There comes a moment, around the middle of September, when the Var changes gear. The queues outside the ice cream shops melt away, you can park without circling the block for twenty minutes, and the locals reappear on the café terraces. The sea, meanwhile, is every bit as warm as it was in August.
Between Bormes-les-Mimosas and Le Lavandou, autumn may well be the finest season of the year. Escapade Gourmande, Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, chestnut festivals, beaches you can have almost to yourself: here is our pick of what to do on your holiday in the Var between now and the October half term.
1. Back to school, Riviera style: Le Lavandou's street sale, 10-13 September
For four days, the shopkeepers of the town centre bring their tables out into the street.
You rarely leave empty handed, and usually only after a stop on a terrace somewhere between two finds.
It has the feel of a village catching its breath after summer without having quite left it behind.
📅 10 to 13 September 2026 – Le Lavandou town centre – Free
(Le Lavandou Tourist Office listings)
2. A jazz evening above the sea at Villa Théo, 10 September
That same Thursday evening, Villa Théo shifts mood entirely. The duo Brothers & Sisters takes on the great voices of soul,
R&B and pop in this small gem of a house perched above Saint-Clair. Twelve euros for an evening like that is hard to beat.
And if you come before 26 September, the exhibition "Couleurs du Var" is worth a daytime visit:
around thirty works on the influence of the Var's light, from neo-impressionism to contemporary art.
📅 Thursday 10 September 2026 from 8pm – Villa Théo, Saint-Clair – €12
(Le Lavandou town listings)
3. Le Lavandou Couleur Provence: two days out of time, 19-20 September
The seafront turns into a village from another century. Traditional trades demonstrated in the open air, collectors of antique tools,
stalls of local produce, and the smell of aïoli prepared by the local brotherhood drifting across the whole esplanade.
It is free, it is alive, and it is exactly what you come to Provence for.
That same weekend, you can also step inside the Auberge de la Calanque and Villa Théo
for the guided tours of the European Heritage Days.
📅 Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September 2026 from 10am – Seafront – Free
(full programme on the town website)
4. Escapade Gourmande in Bormes: three days at the table, 25-27 September
If you were to keep only one date, this would be it. For its 8th edition, Escapade Gourmande sets around fifty producers
beneath the avenue of pines that lines La Favière beach: Var wine estates, charcuterie, cheeses, oysters,
Corsican and Thai specialities, rum babas and chestnut cream.
The town is once again working with the Maîtres Cuisiniers de France, with cookery demonstrations and competitions,
and every lunchtime and evening the fair fills with live music for the aperitif hour.
New this year, bookable on site: a 90 minute gourmet cruise on a hybrid boat between La Favière and Cap Bénat,
with wine tasting and canapés included (€34.90).
📅 Friday 25 to Sunday 27 September 2026 – La Favière, Parking de la Pinède – Friday and Saturday 11am to 9pm, Sunday 11am to 5pm – Free entry, tasting glass on sale at the gate
(official Bormes town website)
5. Heritage Days in Bormes: the medieval village tells its story, 18-20 September
A week earlier, Bormes opens its doors for the 43rd European Heritage Days.
You can climb up to the Cap Bénat semaphore station (a two hour visit, booking essential),
explore Fort de Brégançon in virtual reality at the La Favière tourist office,
walk through 2,400 years of history in augmented reality at the MHAB museum,
and join the "Entre mémoire et nature" walk, which follows the fortified tunnels of the Second World War.
On Saturday 19 at 9pm, the EITV instrumental ensemble gives a free concert in the church of Saint-Trophyme,
and on the Sunday, Giulio Vittini talks visitors through the Maurin des Maures frescoes.
📅 Friday 18 to Sunday 20 September 2026 – Free – Places are limited, book on +33 4 94 01 38 38
(full programme from the Tourist Office)
6. Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez: the spectacle of the year, 26 September to 4 October
Nine days, a thirty minute drive from Bormes, and a gulf filling up with sails.
For this 28th edition, century old classics, modern yachts and Maxis all share the same stretch of water.
Proceedings open on the 27th with the arrival of the Coupe d'Automne, and racing begins on Monday 28 September.
You need to know nothing at all about sailing: from the Tour du Portalet, from Pampelonne beach or simply from the harbour wall,
you watch those hulls go past and you understand.
The Village des Voiles on the port is free to enter, open from 9am to 9pm (closing at 5pm on Sunday 4 October),
with stands, exhibitors and live music in the evenings.
📅 Saturday 26 September to Sunday 4 October 2026 – Saint-Tropez – Village free of charge
(official Voiles programme)
Two more fixtures in the gulf if you are in the area: the Saint-Tropez Open ATP 125 from 21 to 27 September at the Saint-Tropez Tennis Club, and the Gassin International Jumping - Longines League of Nations from 16 to 20 September, with the main class held on the Sunday.
7. October in Collobrières: the smell of roasting chestnuts
Thirty minutes from Bormes, deep in the Massif des Maures, the village wakes up three Sundays in a row and smells of chestnuts roasting over woodfires.
Farmers' market, marrons glacés and chestnut cream from the Confiserie Azuréenne, honey, olive oil and goat's cheese from the hills.
On 11 October, a day devoted to Var producers, with local tastings cooked by a chef.
On 18 October, an international day with a parade of twin towns, brotherhoods and folk groups.
On 25 October, the old crafts take over. Runners, meanwhile, line up on Saturday 3 October at 5pm for the Course de la Châtaigne.
One piece of advice: get there early. Parking is compulsory at the edge of the village (€2), with free shuttle buses into the centre.
📅 Sundays 11, 18 and 25 October 2026, 9am to 6pm – Collobrières – Free entry
(Collobrières town website
and Var Tourisme)
8. Sortilège: Bormes puts on a costume, 25 October
At the end of October, right in the middle of the French half term, Bormes celebrates Halloween as a family affair at the Bormisport sports complex:
games, workshops, costumes and a great deal of noise. A good way to fill a day with the children whatever the weather.
Also worth noting this month: the T24 X-Trem triathlon at La Favière on 10 and 11 October,
and Vignobles en scène from 16 to 18 October.
📅 Sunday 25 October 2026 – Bormisport sports complex – Under 3s free, ages 3 to 12 €5, teenagers and adults €3
(Bormes Tourist Office listings)
9. The beaches, finally yours
Le Lavandou's twelve beaches get their calm back. From Saint-Clair to Cavalière, by way of Aiguebelle and Pramousquier,
the water stays warm long after summer ends, and the late afternoon light on the coastal path has no equivalent in August.
It is also the right temperature for walking at last: the Massif des Maures, the coves of Cap Bénat,
the views across to the Îles d'Hyères. Everything that was unbearable in the heat becomes a pleasure again,
with the scent of the garrigue thrown in and your pockets full of chestnuts.
Worth knowing: the French autumn half term runs from Saturday 17 October to Monday 2 November 2026 across all three zones.
10. Your holiday rental for the off season
This is also the season when the rates come back down to earth. A villa with a pool, a village house in Bormes or
a sea view apartment in Le Lavandou: the same comfort as in summer, with the quiet on top, and the markets, beaches and events a few minutes away.
Browse our holiday rentals
An autumn of sea, food and the real Provence
Between Escapade Gourmande, Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the chestnut festivals and the Provençal traditions, autumn 2026 in Bormes-les-Mimosas and Le Lavandou stands comparison with any summer. Dates and opening times can change, so do check with the tourist offices of Le Lavandou and Bormes-les-Mimosas before setting off.