www.hyeres-tourisme.co.uk. Set back 5 km from the sea and beneath a ruined castle built by the medieval Lords of Fos, Hyères was one of the most popular l9thC not-quite-the-Riviera resorts. Queen Victoria and Tolstoy visited, and Robert Louis Stevenson wrote I was happy only once; that was in Hyères.

The broad avenue leading up to the Old Town is lined with palms, top sellers in the town’s exotic plant industry. In place Massillon the daily market is a colourful bustle: heaped stalls plying fish, fruit, vegetables and cut flowers press between the cafés and shops. Head on uphill to the Eglise de Saint-Paul with its Romanesque belfry and Renaissance door reached by a broad skirt of steps (open afternoons only). Above the town, take a rest on a bench in Parc Saint-Bernard. There are lovely views down to the coast, a mass of gorgeous Mediterranean flowers, paths and arbours, above which the citadel ruins invite investigation.

The beach resorts of Hyères-Plage and Le Capte lie on a narrow sand bar flanked by saltmarshes, which broadens into the Presqu’île de Giens. Ferries from Hyères- Plage and La Tour Fondue (on Gien) serve three offshore islands, once notorious pirate bases. Nearest, largest, and most popular with summer crowds, Porquerolles has beaches on the north coast, cliffs to the south, and bike hire from the busy port or combined with ferry tickets. Mysterious little Port-Cros is a national park, and a Mecca for plant lovers. It has few beaches. Take the 10-km hike around the verdant island along winding footpaths, or cross the western corner via the Vallon de la Solitude trail which starts by the Manoir hotel (see Recommended Hotels) and returns along the cliff tops. Levant is a strange juxtaposition of military base and nudist colony (Heliopolis) – day trippers are not encouraged.