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favourite beaches

A lightning tour of the French coastline, to help you choose the beach of your dreams...

If you are looking for chic, facility laden fun or the quiet retreat of a cove to yourself you can do no better than visit Brittany, where even in high season you can find beaches on the north coast that are pretty much the way nature made them. Brittany is the climatic and landscape equivalent of Cornwall writ large. Dramatic cliffs and sandy coves fringe the entire coast north and south but for vast stretches of sand and opportunities for sand yachting and wind surfing, travel to the fingery ends of Finistere and the Baie de Douarnenez, famous for sardines in chic little tins, and with plenty of campsites just behind the beach.

Turn south from Quimper and Concarneau offers an all round holiday experience with a fabulous beach fringing the old port. A little further down the coast just below Quimperle is Le Pouldu, once an unknown and quiet spot with a tiny beach and the most exquisitely clear seawater, it is perhaps too popular now during high season; the must-see artists refuge of Pont-Aven is close by. You’ll have to plan well in advance to holiday on La Belle-Ille, with Brittany’s southern-most beaches, lying just off the coast of Morbihan, but nearby Carnac has plenty of space on the beach and in the numerous campsites. Brittany has 1700 kilometres of coastal footpaths that offer gentle or more challenging walks; originally planned for the customs officers looking for smugglers, you are ensured a good view of the shoreline!

The Atlantic coast of the Vendée is renowned for long stretches of fine sand beaches. From north to south; Pornic, Saint-Jean-de-Monts, and Les Sables-d’Olonne, are seaside resorts for families looking for a wide range of facilities from watersports and fabulous places to eat to a relaxing thalassotherapy treatment. Les Sables-d’Olonne is a yachting community, but you’ll find a more relaxed holiday to the south of the city.

Charente Maritime, the next département (county) down from the Vendée, is blessed with two beautiful resorts and two beautiful islands. Ille de Ré and the Ille d’Oléron each offer an idyllic island style holiday, though for convenience both are now joined to the mainland by impressive viaducts. This has somewhat increased their popularity and in summer Ré in particular is regularly swamped. The beaches of La Flotte, Les Portes, La Couarde and Le Bois-Plage on Ré all have kids’ clubs during the summer and are excellent for swimming. La Rochelle has all the charms of an old seaside town, pretty buildings and a vast beach of its own, splendid seafood restaurants and is a major sailing centre. Royan is another less cosmopolitan resort, flanked both by exceptional campsites and more fabulous beaches; best known of these is the Grande Conche. All will have kids’ activities in the summer.

Jump the Gironde River into Aquitaine and the beach stretches for miles from Soulac-sur-mer to Cap Ferret with ample opportunities to get wet in a dozen different ways. The Côte d’Argent feels wild and undeveloped and is virtually a spit of land, backed by one of the largest forests in Europe, protecting the many fresh water lakes immediately inland. The lakes themselves offer generous camping opportunities and shelter from Atlantic winds, along with a variety of activities for families on holiday; Biscarosse for example, is resplendent with options for all ages. There are no large resorts on this stretch of coast until you get to Arcachon, a very French resort as popular with the locals as with tourists and packed with watersport and other facilities. The Dune du Pyla is just south of Archaron, a natural wonder at over 100m, this is Europe’s highest sand dune. The view from the top is a breathtaking but steep climb.

The same style of holiday prevails as you move south to Biarritz and the Côte Basque. Two outstanding beaches here are the Chambre d’Amour and Sables d’Or just north of Biarritz, lots of surfing but swimming is dangerous on both. Synonymous with surfing and drawing thousands of young people during the summer, Biarritz is a very cosmopolitan resort that can get too busy for families in summer. There is plenty of beach though and it’s beautiful. St Jean de Luz just down the coast is a more intimate resort, with a small bay and is virtually the last stop before Spain.

Leaving the Atlantic for the warm Mediterranean sea and a totally different beach experience, Languedoc Rousillon has arguably the most visited beaches in France, lacking the swanky savoir-faire of Provence and the Côte d’Azur, you’ll find resorts on the Côte Vermeille are simpler and more laid back than their Riviera rivals. The beaches around Perpignan are excellent, offering either the sandy acres of Argelés-sur-Mer or the craggy, grittiness of the coastline at Collioure, where you will find opportunities for diving along a special underwater trail, and continuing down to the Spanish border. The whole coast is host to watersports at all levels of ability, surfers head for St Cyprien just above Argelés.

For something different and hot, Cap d’Agde is a purpose-built resort most notable as the home of France’s largest naturist beach. The whole of this coast boasts long stretches of sand all the way to La Grand Motte just beyond Montpellier down to Argelés and some of the highest temperatures in France but there is very little shade or shelter from either sun or wind.

The whole of the Mediterranean coastline is of course, in such great demand that in high season resorts will be very busy. Luckily for us the season along the whole coast from Cap Cerbére to Menton, can be said to last two months longer than anywhere else in France. Visit during May or September and you’ll find resorts emptier and the climate more temperate and suitable for young children.

Going east to Antibes and Juan-les-Pins brings you to what was once the wilder heart of the French Riviera – now it’s hard to distinguish from the rest. At Antibes though you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find the Plage de la Salis, a long public beach. Campsites are out of town and you’ll need to book well in advance. In fact campsites, like every other type of accommodation, will be fairly well booked up for the whole season, so if you must visit this coast, plan well ahead and do your research. Many beaches are private and land is so expensive in the resorts that campsites are often several kilometres away.

The opposite is true of Normandy, where the Côte d’Opale stretches between Calais and the River Somme. Being the most northern coast of France, for many it is only a re-fuelling stage on the great route south. It’s undoubtedly true that the weather on this coast often lives up to the name, being either a pretty opalescent pearl when the sun is out or a misty blanket when it isn’t; at these times just go inland some five kilometres or so and often the air has a totally different quality. The best resorts here are Boulogne and Le Touquet, and the most family friendly beach Berck Plage.
Go further South and the large shingle of the beaches around Dieppe gives way to a continuous coastal ribbon of sand and the famous beaches of Trouville and Deauville. This long, luxurious expanse continues with minor interruptions until you reach the Côtentin Peninsula. All the way from Honfleur to Grandcamp Maisy you will find campsites virtually on the beach or nearby, perfect for a very relaxed holiday destination.