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The largest of the French Riviera islands is the car-free idyll of Porquerolles. Hire a bike or explore on foot to appreciate this paradise of vineyards, olive groves, scented forests and glorious beaches.

Now a national park, the smallest and most mountainous of the Hyères isles is dense with pine woods and oaks. Paths lead up to clifftops with dramatic views. La Palud is the best beach.

Although 90 per cent of this island is a French Navy missile base, the other 10 per cent is a naturist colony. Clothes must be worn in the village but not beyond.

The islands of Ratonneau and Pomègues guard Marseille harbour (see Marseille). Beyond Port Frioul, white rocks ruggedly conceal little beaches. The diving here is renowned.

This prison island is most famous as the place from which the fictional Count of Monte Cristo escaped (see Alexandre Dumas). You may even visit the “Count’s dungeon”.

Ste-Marguérite offers woods of pine and eucalyptus and little stony beaches. In 1687 the Man In The Iron Mask was imprisoned in the island’s fort (see Man in the Iron Mask).

A smaller version of Ste-Marguerite, St-Honorat has been run by monks almost continually since the 5th century. The 11th-century fortified monastery is a must-see.

The larger of two islands developed for tourism by drinks magnate Paul Ricard, Embiez is a delight. Development has been merged into the landscape, leaving most of the island untouched, with its creeks, woods and salt marshes.

Embiez’s baby brother has a tiny harbour and beaches – you can do the tour in 20 minutes. But the tourist development is as sensitive as on Embiez, marrying the landscape extremely naturally.

“Verte” refers to the island’s greenery, notably the trees topping the steep cliffs. Billed as “one of the last virgin islands of the Mediterranean coast”, the islet has tiny creeks and beaches.