On vacation on the Côte d’Azur? Or just movie buffs? We recommend a visit to the Gendarmerie and Cinema Museum in Saint-Tropez!
Here we discovered the history of 50s cinema and its strong link with the seaside resort. Whether you already know it or not, you’ll go behind the scenes of one of the most famous sagas in the history of French comedy: Les Gendarmes. This series of films, the best known of which is The Gendarme of Saint-Tropez , was born in the village. Some of the filming took place in the building housing the museum. It’s also an opportunity to learn more about the history of the gendarmerie and how this small French seaside town became world-famous.
In this article, you’ll find some useful tips to help you prepare for your visit and have a wonderful time!
This guide is completely independent, based on our experiences. We visited the region anonymously, making our own choices and paying our bills in full.
Why visit the Gendarmerie and Cinema Museum in Saint-Tropez?
Is the Gendarmerie Museum worth it? Our opinion:
Yes, we think this museum is well worth a visit.
Whether you’re a fan of films starring Louis de Funès, particularly Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez, or just a movie buff, we recommend you check it out. Here you can discover or rediscover this cult French comedy from the 60s. With anecdotes, sets, costumes, film extracts, interviews and objects, the museum is both interesting and interactive.
You’ll sail through films and eras as you explore the history of French cinema in St Tropez. A captivating exhibition that pays tribute to the 7th Art!
We think it’s one of the best things to do in Saint-Tropez!
Why is the Musée des Gendarmes de St-Tropez famous?
The notoriety of this place is partly due to its location: it is situated in theformer gendarmerie immortalized by the cult saga Les Gendarmes.
We discovered many anecdotes, objects, sets and costumes linked to the films.
The museum also took us on a journey through thehistory of Saint-Tropez, a village made famous by the many films that have been shot here. You’ll discover the link between this industry and the Var peninsula, and their influence on French film culture.
Last but not least, interviews with a host of French actors and actresses will plunge you into the heart of the 50s and help you better understand what makes this city so special.
Would you like an unusual tour of St-Tropez and its vineyards, including 2 museum tickets? Book now!
Our favorite moments
We really enjoyed our visit to the Musée de la Gendarmerie et du Cinéma and hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Here are our favorite moments:
- we loved sitting in the vintage cars and feeling as if we were driving through the 170 villages of France’s historic “route des vacances”. The Nationale 7 was much featured in French films and a symbol of escapism. This moment took us back to the days before freeways.
- We really enjoyed seeing the film posters translated into different languages. It was very interesting. We found some of the title translations very amusing, and sometimes very far from the original!
- we were stunned to see the player piano at Chez Palmyre, a well-known establishment where the stars of the day partied. It’s a remarkable instrument. We enjoyed immersing ourselves in the very festive world typical of the seaside town, through the scenography of this part of the museum.
WHERE TO STAY IN Saint-Tropez
Our favorites: neighborhoods and hotels
Option 1: Downtown
Enjoy the charm and liveliness of the old town.
Hôtel Le Yaca – Check photos and availability
Hôtel Les Lauriers – Check photos and availability
Option 2: on the road to the beaches
Hotel Le Pre de la mer – Check photos and availability
Hotel Sezz – Check photos and availability
See our complete selection of the best hotels in Saint-Tropez
History in brief
- We learned that the building, constructed in 1879, was originally a military barracks.
- From 1903 to 2003, it became the Gendarmerie Nationale de Saint-Tropez, housing the gendarmes’ offices and accommodation. It was within its walls that the events that inspired the Les Gendarmes films took place.
- Nous avons découvert que le tournage du film du premier film Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez, débute dans la ville en 1964. Le bâtiment de la gendarmerie devient un lieu incontournable et fait désormais partie de l’histoire du cinéma français.
Après le succès du premier film, 5 autres ont été réalisés:- The Constable in New York (1965)
- Le Gendarme se marie (1968)
- Le Gendarme en balade (1970)
- The Constable and the Aliens (1979)
- Le Gendarme et les Gendarmettes (1982)
- The “Les Gendarmes” saga is appreciated for its slapstick humor, memorable characters and extravagant comic situations. These films have become classics of French cinema and continue to be enjoyed by audiences of all ages.
- In 2016, it became the Musée de la Gendarmerie et du Cinéma. We found that the renovation preserved the building’s original architecture while modernizing it.
How to find us: Musée du Cinéma et de la Gendarmerie de Saint-Tropez
Where is the old St Tropez gendarmerie?
The museum is located at: 2 place Blanqui, 83990 Saint-Tropez
- Close to the port
- 17min walk from St-Tropez beach
- 9-minute walk from the historic city center
OUR TPS FOR RENTING YOUR CAR IN Provence
- Compare prices on our preferred platform: DiscoverCars – one of the best rated sites.
