Up and Coming polo events in Saint Tropez

With temperatures reaching the mid-20s this week, it finally feels as if summer has arrived in Saint Tropez.

And not before time! But weather aside, there is another factor which serves as proof that the long hot days have once again returned to the French Riviera, home to our portfolio of luxury villas in Saint Tropez: a packed polo calendar.

For as soon as the horse boxes start to arrive at the gates to the Polo Club St Tropez, a stone’s throw from our luxury villas to rent in Gassin, we know that the summer season has begun.

The Polo Club St Tropez was founded in 1998 on a 30 acre site in Gassin, a picturesque village in the hills above the Saint Tropez coastline. It is now one of the most respected clubs in Europe, with the world’s best players travelling from all corners of the globe to compete in the annual events.

And last weekend the club celebrated its 15^th anniversary with a week packed with nail-biting matches, VIP events and a well-attended BBQ.

Polo, supposedly the chosen game of kings, is one of the oldest sports in history.  It is thought to have been invented around 2,000 years ago in Persia, before catching on in India in the 13^th century. British army officers and tea plantation workers began playing in the 1800s and the first club, called the Calcutta Polo Club, was founded in 1863.

The Polo Club St Tropez has become an important fixture for many of our regular guests who reserve luxury villas in to rent in Gassin year on year. It’s a wonderful and relaxing place to come to watch polo for those who know nothing and everything about the game.

The club, which offers polo lessons to visitors staying in luxury villas in Saint Tropez, also has an excellent restaurant called La Table du Polo. The restaurant is open every day for lunch and dinner outside tournaments, the dates of which are listed below:

• International Polo Cup Saint-Tropez ( July 4 – July 14)
• Open de Gassin (July 18 – July 28)
• Côte d’Azur Polo Cup (August 8 – August 18)
• Open du Polo Club Saint-Tropez (August 8 – August 25)
• Open du Soleil (August 21 – August 31)
• Polo Gold Cup (September 5 – September 15)