France's 20 greatest beaches
France has upwards of 3,400 miles of coastline. That's more than the distance between London and Dubai, packed with variety. With so many beaches, it makes you wonder how some of them get so busy, with millions of visitors annually.
If you're wrestling for a lounger, you're probably going to the wrong places. Many of France's best beaches are only reachable via goat track-like trails, or even by water. Don't dismiss rocky beaches either, these calanques have some of the most spectacularly clear water in the country, and you won't have to shake sand out of your shoes afterwards.
Lagoons laid out in squares like patchwork, peppered with flamingos, round-the-clock music and the scent of tanning oil, endless waves for sunset surfing and waterside seafood shacks; there's a beach for every kind of traveller. Here's our pick of the 20 greatest in France.
Explore by region:
Corsica
Côte d'Azur
South
Southwest
Brittany
Normandy
Northeast
Corsica
Lotu, Saint-Floren t
Best for soft sand
Even getting to Lotu, Saint-Florent is an adventure – by sea, 4x4 or a long walk. Boat is the most popular and local companies have capitalised on its beauty, but fortunately, the limited number of boat seats stops it from becoming too crowded.
Insider tip: Feet-in-the-sand dining La Cabane du Lotu is the only place to eat nearby; book in advance.
How to get there: The two-beach package with Taxi Plages from Saint-Florent costs £30pp.
Where to stay nearby: Hôtel la Roya (0033 49537 0040) has doubles from £100, room only.
Tamaricciu, Porto-Vecchio
Best for tropical vibes
Neighbouring beauty queen Palombaggia gets all the press, which means Tamaricciu Beach, just around the corner, stays quiet. Powder-like sand, clear waters and semi-submerged boulders, it could be the Seychelles, except it's framed by umbrella pines rather than palms.
Insider tip: Rise with the lark in summer, the car park at Palombaggia fills up fast.
How to get there: Drive from Porto-Vecchio to Palombaggia, then walk 10 minutes.
Where to stay nearby: Corsican Places (01489 866992) has a seven-night package at San Giovanni Hotel, including flights, breakfast and car hire, from £998pp.
Côte d'Azur
Notre Dame, Porquerolles
Best for deserted bliss
It's the tangled foliage rather than the island location that makes it feel like you've been marooned on Plage Notre Dame. In a little bay facing the mainland, it's sheltered from the elements. The different depths of water and submerged rocks give the sea a marbled effect.
Insider tip: Porquerolles à Vélo at the arrival port hires bikes for the day to get you there quicker.
How to get there: Catch the boat from Toulon to Porquerolles, and walk 50 minutes east along the coast.
Where to stay nearby: L'Oustaou de Porquerolles (0033 49458 3013) has doubles from £174, including breakfast.
Calanque de Port-Pin, between Marseille and Cassis
Best for happy hikers
28 rocky, limestone inlets line the coast between Marseille and Cassis. Port-Pin is so long that the horizon isn't visible from the beach, just turquoise waters and flat rocks for sunbathing.
Insider tip: Pack plenty of water. Restaurants are few and far between, and water costs more than wine.
How to get there: Either walk from Cassis (45 minutes) or hire a kayak to access Port-Pin from the sea. Larger boats aren't allowed inside the calanques.
Where to stay nearby: The Best Western in Cassis (0805 0808 58) has doubles from £123, including breakfast.
Sablettes, Menton
Best for bars
Just across the main street from Menton's old town, with numerous beach bars and restaurants, and a watersports club renting kayaks and paddleboards, Sablettes enjoys one of the best climates in the country, and locals and tourists alike make the most of the beach year-round.
Insider tip: Take a day trip (pack your passport) to visit the spectacular clifftop botanical Giardini di Hanbury, across the border in Italy.
How to get there: It's 40 minutes by rail or road from Nice.
Where to stay nearby: Hôtel Lemon (0033 49328 6363) has doubles from £118, including breakfast.
Le Layet, Le Lavandou
Best for getting your kit off
Of hundreds of nudist beaches in France, this is the most idyllic. Accessed via a footpath lined with pines, eucalyptus and mimosas, the little strip of sand is ringed with tall trees to keep bathers from prying eyes. There's an on-site restaurant and loungers for hire.
