In the early 1960’s Brigitte Bardot kicked off the rush, later followed by like of Liz Taylor and Sophia Loren. St Tropez is as popular as ever, for the sun, the sea and the celebrities. Taking an early morning stroll around the pretty port or down the narrow medieval streets with the candied almond hues, you will see how charming this city is.

St Tropez, France by Spencer Wright

Coming ashore

The port in St Tropez is too small to accept nearly all large cruise vessels, so passengers are tendered to a landing dock, but don’t worry; this is only a 5 minute walk to town. There are no passenger facilities portside, which is a bit of a let-down, but do you really need little things like cafes and small shops? You can rent a car for about €75 or rent a taxi for €3 and then €0.80 per mile which is a reasonable charge. The only problem with St Tropez I could find was the traffic, so allow plenty of time to get to places.

What to do in St Tropez

St Tropez has plenty to do, no matter what you like. If you love culture and history then you would love the musée de l’annonciade. Just inland from the southwest corner of vieux port, stands the extraordinary museum, the legacy of the artists that loved St Tropez has been lovely preserved. Signac, Matisse, Braque, Dufy and many more artists have displays here.

Painter in St Tropez, France by FaceMePLS

Ramatuelle is only 7 miles southwest of St Tropez and is a typical hilltop whorl of red clay roofs and dense inner streets, a proper ancient French market town. With awesome little shops and galleries you cannot miss an opportunity to visit here. With pretty vineyards and fields even the drive up to here is a delight. You can visit Moulin de Paillas, a recently restored windmill; the view from here is priceless. Oh and at Ratatouille there is a famous nightclub called club 55, this is where the rich and famous go to play!

The beaches in St Tropez are possibly the best in the whole of Europe. Pampelonne, the most famous beach in St Tropez is a long stretch of fine sand, divided into small sections, with trendy restaurants, bars and clubs on each one.

What to eat in St Tropez

I cannot stress enough how good the food is in St Tropez, just like anywhere in France everything is fresh, cooked to perfection and always tasty! There are two places that you must go to, these are La table du Marche and Le café.

Pampelonne beach, St Tropez, France by David van der Mark

La Table du Marche has an afternoon tea room and a gorgeous summer sushi bar. With mouth-watering regional specialties from Chef Christophe Leroy, sink into one of the oversized armchairs and enjoy a light tomato pistou tart, absolutely perfect.

Le café is a busy terrace restaurant that often doubles as a stadium for local pétanque players (pretty much boules) you too can play. It’s a great way to sink into the local culture; especially on a Saturday night when the games are on, not that the local “beginner” pétanque soirees are on tap, which makes things hilarious. Try the Provençal beef stew or the traditional fish soup.

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Helsinki is a city of the sea; weirdly it was built alongside a series of oddly shaped peninsulas and islands jutting into the Gulf of Finland. Back in the 1800’s there was a huge fire which destroyed most of the buildings in and around Helsinki, so everything has had to be remade, as a result everything is more modern, Helsinki has some of the purest neoclassical architecture in the world. Helsinki is the meeting point of western and Eastern Europe, the fact is reflected in its cosmopolitan image, its influx of Russians and Estonians and its generally multilingual population. Helsinki is a beautiful city and is the perfect place for sitting back and relaxing with a bit of people watching.

Helsinki’s Market Square – Kauppatori, Finland by Eoghan OLionnain

Coming ashore

Helsinki is a very busy cruise destination and trust me, as soon as you dock here, you can see why so many people would want to come here. you can dock at three destinations, these are; katajaokka quay, this has a shop, toilets and a taxi station, it’s not too far from the city centre from here you can easily walk there, south harbour has a terminal at Olympia quay, there’s shopping, info desks, currency exchange and a taxi rank here, it’s about a 15 minute walk into the main part of town from here. The final port is hernasaari harbour which has shops, an info desk, taxi rank and even internet access, it’s much further away from the main part of town than any other harbour, so you may have to consider going in a taxi.

What to do in Helsinki

Helsinki has so much stuff to do; you’ll find it hard to fit everything in that you want to do! Here are the two things that you must do in my experience; you must come to the Helsinki zoo (korkeasaari elaintarha) there are snow leopards and reindeer enjoying the cold climate all year round, there are wonders of creatures here that love the cold, it’s a real different zoo and extremely good to bring the kids to. But if you love exploring and you love history then you must come to suomenlinna, which is Finland’s castle. It is now a unesco world heritage site and had museums, gardens, parks and much more, it makes a great day out. Learn all about the history of Finland from the Russians, the British to the Crimean war.

Helsinki Zoo, Finland by Pete

Where to eat

What can I say about the food at Helsinki? It’s incredible that’s what! There are two places to eat that I would extremely recommend and these are:

Havis

Havis is just across the street from the main market square; this restaurant specializes in traditional Scandinavian dishes with the slight twist to certain meals. You must start with the blue mussel soup and then move onto specialities such as the slow fried whitefish. Vegetarians will love the mushroom crepes with glazed vegetables; there is also a daily vegetarian special. The dessert menu is the best; it includes traditional Finnish standards like strawberry milk and doughnuts with coffee pudding, absolutely divine.

Zucchini

Zucchini is perfect for a vegetarian lunch or just a coffee; it’s the place to come to relax. There are pizzas, pasta, soup, salad and much more and all are made fresh to order and are extremely tasty. The atmosphere here gives of the homely vibe, it’s great to just sit here and people watch.

I would love to come back to Helsinki another day, maybe more in style next time by going on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth in 2014. You have to come to Helsinki on a cruise; it feels like that’s the way you have to come.

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