Visit to Domaine du Rayol Gardens

The Domaine du Rayol Gardens is situated on the Côte d’Azur coast about 7 km west from Cavalaire-sur-Mer. Cavalaire-sur-Mer with its about 4km long sand beach was one of the Allied landing beaches in August 1944.

In contrast, the coast around the village of Le Rayol has several tiny calanques. The beauty of this part of the coast lured the rich and curious at the turn of the 20th century. Two families, first Courmes, then the renowned aviation industrialist Potez, created and developed the Domaine du Rayol. Then, after decades of neglect, le Conservatoire du Littoral acquired the domain in 1989.
The park is now open all-year round, except the 25th December, and receives about 70000 visitors per year. Details can be found on www.domainedurayol.org (in French).



The garden is in a natural state but well-maintained. It is not a garden where you learn the names of different plants, but rather an environment to show plants growing in Mediterranean climatic conditions around the globe; from the Mediterranean basin to the Canaries, California, Chile, South Africa, subtropical Asia and Australia, and New Zealand.

We visited the Domaine on a sunny day in mid-November, and had lunch on the cafeteria’s terrace enjoying the warm and calm weather.

The area is large enough for a nice walk. But it was the overall experience, the clean air, the scent from pine trees, the unique setting of the premises by the sea that made the greatest impression.

We strolled down to the seaside and relaxed by the old boat house (with a mini-exhibition featuring the Mediterranean biodiversity), listening to the gentle lapping of the waves.