Porquerolles

Porquerolles floats a Mediterranean daydream off the Hyeres coast: the largest of the Iles d'Hyeres, essentially car-free, its single village giving way to pine and eucalyptus forest, organic vineyards and a north shore of pale-sand coves - Notre-Dame and La Courtade chief among them - lapped by water in improbable gradients of glass green. Most of the island belongs to the state and sits within the Port-Cros National Park's care, which is why the interior stays wild scrubland threaded with cycling tracks rather than villas; bicycles are the island's engine, rented by the hundreds at the harbour each morning. Art arrived too - the Fondation Carmignac shows contemporary collections in a villa sunk beneath a Provencal garden. Concerned for its own success, the island now caps summer arrivals at six thousand visitors a day, so the high-season boat needs forethought - and the reward for planning is the Riviera as it looked before the coast road.

History

The island's village was founded in 1820, its lighthouse built in 1837 and its church in 1850. In 1912 François Joseph Fournier bought the whole island, reputedly as a wedding present for his wife, and planted 200 hectares of vineyards, whose wine was among the first classified as Côtes de Provence. In 1971 the French state bought 80 percent of the island to protect it from development, and much of it now lies within the Port-Cros National Park and the national botanical conservatory; it was the setting of Georges Simenon's novels of 1946 and 1949, Godard filmed scenes of Pierrot le Fou here in 1965, and since 2010 it has held a summer jazz festival (Wikipedia, Porquerolles).

What's there

• Notre-Dame beach - the pine-backed cove of pale sand and green-glass water.
• The cycling tracks - forest and vineyard trails crossing the car-free interior.
• The lighthouse and forts - the southern cliffs' viewpoints over open sea.
• Fondation Carmignac - contemporary art beneath a Provencal garden.

When to go

May, June and September hit the sweet spot - swimmable water, open cafes, boats below the cap. July and August are beautiful but rationed and booked; winter closes much of the village while leaving the trails gloriously empty.

What to expect

In high summer the 6,000-a-day visitor cap is real - reserve the ferry ahead or be turned away at La Tour Fondue. The island has limited shade inland, bikes book out by mid-morning in season, and beach facilities are minimal by design; carry water. Day-trip prices - ferry, bike, lunch - add up fast.

Nearby

Port-Cros island's trails, the Giens peninsula and Hyeres' old town.

Key facts