Beach sights in France
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Plage du Gray d'Albion
Cannes is blessed with sandy beaches, although much of the stretch along blvd de la Croisette is for guests of top-notch hotels or those prepared to pay for the luxury of having a strip of carpet leading to the water's edge: rates range from around €15/around €19 per half-/full day for a mattress and yellow-and-white parasol on Plage du Gray d'Albion - it has a water-skiing school - to around €30/around €38/around €44 for a back-row/front-row seat/spot on the pier of exclusive Carlton Beach.
reviewed
-
B
Plage Publique des Ponchettes
If you don't like sand between your toes, Nice's beaches - covered with smooth, round pebbles - are for you. Free public sections of beach with lifeguards, first-aid posts and cold showers alternate with 15 private beaches equipped with restaurants, comfy sun-lounges (obligatory; at a fee) parasols (optional, at a fee), warm showers and changing rooms.
Plage Publique des Ponchettes, opposite Vieux Nice, is the busiest beach with oiled bodies either baking in the sun or punching a ball on the beach-volleyball court.
reviewed
-
C
Plage de Pampelonne
This beach is the continuation of Plage de Tahiti, studded with some of St-Tropez's most legendary drinking and dining haunts. To get here on foot, head out of town along av de la Résistance (south of place des Lices) to rte de la Belle Isnarde and then rte de Tahiti. Otherwise, the bus to Ramatuelle runs about 1km inland along the D93 - from which seven roads lead to the sand.
reviewed
-
D
Palavas-les-Flots
The closest beaches to Montpellier are at Palavas-les-Flots, 12km south of the city and very much Montpellier-on-Sea in summer. Take TaM bus No 131 from the Port Marianne tram stop. Heading north on the coastal road towards Carnon, you stand a good chance of seeing flamingos hoovering the shallows of the lagoons on either side of the coastal D21.
reviewed
-
E
Cap Blanc-Nez
The White-Nosed Cape, as its name translates, is a white cliff - not a cape at all - on a stretch of the Côte d'Opale between Sangatte and Escalles. It affords breathtaking views of the Bay of Wissant, the port of Calais, the Flemish countryside and the cliffs of Kent and is the perfect point to start or end an exploration of the coastline.
reviewed
-
F
Plages du Midi
The central, sandy beaches along blvd de la Croisette are sectioned off for hotel guests, where sun worshippers pay by the day to stretch out in a lounge chair with a parasol. You'll find one of the best public (aka free) beaches, Plages du Midi, stretching westward from the Vieux Port along blvd Jean Hibert.
reviewed
-
Plage d'Arcachon
In the Ville d'Été is Arcachon's sandy beach, Plage d'Arcachon. It is flanked by two piers, lively Jetée Thiers at the western end, and Jetée D'Eyrac at the eastern.
reviewed
-
Plage des Salins
Plage des Salins is a long, wide sandy beach, 4.5km east of St Tropez at the foot of Cap des Salins. To get here, follow rte des Salins to its end.
reviewed
-
Plage d’Annecy-le-Vieux
If you feel like diving straight into those crystal-clear waters, head to this public beach, 1km east of Champ de Mars.
reviewed
-
Plage de la Liberté
Bathers can swim in the buff on aptly named Plage de la Liberté, a nudist beach on Pampelonne's northern end.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
G
Plage de l'Escalet
Bathers can swim in the buff on the secluded Plage de l'Escalet on the southern side of Cap Camarat.
reviewed
-
H
Plage Impérial
Close to town, this privately run beach sits beneath the elegant pre-WWI Impérial Palace.
reviewed
-
I
Plage de la Moutte
Bathers can swim in the buff on Plage de la Moutte on Cap des Salins.
reviewed
-
J
-
Plage de Menton
With more than 300 days of sunshine per year, it's very likely you'll want to spend some time on Menton's free pebble beaches or private sandy ones.
reviewed
-
Beachfront
The unique attraction at Calais' cabin-lined beach, which begins 1km northwest of place d'Armes, is watching huge car ferries as they sail majestically to and from Dover. The sand continues westward along 8km-long, dune-lined Blériot Plage, named after the pioneer aviator Louis Blériot, who began the first ever trans-Channel flight from here in 1909. Both beaches are served by buses 3, 5 and 9.
reviewed
