Arriving -- St-Raphaël is ideally located, making it a great place from which to explore the area. It sits directly on the rail lines running parallel to the coast between Marseille to the west and the Italian border town of Ventimiglia to the east, en route to Cannes, Antibes, and Nice. You can ride a fast TGV train all the way to Paris in around 4 hours. For train information and schedules, call tel. 36-35 or visit www.voyages-sncf.com.Trains leave Marseille for St-Raphaël every hour during the day, costing about 30€ one-way (trip time: 1 hr. 30 min.). Trains from Cannes head east to St-Raphaël every 30 minutes during the day (trip time: 25 min.); one-way fares cost 7.20€.
The bus station behind the train station provides local and regional services alike. There’s a bus service from St-Raphaël to Fréjus every 30 minutes or so (one-way tickets cost 1.10€). The Varlib (www.varlib.fr; tel. 04-94-24-60-00), bus to St-Tropez takes 1 1/2 hours and costs 3€ one-way. For more information, contact the St-Raphaël bus station at tel. 04-94-44-52-70.
You can also arrive in St-Raphaël by boat. Vessels (www.bateauxsaintraphael.com; tel. 04-94-95-17-46), depart for St-Tropez’s Vieux Port (trip time: 1 hr.) five times a day during high summer, reducing to once- or twice-daily sailings in winter. The one-way fare is 15€.
By car from St-Tropez in the west, take D98A northwest to N98, at which point you drive east toward St-Raphaël. To reach St-Raphaël from Nice or Cannes, head west along the A8 before cutting south at exit 38 on the D37 to Fréjus and then east on the D100 to St-Raphaël.
Visitor Information -- The gleaming new Office de Tourisme is on the seafront at 99 Quai Albert 1er (www.saint-raphael.com; tel. 04-94-19-52-52).
FastFacts: St-Raphaël
ATMs/Banks -- LCL, 78 boulevard Felix Martin (tel. 94-40-26-47).
Mail & Postage -- La Poste, avenue Victor Hugo (tel. 36-31).
Pharmacies -- Pharmacie Borel Louis, place Pierre Coullet (tel. 04-94-95-04-05).
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
