader travel overview: Var.