- Choose a car that is powerful enough (the roads are steep) but compact (some passages are narrow).
- Think of thecomplete insurance (some roads are tortuous and narrow).
- There is a lot of demand, book it early.
How to get there?
From the city center, you can easily walk to the museum in around 5 to 10 minutes. Access is easy, it’s all flat.
- By train: the nearest station is Saint-Raphaël, about 30 km from St Tropez. Shuttle buses and cabs are available from the station to Saint-Tropez. Find out more here.
- By bus: “Parc d’Activité de Saint Claude” line. Square Allard” stop.
Click here for route maps, timetables and fares. - By car: to reach the museum, you’ll need to drive through the city center. Traffic and parking can be difficult in high season (July, August). We therefore advise you to park outside the village and complete your journey on foot.
Parking
The museum has no on-site parking.
The nearest is the Parking du Nouveau Port, a 4-minute walk away.
It is located at 51 Allée du Quai de l’Epi, 83990 Saint-Tropez.
Useful tips: duration, schedules, eating…
Best time to visit
To avoid the summer crowds, it’s best to visit out of season.
Otherwise, escape the crowds and the summer heat by coming in the morning. We also recommend that you visit between noon and 2pm, or during the Thursday night openings.
In any case, don’t hesitate to include it in your visit to the Côte d’Azur.
Let yourself be tempted by a 100% personalized tour of Saint-Trope z and include the Musée de la Gendarmerie et du Cinéma!
Length of visit and main difficulties
We recommend that you allow between 1 and 2 hours for your visit. At this museum, depending on your pace and interest, you can visit the temporary exhibition, the Les Gendarmes saga and the history of cinema. You can also take your time to enjoy all the interactive activities and quizzes on offer throughout the exhibition.
There are a few staircases in the museum to access the upper floors, but you can also take the elevator.
The museum has been awarded the Tourisme et Handicap label. Accommodations are provided for people with hearing, motor, mental or visual impairments.
Advice on how to visit
The tour covers three floors. The museum isn’t huge, so you won’t get lost, and we found the route easy to follow.
Here are the different areas to visit:
- The first floor, dedicated to temporary exhibitions.
- On the second floor, we discovered the history of the gendarmerie and the building, as well as the evolution of cinema in the 1950s. Learn more about the Les Gendarmes film epic and enter a room where film extracts and interviews are screened.
- Finally, on the 3rd and top floor, you’ll see a fabulous reconstruction of the Nationale 7, France’s historic and legendary “vacation route”. We also explored a space dedicated to the world of culture and partying in St Tropez. Finally, you’ll see the dressing rooms of Brigitte Bardot and Romy Schneider.
A LITTLE MORE patience
All the photos, maps, information, good addresses to make your stay in Provence a success, will soon be gathered in a single ebook!
If you wish to be informed of the publication of our guide on Provence, subscribe:
Visiting with children
Don’t hesitate to visit this museum with your family! We felt it was designed to charm young and old alike.
While you immerse yourself in the history and behind-the-scenes stories of the greatest French films of the ’50s, younger visitors will enjoy the activities on offer throughout the exhibition. We found the museum playful and colorful. Children will discover quizzes and games, climb into vintage cars and ride a gendarme’s motorcycle. Audio extracts, costumes, sets and various touch-screen tablets will introduce them to cinema and its history.
When you get home, all you have to do is introduce them to the film Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez!
Schedules and rates
Prices are as follows:
- Full price: €5
- Reduced: €3
The museum is open daily at the following times:
- July and August: 10am – 7pm, Thursdays until 9pm
- November to March: 10am – 5pm
- March to June, September and October: 10 am – 6 pm
Find out more here.
Catering
The museum has no catering facilities. However, being right in the center of town, if you’re looking for a bite to eat in the surrounding area, there are plenty of restaurants to choose from. Discover our article about best restaurants in town!
Here are our favorites nearby:
- Restaurant Colette (Hotel Sezz): this is our favorite in the city. In addition to the magnificent setting, we enjoyed an extraordinary culinary experience. We were impressed by the quality and finesse of the Mediterranean dishes!
- Restaurant Le Patio (Hotel Yaca): seated by the pool, we enjoyed deliciously prepared Italian dishes, made with top-quality ingredients imported from Italy.
- Restaurant Caprice des Deux: tucked away in a cobbled alley in the center of town, you’ll enjoy gourmet dishes featuring fresh, quality produce. Chef Stéphane Avelin holds the significant title of “Maître Restaurateur”.
History of the former St Tropez gendarmerie
You’ll discover that the building in which the museum is housed is no ordinary one! The former gendarmerie is an emblem of the town. It first housed the gendarmerie brigade, then became famous thanks to the film series Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez starring Louis de Funès. Find out more here.
