Is there a ferry between Cannes and Saint-Tropez?

Yes, but it is not a ferry in the sense of a regular line with several departures. It is a day excursion run by Trans Côte d'Azur in season: one departure from Cannes in the morning, a five-hour stopover, a return in late afternoon. In 2026 it runs from mid-May to 20 October, and daily only in July and August. It does not carry cars.

How much does the Cannes to Saint-Tropez boat cost?

The fare shown for the 2026 season on the Trans Côte d'Azur website is 71 € return per adult and 59 € for a child aged 4 to 10, free under 4. These amounts are to be confirmed when you book: the company states that its fares may change with port charges and fuel prices.

Can you get from Cannes to Saint-Tropez by train?

Not all the way: Saint-Tropez has no station. The train drops you at Saint-Raphaël-Valescure, 21 to 30 minutes from Cannes by TER. You then need the ZOU! 876 coach, whose coach station is just behind the railway station, or in season a boat from the old port of Saint-Raphaël.

How long does it take by car?

About an hour and a quarter out of season and outside rush hour. In July and August the gulf road between Sainte-Maxime and Saint-Tropez clogs up and the journey can last two to three hours. Parking in Sainte-Maxime and crossing the gulf by shuttle boat is the surest way to limit the wait.

What is the best option for a day trip?

In season, the direct boat: it is the most expensive, but the only one whose timetable holds. Out of season, the car if you have one, otherwise the train to Saint-Raphaël and then the coach, leaving early. In every case, confirm the times the day before on the operators' websites.

Cannes to Saint-Tropez: ferry, road or train + coach

Between Cannes and Saint-Tropez there are roughly 80 kilometres of road depending on the route, a mountain range, a gulf, and no railway line at the far end. That last point is what complicates everything: you do not get to Saint-Tropez the way you get to Antibes or Nice. Three ways of getting there remain, and they are not equal from one month to the next.

Our view is clear-cut. From mid-May to mid-October we take the direct boat from the Old Port of Cannes: it costs more than anything else, but it is the only journey whose duration is known in advance. Out of season, when the boat no longer runs, the car becomes reasonable again, and the train to Saint-Raphaël followed by the coach remains the option without a steering wheel.

The timetables and fares below were taken from the operators' official websites for the 2026 season. They change every year and sometimes mid-season: everything is to be confirmed before you book. What there is to see once you arrive is a separate subject, covered on our page Saint-Tropez from Cannes.

The options, one by one

N° 01

Direct boat · in season

Trans Côte d'Azur, one return trip a day

The direct link is run by Trans Côte d'Azur under the name Escapade provençale. The format recorded for 2026 is fixed: departure from Cannes at 10.15am, stopover in Saint-Tropez from 11.30am to 4.30pm, back in Cannes at 5.45pm. That is about an hour and a quarter at sea each way and five hours ashore. The fare shown for 2026 is 71 € return per adult and 59 € for a child aged 4 to 10, free under 4, to be confirmed. Booking is compulsory. The company's ticket office is at 20 quai Saint-Pierre, on the Old Port, and the boat berths in Saint-Tropez on the quai de l'Estacade side.

N° 02

2026 calendar

Every day in summer, two days a week in October

The boat does not sail every day, and that is the first thing to check. The 2026 calendar as shown on the company's website: from 12 May to 30 June, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday; from 1 July to 31 August, every day; in September, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday; from 1 to 20 October, Tuesday and Saturday only. Those last two days are no accident: they are the market days on Place des Lices. Special sailings are also announced for the Grande Braderie on 23, 24 and 25 October 2026, with an earlier departure at 9.30am. Outside those dates there is no direct boat.

N° 03

By road

An hour and a quarter on paper, double that in August

By car you join the A8 motorway and drop back down towards the gulf, or you follow the coast through Saint-Raphaël and Sainte-Maxime. Out of season and outside rush hour, allow about an hour and a quarter. In July and August the single road along the gulf between Sainte-Maxime and Saint-Tropez clogs up, and the same journey can take two to three hours, with paid and scarce parking at the end. The workaround regulars use: park in Sainte-Maxime and finish by boat. Les Bateaux Verts advertise Sainte-Maxime to Saint-Tropez shuttles all year round, for a crossing of around twenty minutes. Timetables and fares to be confirmed on their website.

N° 04

Train + coach

TER to Saint-Raphaël, then ZOU! line 876

Without a car and out of season, this is the only option. The TER regional train links Cannes to Saint-Raphaël-Valescure in 21 to 30 minutes depending on the stops, according to SNCF Connect, with direct trains throughout the day. The Saint-Raphaël coach station sits just behind the railway station. From there, regional line ZOU! 876 serves Sainte-Maxime and then Saint-Tropez. The coach uses the same gulf road as the cars: allow an hour and a half to two hours depending on traffic, more at the height of summer. The coach ticket costs a few euros and the train around ten euros each way, both amounts to be confirmed when you travel.

N° 05

Train + boat

The sea route from Saint-Raphaël

There is an in-between combination that fewer people know. In season, Les Bateaux Bleus link the old port of Saint-Raphaël to Saint-Tropez, for a crossing of about an hour. Boarding is at the ferry terminal on quai Amiral Nomy and closes twenty minutes before departure. The company itself warns that summer crowds cause delays on this line, and that a sailing may be cancelled below thirty passengers. Its fares were not displayed when we checked in October 2026: ask for them before you build your day around it, and leave a margin for the train back.

N° 06

The sums

What each option really costs, in time

The direct boat means two and a half hours of travel for five hours ashore, with no connection. The train followed by the coach means at best two and a half hours each way including the wait in Saint-Raphaël, so five hours of travel in the day for a markedly lower budget. The car is the fastest nine months out of twelve and the slowest for the other three. In other words: you pay for the boat for the certainty of the timetable, not for the speed.

What we avoid

What we avoid: taking the road on an August Saturday and trusting the time the sat nav shows at the start. The gulf traffic jam forms after Sainte-Maxime, when it is too late to change your mind, and the return in late afternoon is worse than the way out.

What we also avoid: turning up at the quay without a booking. The company requires one, and there is only one departure a day. Read the terms of sale too: tickets are non-refundable, and if the weather deteriorates during the day the company may organise all or part of the return by road, by coach.

Finally, we do not attempt the train and coach for a simple round trip in high summer with less than a full day in hand. Five hours of travel for three hours on the harbour is not an outing, it is a connection.

When to go

The right window is June and September. The boat runs four days a week, the sea is generally calm, and Saint-Tropez is not yet, or no longer, under siege. If the Place des Lices market matters to you, aim for a Tuesday or a Saturday: those are sailing days throughout the season.

From November to early May there is no direct boat. The car then takes roughly the advertised time, and the train followed by the coach runs all year round, with reduced frequencies to check the day before on the ZOU! website. Some Saint-Tropez addresses close in winter: check what is open before you set off.

Cannes to Saint-Tropez: boat, road or train + coach.

Three journeys, only one that keeps to time