Le Lavandou

Towns and Villages - by Provence Beyond

Villages > Le Lavandou      

Nearby:  | Bormes-les-Mimosas 3 km | Cannes 103 km | Cavalaire-sur-Mer 20 km | Fréjus 62 km | Hyères 22 km | Maures Mountains | Pierrefeu-du-Var 31 km | Saint Tropez 38 km | Sainte Maxime 42 km | Toulon 43 km |

Below: | History | O.T. | Dates | Transportation | Sports | Hiking | Lodging Hotels |

On our visit to Le Lavandou in Feb 1997, a small fire near the fishing-boat part of the port brought out the local firemen for a display of efficiency (photo).

Le Lavandou is on the "Corniche des Maures", where the sides of the Massif des Maures mountains join the sea. The area along the coast there is very built-up, but the Maures are directly behind and easy to get to.

History

Name
First record, , about 1700: Lauvandoun. This is variation Lavadou, a synonym of Lavoir, or of Lavandula stoecha, a very Provencal flower.

Gallo-Roman: The Greek city of Alconis was established in the Cavalière Bay, about 4 km to the east.

Medieval: Sainte Catherine de Sienne embarked from Lavandou in 1376, when she convinced Pope Gregory XI to leave Avignon for Rome. Saint François-de-Paule landed here in 1481, and the local fishermen carry a statue of him in processions in the adjoining Bormes-les-Mimosas. In 1524, Le Lavandou was pillaged and burnt several times by the "connétable", the head of the Royal Army under the Bourbons. In 1529, Maures pirates ravaged the town, and in 1539, Charles-Quint's fleet had their turn. The location was established as a residential town about 1730, by Genoan fishermen, and grew in 1765 with the arrival of Catalan.

Office de Tourisme

Bvd de Lattre de Tassigny (opposite the marina)

Tel : 0494 71 00 61; Fax: 04 94 64 73 79

Web: www.ot-lelavandou.fr/
Email: info@lelavandou.com

Dates

Corso fleuri: March
Boat Show: April
Windsurf Week: May
Artisanal Food Fair: June
Custom-Car Show: June
Fête de la St-Jean: 24 June
Fête de la St-Pierre: end June
Foire Artisanale: Sept
Market: Thur mornings. It's a good big market, at the end of Ave Vincent Auriol. We have several photos from Le Lavandou in Beyond's Markets section.

Transportation

Air. The Toulon-Hyères airport is at Hyères, 22 km to the west.
Rail. The main rail line runs through Toulon, 43 km west.
Sea. Le Lavandou has local passenger-ferry service:

• across the bay to Cavalière;
• across the Corniche des Maures to Cavalaire-sur-Mer;
• to the three Iles 'Hyères: Ile de Porquerolles, Ile de Port-Cros and Ile du Levant.

Bus

Toulon-St Tropez-Nice - Evasion Provence Service

Sports

Golfing

Camping

Diving

Lavandou Plongée

Location: la Fossette, 8 av Capit Thorel

Tel: 0494 718 365; Fax: 0494 71 83 65

Email: lavandou.plongee@wanadoo.fr

Web: www.lavandou-plongee.com

Golf

Golf Club du Lavandou

Location: Plaine du Batailler, av Grande Bastide

Tel: 0494 718 828

Hiking

Maps:

IGN (1/25,000) #3446 ET "Le Lavandou, Parc Nat. Port-Cros, Corniche Maures"

Michelin "green (1/100,000) #114 "French Riviera - Var"

Didier Richard (1/50,000) #25 "Maures Haut-Pays Varois"

The Massif des Maures is full of great hiking trails, including the long-distance Grandes Randonnées GR 51 and GR 90, local trails and many possible loop hikes.
The GR 90 starts on the road between Le Lavandou and Bormes-les-Mimosas, and crosses the Maures to the north. It passes Collobrières (about 15 km) before joining the east-west GR 9. A good hiking guidebook is the "FFRP - Massifs Provencaux (ref. 906)".
The GR 51 (The Balcony of the Cote d'Azur) crosses through the Maures a couple of km north of Le Lavandou. To join the GR 51, you can take a local trail from La Fouasse, just to the east, or follow the GR 90 up through Bormes-les-Mimosas.
A coastal hiking path goes south, past Port de Bormes and around the Cap Bénat. To the east, this path follows the coast past Cavalière and around the Cap Nègre.
There are loop hiking trails around two of the Hyères islands. Porquerolles is the largest; Port-Cros is more hilly and forested.

Lodging - Hotels