September is the Mediterranean’s best-kept secret. The sea is at its warmest, the beaches are emptying out, and tables are opening up. Corfu, Ibiza, Provence: these are the places we send those who refuse to put away their swimsuits.
Every year, it's the same mistake. We fold up the umbrellas on August 31, head back inside, and miss out on the six best weeks of the year.
Because the sea, for its part, doesn’t follow the school calendar. It has stored up the heat of an entire summer and reaches its peak in September. The days remain long, the light grows softer, prices drop, and the villages are repopulated. In the Mediterranean, this is known as the beautiful late season.
Three destinations from our international collection, three ways to make summer last just a little longer.
Corfu
Greece, When Everyone Else Has Left
Forget the white, rocky Cyclades. Corfu is green. Millions of olive trees planted during the Venetian era cover the entire island; cypress trees dot the hills; and wooded slopes cascade down to the strangely calm Ionian Sea—a mirror, most of the time.
In September, the island takes on a different pace. The taverns in Agni Bay, accessible only by boat or via a steep trail, are finally ready to serve without delay. In Kalami, the white house where Lawrence Durrell wrote in the 1930s is still there, right on the water’s edge. We dine on grilled fish overlooking the Albanian coast, then make our way back to the anchorage by flashlight.
Corfu Town, on the other hand, is unlike any other Greek city. Four centuries under Venetian rule, followed by French and then British rule. The result: Italian-style arcades along the Liston, two massive fortresses, an esplanade where cricket is still played, and an old town listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s a place where you can happily lose yourself in the late afternoon.
What We Do There
–Sail along the northeast coast.From Kassiopi to Nissaki, rent a boat for the day and visit one cove after another: Agni, Kalami, Kerasia. The best way to spend a day in September.
–Paleokastritsa.Six turquoise coves beneath a 13th-century monastery. We head there early, before noon, when the water is still as smooth as oil.
–Hike up to Pantokrator.At 906 meters, it’s the island’s highest point. On a clear day, you can see Albania on one side and the Ionian Sea on the other.
–Taste the new olive oil.The olive harvest begins in October. Family-run estates in the center of the island open their doors to visitors.
Our Properties in Corfu
Ibiza
The island is regaining its true character
Ibiza in September is a far cry from Ibiza in August. The crowds thin out, the clubs close one by one, and the island returns to its true nature: rural, quiet, and a bit mystical.
The north is where you need to go. The hills of Sant Joan, the almond trees, the secluded fincas at the end of dirt roads. Santa Gertrudis, an artists’ village in the center of the island, with its galleries and shaded terraces. The secluded coves of Cala Xarraca and Cala d’en Serra, where you hike down to the shore and find yourself all alone.
And then there’s Benirràs. Every Sunday at sunset, drummers set up on the beach facing the rock—a ritual passed down from the 1970s that has never stopped. In September, without the crowds, it regains its full vitality.
What We Do There
–A boat tour around Es Vedrà.The rock that rises up opposite Cala d’Hort, backlit by the setting sun. It’s the island’s most recognizable image—and for good reason.
–A day in Formentera.Take the ferry from Ibiza Town, rent a scooter there, and have lunch with your feet in the sand at Ses Illetes. The contrast with Ibiza is striking.
–Hippie markets.Las Dalias in Sant Carles on Saturdays, Punta Arabí on Wednesdays. Handicrafts, textiles, live music—the legacy of the ’70s is still very much alive.
–Ibiza’s vineyards.The island has been producing its own wines since ancient times. The grape harvest takes place in late August and September: a few wineries open their cellars.
–Hiking along the north coast.The trails between Portinatx and Cala Xarraca are finally passable once the August heat has subsided.
Our Properties in Ibiza
Provence
When summer ends with the grape harvest
A two-hour drive from Saint-Tropez, and the scenery changes completely. The sea disappears, the light grows harsher, and the cicadas take over from the waves. The Luberon in September is summer without the sweltering heat and traffic jams.
The villages are becoming livable again. Gordes clinging to its cliff, Ménerbes with its dry-stone terraces, Bonnieux with its stair-step alleys, and Lourmarin beneath its plane trees. The Saturday morning market in Apt—the liveliest in the region—is drawing its regulars once again. On Sundays, people head to L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue to hunt for treasures at the antique shops along the waterfront.
But September in Provence is, above all, harvest time. The vineyards of the Luberon and Ventoux are bustling, the scent of grape must wafts through the cellars, and you can taste red wines that are a world apart from the rosés of the coast. It’s the time of year when the region is hard at work—and that’s precisely what makes it so beautiful.
What We Do There
–The grape harvest.Several wineries in the Luberon and Ventoux regions open their doors in September. Wine tasting in the cellar, nestled between two bins of grapes.
–Château La Coste.Half an hour from Aix: contemporary art, architecture by Ando and Gehry, a vineyard, and a restaurant. You can easily spend the whole day there without even realizing it.
–The ochres of Roussillon.The Ochre Trail, with its red and orange cliffs. Spectacular in the late afternoon, as the light fades.
–Cycling through the Ventoux region.The mountain passes are finally passable without too much of a struggle. Bike or convertible—the choice is yours.
Our Properties in Provence
One point of contact, everywhere
A villa overlooking the Ionian Sea, a finca in northern Ibiza, a mas in the Luberon: three ways to extend your summer, all organized by the same team. Property selection, negotiation, trip coordination, and on-site concierge services—we apply the same approach elsewhere as we do in Saint-Tropez.
Our international collection also includes Switzerland, Courchevel, Megève, Paris, and the Atlantic Coast. And when summer is truly over, we’ll tell you all about the mountains.
L’Office by Angel Properties — your real estate family office, in Saint-Tropez and beyond.