The Gendarmerie Tropézienne, a famous brigade
The Gendarmerie and Cinema Museum invites you to discover the history of this unique building.
Built in the 18th century, we learned that it was originally a bourgeois house. Do you notice its traditional Provençal-style architecture, which blends in perfectly with the town’s landscape?
The exhibition taught us that, before becoming a place of great renown thanks to the cinema, it was home to the St-Tropez brigade from 1879 to 2003. That’s over 120 years!
Inside the museum, on the second floor, you’ll discover an exact reconstruction of the building’s façade and interior, as it was used by the gendarmes. We learned that this achievement was made possible thanks to the help of the latter, who lent old photographs to the museum team.
We also enjoyed looking at old objects, uniforms, documents, photos and weapons linked to the history of the town’s gendarmes and the French Gendarmerie. This part of the exhibition allowed us to appreciate the authenticity of this place. It’s a real gendarmerie, used as a set in the films of the famous French saga.
The saga of Les Gendarmes, a must-see French comedy
During our stay in the seaside resort, we discovered the genesis of the Les Gendarmes films.
In 1963, director and producer Richard Balducci went to St Tropez to scout locations for a future film. While admiring the view from the harbor, his camera is stolen from his car. Furious, he went to the gendarmerie -now a museum- to lodge a complaint. We learned that he had met some nonchalant gendarmes there, who had little interest in his story. Exasperated, he decided to use it as inspiration for his film. He imagined a satirical comedy about a brigade of incompetent gendarmes in a quiet little town.
This annecdote makes the building you visit all the more important. Not only was it used as a film location, it was also the birthplace of an idea that left its mark on the 7th Art. During your visit, pay close attention to the exhibits in the first part of the museum, dedicated to the history of the gendarmerie. This will help you project yourself into the universe discovered by Richard Balducci in 1963. We really enjoyed making the links between the posters and film objects on display and the world of the gendarmerie we had discovered earlier.
Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez: an unexpected success
The film, Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez, was released in 1964. As the many posters on display in the museum testify, it was a huge success. The biggest of that year, with over 7.8 million admissions in France.
We discovered that it was a risky gamble. A satirical comedy about a brigade of incompetent gendarmes in a quiet little town didn’t correspond to the canons of French cinema at the time.
You’ll see from the exhibition that this achievement had a major impact on French cinema, and is an excellent example of the savoir-faire of French comedy.
We learned that it was the film that launched the career of Louis de Funès, the lead actor whose statue is proudly displayed in the museum.
However, we discovered that he wasn’t the favorite for this character. The producers would have preferred Francis Blanche or Darry Cowl, but the latter refused. We think this anecdote is important, given that it was Louis de Funès’s acting that was partly responsible for the success of this first film.
You’ll see that Louis de Funès is largely represented in the museum, and is very present in the world of Les Gendarmes films. Not least on the many posters you’ll see.
The film also helped popularize French comedy abroad, becoming an international success with adaptations in several languages. Europe, North America, Asia… The film’s humor is universal and has won over audiences the world over.
We discovered this aspect through the film posters on display in the museum. Its title has been translated or adapted into every language, and the visuals are all different depending on the target country.
This benchmark of French comedy has made the Côte d’Azur a must-see tourist destination the world over.
Les Gendarmes: a comic odyssey in 6 films
You’ll discover that the success of the first film, Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez , gave rise to a series of 6 other films retracing the adventures of “Le Gendarme”:
- The Gendarme in New York (1965): the Saint-Tropez brigade is sent to New York to represent France at an international gendarmerie congress.
- Le Gendarme se marie (1968): Marshal Cruchot meets Josépha, the widow of a gendarmerie colonel, and falls in love with her.
- Le Gendarme en balade (1970): the St Tropez brigade is retired, but Cruchot and his friends aren’t happy about it.
- The Gendarmes and the Extra-terrestrials (1979): the brigade is confronted with a UFO landing and extraterrestrials.
- The Gendarme and the Gendarmettes (1982): Commandant Cruchot has to train a contingent of four young gendarmettes.
In the course of the exhibition, we discovered that a 7th film was written but never shot, due to the death of Louis de Funès on January 27, 1983.
The title of this last opus would have been Le Gendarme et l’Empereur.
In this 7th scenario, the Saint-Tropez gendarmes set off on a mission in a flying saucer, but their journey doesn’t go as planned. They travel back in time to 1815 and meet Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.
You’ll see an extract on display in the museum, but if you’d like to find out more, you can buy the complete script in the museum store after your visit.
Saint-Tropez, muse of the cinema
St Tropez, with its picturesque charm, sunny beaches and lively atmosphere, has long been a source of inspiration for the world of cinema. We learned that from the 1950s onwards, many directors chose this emblematic Côte d’Azur town as the setting for their films, helping to strengthen its international reputation.
