Place des Lices
On Tuesday and Saturday mornings, Place des Lices fills with stalls selling strawberries, lavender, and handmade pottery — but the square's real rhythm belongs to the afternoons, when forty or more pétanque players spread across the gravel and the sound of steel on steel carries across the plane-tree shade. The trees themselves were planted in the early 1800s and now grow wide enough to cover most of the square.
An 18th-century fountain anchors one end. Café terraces hold the perimeter. This is where Saint-Tropez goes about its ordinary life, and it has been doing so for well over two centuries.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who come back tend to pick a café chair facing the pétanque ground rather than the street — you get the better view. La Baraque Bleu, open nearly 20 hours a day, is the late-night fallback when everything else has closed. Market days start early; by midday the best produce is gone.
The story behind Place des Lices
The name comes from the medieval French word for jousting ground, and the field was likely used as such as far back as the 9th or 10th century. By the early 1800s, twelve plane trees were planted and the space was formalised as a public square — also known as Place Carnot — marking the shift from a functional field to a civic gathering place.
Between 1890 and 1940, the square drew a steady stream of French artists. Henri Matisse painted it in 1904, the year before Fauvism broke publicly at the Salon d'Automne. Le Café des Arts has operated here since 1891. The pétanque players who gather every afternoon are a continuation of that same long habit of people finding reasons to stay.
Good to know
The square is free, open daily, and about a ten-to-fifteen-minute walk south from the Vieux Port. Tuesday and Saturday mornings bring the market — arrive before noon for the fruit and flowers. Summer afternoons are shaded but warm; October is the wettest month.
Summer days run warm — highs between 23 and 27°C, occasionally touching 30°C — with long sunshine hours and almost no rain in July, making the shaded square a reliable refuge. September softens things considerably; October brings the most rain, sometimes heavily, so a morning market visit can turn wet fast.
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What travellers say about Place des Lices
This was during the outdoor market in St Tropez. Amazing to see so many vendors, so we'll organized and an incredibly wide selection of offerings. Great place to shop and barter. Whether you need an outfit, shoes, jewelry, spices or food - you can find it here. Get there early when it starts on Tuesday to avoid the large number of people that can be overwhelming at times. The most amazing thing to see is how quickly all of the vendors break down all of the displays, coolers, cooking facilities and clothing. Before you know it, the park is pristine as if nothing ever happened. Definitely worth the time!
Very busy but ambient area where people gather to play key des boules, drink something, hang to tap or watch the people passing.also there is a market multiple times a week. Plenty of restaurants around the square for a nice dinner or a full night out. Great place to spot cars
It's, OK... The sand is quite fine, not the finest grade, but ok. The beach is pretty crowded, but not so bad that you are on top of each other. The water (in late July) is a lovely temperature, refreshing but not at all uncomfortable. You can rent 2 chairs and a parasol for 40 euros(!) or you can slum it. There are bars a beer is 15 euros... Which is not unexpected, given the location. There is a big car park and, while the beach was pretty full, the car park had spaces, go down the far left corner, there is a short road to an extension car park that is closer to the beach. The car park is full of Ferrari etc... So if you are somewhat attractive, this could be the place to find the millionaire of your dreams....
The market in Place des Lices is very Beautiful! Good food, good products, clothes and bed linen in natural materials, great Tarte Tropezienne. A must go
Very busy market filled with local (and not so local!) products. It’s open every Tuesday and Saturday from 8am to 1pm in the heart of St Tropez. Food, fashion, home ware and antiques are a plenty. I would advise getting there early (starts at 8am) if anything to park more easily at Place des Lices or Foch Parking. Bring cash as some of the stalls take cash only. And you can’t always barter as it’s not very expensive product. Some stalls are also official brands selling their products. Can get very very crowded and hot.
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