Insider tip: Swimwear is accepted, just don't expect your beachmates to do likewise.
How to get there: Drive 10 minutes east from Le Lavandou; there's a car park a quarter of a mile from the beach.
Where to stay nearby: Hotel Baptistin (0033 49800 4451) has doubles from £127, including breakfast.
Grand Jardin, Borme-les-Mimosas
Best for escaping the crowds
Only reachable by sea or the coast path, this beach may be slap-bang in the middle of the French Riviera, but it's rarely crowded. The waters are so clear that many locals fondly refer to it as Tahiti.
Insider tip: Hire a boat (no permit needed) from the port of Borme-les-Mimosas to arrive by sea.
How to get there: Drive from Hyères and park at Plage de l'Estagnol (€12/day). Walk 15 minutes across the headland from here.
Where to stay nearby: La Villa Mauresque (0033 49483 0242) has doubles from £273, including breakfast.
South
Robinson, Marseillan Plage
Best all rounder
The sand is soft, it's easy to access on foot or by road, it's patrolled by lifeguards, and it's neither empty nor crowded. Robinson is also a kilometre long and separated from plenty of great seafood restaurants by just a row of sand dunes.
Insider tip: Nearby Étang de Thau is the best place to eat fresh oysters.
How to get there: Drive 30 minutes east from Béziers.
Where to stay nearby: A week at The Drawing House (sleeps six) with Vintage Travel (01954 261431; vintagetravel.co.uk) starts from £2,000, self-catered.
Sainte-Marie, Sainte-Marie-la-Mer
Best for avoiding fellow Brits
The Pyrénées-Orientales are immensely popular with holidaying French families, but less so with British tourists. The sand here is the colour and consistency of shortcrust pastry, the beach long and safe for swimming, framed with dunes.
Insider tip: Check the summer concert schedule at Argelès-sur-Mer (30 minutess south).
How to get there: Drive 20 mins from Perpignan.
Where to stay nearby: Camping de la Plage (0033 46880 6859) has pitches from £125 per week.
Gruissan Plage, Narbonne
Best for la vie en rose
The route is even more spectacular than the beach itself, especially by bike. Cycle past a collage of lagoons populated by flamingos and bright shuttered cottages of Gruissan town to arrive at a long beach the colour of weak tea, framed by a row of chalets on stilts.
Insider tip: Algae often turns the lagoons at Gruissan a pinkish colour, at its brightest in early summer.
How to get there: Drive 20 minutes southeast from Narbonne.
Southwest
Dune du Pilat, Arcachon
Best for sunsets
Plummeting down to meet the sea, Europe's largest sand dune looks like a mountain. It's worth the climb up the sliding sand wall, the Atlantic views from the top are superb, particularly at sunset, as Dune du Pilat faces due west.
Insider tip: Avoid the restaurants closest to Dune du Pilat to avoid paying £7 for an Americano (a sad but true story). The neighbouring town of Arcachon is much more affordable.
How to get there: It's an hour's drive from Bordeaux.
Where to stay nearby: Victoria Boutique Hotel (0033 503309 2840) has doubles from £165, including breakfast.
Le Porge-Océan, Arcachon
Best for surfers
A stone's throw north from Pilat as the crow flies, or an hour by road, is one of the finest surfing beaches in France. Sure, it doesn't have the glitz of Biarritz, but what it does have is eight miles of sand the colour of demerara sugar, and reliable rolling waves.
Insider tip: Don't judge a book by its cover (or name), So Nice Surf School is the best.
How to get there: It's an hour's drive from Bordeaux.
Where to stay nearby: Hotel du Porge (0033 55770 9292) has doubles from £80, including breakfast.
Trousse-Chemise, Île-de-Ré
Best for charm
Île-de-Ré is packed with great beaches, but at low tide at Trousse-Chemise you can walk all the way out to picnic on a sand dune – just keep an eye on the tide or you'll be wading back. There are no facilities, just scrubby vegetation, sand and water.
Insider tip: Ditch the car for a bike when you arrive; driving is hellish in summer.
