Car transport
Car transport to Saint-Tropez
1,290 kilometres, and then the last twenty: the peninsula has effectively one road in, and in July that road costs more time than the twelve hundred before it.
Why this route
The last twenty kilometres are the whole story
Saint-Tropez sits about 1,290 kilometres from the Netherlands. As far as the coast that is an ordinary long driving day on familiar motorways. What makes this destination different only begins once you leave the A8.
The peninsula has, in practice, one road in. In July and August it jams, and a run from Sainte-Maxime to the village that takes twenty minutes out of season can easily become an hour and a half. That is precisely why people have a car brought here rather than driving down: you do not want to sit in that queue after thirteen hours of motorway.
And it is why a delivery address matters more here than anywhere else on this coast. Parking in the village is scarce and expensive, many villas sit behind a gate in the hills, and in season the difference between 'in Saint-Tropez' and 'at the right address in Saint-Tropez' can be an hour.
Your route
Netherlands → Saint-Tropez
One direct drive from the Netherlands, your own car, one dedicated driver, from your door to the destination. Every other destination in Europe I drive just as readily.
direct route · 1 dedicated driver
Price indication — Saint-Tropez
One-way
~ 1290 km · ~ 1 driving days
- Driver fee
- € 650
- Travel expenses (calculated up front, no mark-up)
- € 770
- Total (indicative)
- ± € 1.720
incl. 21% VAT · ± € 1.420 excl. VAT
Return (combi)
~ 1290 km · ~ 2 driving days
- Driver fee
- € 1.200
- Travel expenses (calculated up front, no mark-up)
- € 1.370
- Total (indicative)
- ± € 3.110
incl. 21% VAT · ± € 2.570 excl. VAT
Prices may vary slightly due to variable costs such as hotel, fuel and tolls.
Who sends a car here
Four situations where this is the answer
Demand here is sharply seasonal, with one pronounced autumn peak that has nothing to do with holidays.
Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez
From 26 September to 4 October 2026, the twenty-eighth edition, organised by the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez. Around two hundred and fifty classic and modern yachts, some twenty starts a day, and this edition sees the Classe J return. That week the village is full of people who have to get from their boat to dinner ashore, and a car already in place is worth a great deal.
The summer season
July and August, when you fly down and want the car waiting. The combination of a fully loaded vehicle and the road onto the peninsula is exactly what you do not want after a day of travelling. I take it down beforehand, on a day when it is quiet.
Opening and closing the house
The largest group: people with a house in or around Saint-Tropez who want the car down in spring and back in autumn. Out of season this route is quiet and delivery is straightforward, which helps the scheduling too.
Ramatuelle, Gassin and the bay
Many addresses are not in the village itself but in Ramatuelle, Gassin, along the Route des Plages, or across the water at Sainte-Maxime and Port Grimaud. All within half an hour, but in season it determines which approach is right and what time we need to be there.
The route
Twelve hundred and ninety kilometres, and then the peninsula
The motorway is the easy part. I plan this run backwards from the moment the road into the village is still moving.
- 01
The Netherlands to Lyon
± 880 km
Through Belgium into France, then via Reims, Beaune and the A6. Belgium is toll-free; the toll network starts at the French border and that is where most of the cost sits. The junction at Lyon in peak hours is the only real hold-up on this section.
- 02
Lyon to the A8
± 300 km down the Rhône valley
The A7 south and then east along the A8. On summer Saturdays half of France drives to the sea along here at once. That is the day I avoid, not the kilometres.
- 03
The turn onto the peninsula
The last 20 km, and the hardest part
From the A8 it runs via Le Muy or Sainte-Maxime onto the peninsula, and there the road narrows to a single lane each way. In high season this stretch jams from mid-morning. I make sure we are through it early or towards evening. That is not a luxury, it is the difference between twenty minutes and an hour and a half.
- 04
Delivery at the right address
Village, hills or bay
In the village parking is scarce and expensive; most villas in the hills have their own drive behind a gate with a code. Give me the address when booking and, if there is a gate code or someone on site, that too. Then nobody has to be phoned while the car waits at a closed gate.
- 05
The way back
Nice or Toulon
Saint-Tropez has no airport of its own. After delivery I drive on to Nice-Côte d'Azur, about an hour and a half, or to Toulon-Hyères if the flight times suit better. That ticket is in the price.
Practical points
Recurring events
Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez runs from 26 September to 4 October in 2026: nine days with around two hundred and fifty yachts, twenty starts a day and a village overflowing. This is the week when a car already in place makes the most difference, and equally the week I have to plan furthest ahead, the hotels on the route south are full then as well.
