You will find yourself on %26#39;la rade%26#39; (when you come off the ferry on foot, head left along the waterfront. With the waterfront behind you, cross the street (stunningly ugly, easily one of the ugliest streets anywhere, rebuilt after being bombed flat in 1945 by the Allies). Toulon gets a lot prettier after this...
Directly in front of you is the shopping centre of Mayol, and a good and cheap (relatively, for France) Vietnamese restaurant. If you head left along this busy street, you will come to La Cour Lafayette, which is a big all-day market that stretches right up almost to the main street of Toulon, le boulevard Strasbourg. Between this market and the boulevard is an attractive shopping area with lots of restaurants, chic little bars, not so chic little bars, squares with fountains, etc. If you find yourself in the square with a fountain that is one huge mass of moss, the seafood restaurant facing it is excellent.
Shopping, wandering, you will find some charming little squares, fountains of all sizes and styles, interesting little shops; easy to spend a half-day there and have a great time.
If you get up to Boulevard Strasbourg, you can turn left and walk along to Place de la Liberté, with an enormous fountain (yet again) . As you continue left, you will pass in front of the restored facade of the Opera House, come to two museums, one on each side with their restored and cleaned facades.
You can turn right and walk along the Boulevard Strasbourg until you come to a big round-point: cross the boulevard again as if you were returning to the port and you will find yourself on the Cour Lafayette, with its market and small restaurants, Vietnamese and Chinese takeout, and so on: walking down this street will lead you back to the port.
Another option: take the little ferry that runs from la rade -the port- in Toulon, over to the village of St. Mandrier and/or the city of La Seyne sur Mer. It%26#39;s cheap (buy your ticket at the booth and punch it on the onboard machine), you get a great view of the the military ships in the harbor, it%26#39;s sociable (lots of students and others commute by these ferries), and it%26#39;s interesting to walk around the tiny village of St. Mandrier or venture into the small streets of La Seyne (I%26#39;d pick St Mandrier if you don%26#39;t have a car, La Seyne is pretty banal).
Keep your eyes open in Toulon: it has unexpected treasures: a tiny, beautiful square with a reproduction of half an immense sailing ship emerging from a painted wall; a bronze statue of a famous card game with an empty seat for you to sit down; trompe-l%26#39;oeil walls with, among other things, a reproduction of a three-story frontage: a rope-making shop, a (I think) sailmaking shop and, on the upper floor, sketchily dressed and beckoning from half-windows, hookers! Try a %26#39;churro%26#39;, they are a Toulon specialty, a street snack.
Any questions?
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thank you for the detailed information about Toulon. i will be arriving on 1 december off a cruise and as i have 2 small children my husband and i are happy to take it easy and just walk around the local towns. its not really realistic to expect children to sit on a bus/car for 8 hours sightseeing. i love markets, and you mention that there are market stalls in Toulon will they still be around in december? the other option was heading to Aix - en - provence where i understand there are big markets on a saturday. could you tell me how i would get to Aix and if its worth it or if there would be enough to do just wandering around Toulon for 4 or 5 hours?
thanks
natalie
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