How to get there: Drive to Île-de-Ré from La Rochelle (tolls £14 in high season, charged on arrival only).
Where to stay nearby: Camping Huttopia Ars-en-Ré (0033 54629 4642) has pitches from £20 per night.
Brittany
Île du Loc'h, Glénans
Best for sailors
The only thing that stops the Glénan archipelago from becoming a Maldivian honeymoon spot is the Breton weather. Loc'h is private except the beach, going by kayak (rent from St Nicolas) as close as most of us get to a private island experience.
Insider tip: Pack plenty of water, it's more expensive than alcohol on the Glénans.
How to get there: Boats to the Glénans run from Bénodet, Concarneau and a couple of other towns from April to October.
Aber, Crozon
Best for nature
Brittany's Crozon peninsula looks as though it should be an island, with teetering, crumbling cliffs, wild foliage and tiny stone cottages from centuries gone by. There aren't any facilities, and the beach is a little stonier than nearby Morgat, but there are uninterrupted views of the sea and a little gorse-covered island with a fort.
Insider tip: At low tide you can walk out to Aber Fort on the island.
How to get there: Drive 50 minutes from Brest or Quimper.
Where to stay nearby: Hôtel de la Baie (0033 29827 0751) has doubles from £58, room only.
Grand Plage du Sillon, Saint-Malo
Best for foodies
Saint-Malo may just be the coolest seaside town in France. It doesn't have the flashiness of St Tropez, nor the high-rise of Nice, just pure charm, Medieval architecture (the old town is completely fortified), and darn good food. How often do you get to sit in the sand in the shadow of a 17th-century Vauban fort?
Insider tip: The best galettes are at Crêperie le Tourneso.
How to get there: By direct ferry Portsmouth with Brittany Ferries.
Where to stay nearby: Hôtel les Charmettes (0033 29956 0731) has doubles from £80, room only.
Normandy
Bec d'Andaine, Avranches
Best for uninterrupted views
There's no powder sand here: when the tide goes out you're left with muddy slush, some of which is quicksand. What you do get, however, is a spectacular view of Mont St Michel, silhouetted on the horizon.
Insider tip: Like the pilgrims of old, trek from Bec d'Andaine to Mont St Michel at low tide (with a guide so that you don't fall foul of the quicksand).
How to get there: Drive 20 minutes from Avranches.
Where to stay nearby: Manoir de la Roche Torin (0033 23370 9655) has doubles from £139, including breakfast.
Deauville
Best for celebrity spotting
Arguably the least under-the-radar beach in northern France, it's still worth going to Deauville for the poster paint parasols and old-worldly charm. France's version of the Los Angeles boardwalk, the Promenade des Planches, is next door in Trouville-sur-Mer, decorated with the names of many famous actors and directors who have visited the town.
Insider tip: Time your visit to coincide with a polo match.
How to get there: It's an hour's drive from Le Havre.
Where to stay nearby: Hotel Barrière le Normandy (0033 23198 6622) has doubles from £386, including breakfast.
Antifer, Étretat
Best for avoiding day trippers
Monet catapulted Étretat to fame in the 19th century, but its fate was well and truly sealed by Netflix's Lupin. Now, day trippers arrive in droves from as far away as Paris. Nearby Plage d'Antifer is much quieter, a stone beach in the shadow of enormous cliffs, pockmarked by little caves.
Insider tip: Take two towels, the shingle is far from comfy.
How to get there: Drive 15 minutes west from Étretat, then walk for a mile.
Where to stay nearby: Hotel les Pins de César (0033 23273 6910) has doubles from £314, including breakfast.
Northeast
Quend, Fort Mahon
Best for beach sports
Tidal, grey and often windswept, this is one of the best places for char-a-voile, land sailing in a three-wheeled buggy. You can reach speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, sending up flurries of muddy sand as you go: exhilarating.
Insider tip: Spot harbour seals in the Bay of Somme, just 20 minutes' drive from Plage de Quend.
How to get there: Drive an hour from either Calais or Dieppe.
Where to stay nearby: Le Piloti (0033 6 95 93 05 29) has doubles from £246, including breakfast for two nights (minimum stay).
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