The access road is the bottleneck, not the distance
The peninsula has practically one road in. Out of season that is not an issue; in July and August it is. I therefore plan the last stretch around the hour rather than the shortest route, and I say in advance what arrival time is realistic instead of promising one that will not hold.
Crit'Air applies to your plate too
Saint-Tropez is far too small for a zone of its own, but you get there via Lyon and past Marseille and Nice, and in 2026 all three have one. The rules apply to foreign plates. The sticker costs € 4.91 via certificat-air.gouv.fr; without one, or in the wrong category, the fine is often € 68 and can reach € 450. I arrange it in advance.
Gate codes and keys
Many addresses here sit behind a gate. Tell me at booking how the car gets in: a code, a key safe, a caretaker or a neighbour. It sounds small, but it is the most common hold-up on the last hundred metres of this route.
Luggage travels with it
No trailer is involved, so whatever fits in your car comes along. Sailing gear, suitcases, things for the house, everything you would otherwise have checked in or left behind.
Compare your options
The same car from the Netherlands to Southern Europe, three ways, three price tags. With a trailer, watch which one you are comparing: riding along on a scheduled line from depot to depot is the cheapest there is, but a transporter making the run for your car alone charges per kilometre and bills the truck’s journey home as well. Between those two extremes sits a factor of five.
Trailer transport
€675 – 4,500 excl.
± 10 working days, or 2–3
- €675 – 850 if your car rides along on a scheduled line
- But then you take it to the depot yourself and collect it yourself on arrival, ten working days later
- If the transporter runs for your car alone, door to door, it goes per kilometre — open ± €0.95, enclosed ± €1.35 — and the truck’s journey home counts too. Utrecht–Marbella comes to ± €4,500
- Luggage in the car usually not allowed
Driving it yourself
± €0.25 per km + your time
± 2 – 3 days of your own
- You drive the whole route yourself
- Fuel and tolls come to roughly €0.25 per kilometre
- Plus a hotel night on the way and a flight back
- And two to three days of your own time
Monarch DriveDrive-it-Back
± €2,040 excl. for Utrecht–Marbella
± 3 days
- One dedicated driver drives your own car, door to door
- Half what a transporter charges to make that same run for your car alone
- On the day you choose, not the day the line departs
- Load the car with your own luggage
- 360° condition report + daily updates
Trailer prices, September 2026: the line prices from one large Dutch car transporter's own route pages, the door-to-door price from a Dutch specialist in exclusive car transport's own rate calculator. My figure is the indication from the calculator above for Utrecht–Marbella, one way. All amounts exclude VAT so they can be read side by side. Travel expenses are calculated up front and included in the fixed price, with no mark-up.
Frequently asked
What people ask about this route
1,290 kilometres is one long driving day as far as the coast. The last stretch onto the peninsula depends on the season: out of high season twenty minutes from the A8, in July and August up to an hour and a half. I plan the arrival around that.
Yes, and it is one of the weeks when it genuinely matters. In 2026 the event runs from 26 September to 4 October. Book well ahead: the village is full and so are the hotels on my route south.
Yes. Everything on and around the peninsula sits on the same run and normally costs nothing extra. Give me the address and, if there is a gate with a code, that as well.
For the French cities on the route, yes, and the rules apply to Dutch plates. The sticker costs € 4.91; without one, or in the wrong category, you risk a fine from € 68 that can rise to € 450. I arrange it in advance.
By air from Nice-Côte d'Azur, about an hour and a half away, or from Toulon-Hyères if the flight times suit better. That ticket is in the price.
Not if we plan it. The congestion sits at fixed moments: Saturdays on the A8 and late morning on the access road. I go through early or late, and I say in advance what arrival time is achievable.
How I safeguard your car
Clear about cover
Your own policy stays leading. Damage caused by me: I cover the excess up to €500. What I do not have is stated just as plainly.
Signed transport agreement
Every arrangement — excess, route, planning — recorded in writing beforehand.
360° condition report
Your car's condition fully documented with photos, before and on delivery.
Reply within 24 hours
A personal answer from one point of contact, not a call centre.
Elsewhere on the site
The same coast, or a different destination?
The other direction
And if your car needs to come back from Saint-Tropez?
Bringing your car back from Saint-Tropez costs ± € 1.520. Going out is ± € 1.720, so the return works out cheaper: the last driving day ends at my own door, with no hotel night at the far end and no flight home. I fly out and drive it back to you.
Ready to have your car transported safely?
Request your indication with no obligation. Within 24 hours you will have a personal reply.