La Seyne-sur-Mer is the second town of the Toulon conurbation, on the western shore of the Toulon roadstead, facing the main city. Long a village of fishermen and shipbuilding yards, it took shape in the nineteenth century around the Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, which sustained the town and shaped its working-class identity. The closure of the shipyards in 1989 marked a turning point, followed by a lengthy redevelopment of the port site and a shift towards tourism and residential living.
The town stretches from the portside centre, with its harbour, its market and its lift bridge listed as a historic monument, to the southern coastline and its seaside resorts. The Sablettes beach unfurls more than a kilometre of fine sand facing the Deux Frères rock, while the Tamaris district keeps the orientalist villas commissioned by Michel Pacha in the late nineteenth century. The western peninsula is home to the Balaguier fort, now a naval museum, and the wooded massifs of Janas and Cap Sicié close off the town to the south-west.
This dual identity, portside and seaside, shapes a contrasting property market. The town centre, undergoing redevelopment since the shipyards closed, and the Berthe district, a large northern housing estate under urban renewal, remain the most affordable areas. The southern coastline, from Les Sablettes to Le Crouton by way of Tamaris, concentrates the highest prices, driven by sea views and proximity to the beaches. Demand stays firm, supported by the appeal of the Toulon conurbation and by the town's seaside life.