The golden age of French cinema on the Var peninsula
As the tour unfolds, you’ll realize that the 50s and 60s were a time when art, culture and glamour converged in this small village in the South of France. As the museum teaches us, Saint-Tropez has left an indelible imprint on the history of cinema, helping to make it a dream destination the world over.
Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez is the protagonist of this golden age. The film marks the start of a series of successful comedies filmed in the region. The peninsula and its surroundings have become the ideal setting for many French film-makers in search of picturesque settings and an enchanting atmosphere.
We found that the icons of this period were French actresses Brigitte Bardot and Romy Schneider. They symbolize femininity and moral and sexual emancipation.
On the museum’s top floor, you’ll discover a reconstruction of their dressing rooms. We saw many objects and posters referring to the films they starred in. We imagined Brigitte Bardot in Saint-Tropez as a veritable idyll. Among the leading films of the period were Et Dieu… créa la femme (1956) and La Piscine (1969). See the posters in the exhibition.
The golden age of French cinema in this small village is also a time for celebration! This aspect is illustrated in the museum by the reconstruction of a nightclub. Plunged into semi-darkness, we discovered the Chez Palmyre player piano. A well-known establishment on the peninsula, frequented by the biggest stars of the day.
Saint-Tropez and cinema today
We discovered that a total of 70 films have been shot in the Var bay since 1930.
Although the golden age of French cinema in Saint-Tropez is over, you’ll find that the village and the Côte d’Azur continue to inspire filmmakers. Films such as OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006) and Sous le soleil (TV series, 1996-2008), shot in the bay, have helped maintain this image.
The city regularly organizes film festivals, open-air screenings and other cinematic events that attract film lovers from all over the world. The Gendarmerie and Film Museum is part of this heritage, and will give you a better understanding of the history of the French 7th art.
We really enjoyed discovering the interviews and testimonials of French actors and actresses, on display on the top floor of the museum. They tell the story of a seaside town like no other, propelled into the spotlight by an unfriendly gendarme.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
- Get away from it all with Region Lovers’ beautiful destinations!
- Once a month
- Advertising-free
Frequently asked questions
Are there any temporary exhibitions at the Gendarmerie Museum in St Tropez?
The first floor is dedicated to temporary exhibitions.
During our visit, we discovered the one dedicated to the French series Sous le soleil. This romantic series, which ran for twelve years, was filmed in Saint-Tropez and broadcast from 1996 to 2008.
Where was the film Le gendarme de Saint-tropez shot?
Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez was mainly shot in Saint-Tropez, in the south of France.
The charming setting of this famous town on the Côte d’Azur is used extensively throughout the film, contributing to its sunny, picturesque atmosphere. The narrow streets, sandy beaches and turquoise waters of the Mediterranean provided the backdrop for this iconic French comedy starring Louis de Funès.
Why have so many films been shot in Saint-Tropez?
Among the many films shot in the seaside town are Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez and La Piscine. The village attracts filmmakers for its natural beauty, festive, bohemian atmosphere, and proximity to the Victorine studios in Nice. The success of the first films shot in the region helped popularize the village as a must-see tourist destination and filming location.
Why is Saint-Tropez so famous?
The success of the peninsula is due to its Mediterranean charm, its sandy beaches, its rich history and its association with luxury and the film industry.
This emblematic Côte d’Azur town has become famous for its close ties with the world of cinema, thanks in particular to films such as Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez, Et Dieu… créa la Femme, La Piscine (1969) and, more recently, Tout le monde debout (2023).
What’s more, the world’s biggest stars regularly vacation on the peninsula.
Why was “Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez” such a hit?
The film was a massive success thanks to its comic script, the charismatic presence of French actor Louis de Funès and the sunny backdrop of Saint-Tropez. It has become an iconic French comedy appreciated by all. The Gendarmerie and Cinema Museum in Saint-Tropez dedicates a major part of its exhibition to him.
PLAN YOUR TRIP TO THE Côte d’Azur
- Inspiration
The most beautiful landscapes in 30 photos
Best things to do on the Côte d’Azur
Most beautiful villages
Best beaches on the Côte d’Azur
Most beautiful gardens
Best boat tours (coming soon)
Most beautiful islands
Secret places
- Practical advice
Successful travel on the Côte d’Azur (coming soon)
Rent a car in Provence – in Nice – in Cannes – in Marseille – in Aix-en-Provence.
Itineraries: 5 days – 1 week – 10 days
Weekend ideas: best-of – romantic – luxury – unusual
- Where to stay
Where to stay on the Côte d’Azur
Best luxury hotels on the Côte d’Azur
Hotels by the sea
Best boutique-hotels
SHE MADE THE TRIP Claire
