What is the French seaside like? What are the seashores and beaches like? Where are the best beaches in France? These are questions that tourists often ask; but with over 2000 miles of coastline, continental France (i.e., excluding Corsica) has plenty of coastline and beaches of different sorts to satisfy the millions of tourists and holidaymakers who flock to them each summer. But for the foreign visitor, a holiday on the French coast can sometimes be a disappointment if the resort or region chosen has the wrong kind of seaside or seashore.
The map opposite divides the French coast very schematically into two types: in pink, coasts that are predominantly rocky, often with cliffs; in yellow, the flatter areas of coastline, where there are plenty of long sandy beaches.
Here, in greater detail, is a description of the French coastline, taken in an anti-clockwise direction, and starting at the top, on the Belgian border.
The extreme north coast of France, from
Belgium to Calais, borders on the North Sea, and is characterised by broad sandy beaches and sand dunes.
Beyond
Calais - reflecting the English coast opposite - the Channel coast round and south of Cap Gris Nez has chalk cliffs, with small harbours and beaches of shingle or sand. The cliffs give way to a flat coastline with beaches and estuarine shores in
Picardy, round the mouth of the River Somme. The resort of
Le Touquet is famous for its sand dunes.
In the north of
Normandy, the chalk cliffs return, culminating in the famous cliffs of
Etretat, the highest in France. The small seaside resorts, tucked into creeks, were once very popular with Parisians.
Beyond the
mouth of the Seine, the
Normandy coast is generally a mix of broad sandy beaches with, here and there, low cliffs and pebbly beaches. This mixed shoreline, the site of the Second World War Normandy landings, carries round and up the Cotentin peninsula.
The northern end of
Cotentin is marked by another rocky area, with granite cliffs and sandy beaches, rather like the Channel Islands which are close by.
At the western base of the Cotentin peninsula, Normandy becomes
Britanny, and after the flat shores surrounding the Bay of Mont Saint Michel, the coastline is then very rugged and rocky right round the Breton coast, as far as the department of Morbihan, in the south. The variety of the rocky north Breton coast is reflected in the names of sections of this coast; the Jade Coast, the Emerald Coast, the Pink Granite coast (sounds better in French!), and the Wild Coast. But along with the rocks and cliffs, this coastline, like that of North Cornwall, offers a wealth of sandy coves and beaches.
Ths
south Breton coast is warmer and less rugged than the north, and in the department of Morbihan, the coast is characterised by fine sandy beaches.
Southwards from the mouth of the Loire, from
Vendée, through
Charentes and as far as the Gironde, the
Atlantic coast is largely made up of long sandy beaches; coastal towns and villages, such as La Rochelle, Les Sables d'Olonne and Rochefort, have tended to spread along behind the shoreline, but in many parts, the beaches are backed by a band of pine forests, and can be remarkably uncrowded even in summer.
South of the Gironde, the
Aquitaine coast is famous for its long sandy beaches, but also for its forests that come right up to the coastline, or at least up to the band of sand dunes behind the beaches. At the entrance to the Bay of Arcachon, the Dune du Pilat (photo left) is the highest sand dune in Europe - over 300 ft high, and almost two miles long. From
Arcachon southwards towards the area of
Biarritz, the coast offers mile upon mile of unbroken sandy beaches, often accessible only on small tracks through the forest.. This all changes as one reaches the Basque country, where the seaside is quite built up from Capbreton to the
Spanish border.
The
Mediterranean coast of France is conveniently divided into two sections, west of the Rhone (Languedoc), and east of the Rhone (Provence - Riviera).
Languedoc offers mile upon mile of sandy seashores - though the Mediterranean being non-tidal, these sandy beaches are not generally as broad as those of the Atlantic coast. On the other hand, the water is usually warmer. Around the Rhone delta, between the Camargue and Marseilles, the coast is not particularly touristy; with the proximity of shipping ports - Fos and Marseilles, and the water coming from the River Rhone, this is not the best part of the French coast.
East of Marseilles, it is a different story. this is the start of the
Provence coast and the
French Riviera, a rocky jagged coast characterised by its small inlets, shingly or sandy beaches, and beautiful landscapes. It should be noted that a lot of the beaches here are of shingle or fine pebbles, including the famous beach beside the seafront at Nice. This is the region with the most famous of French seaside resorts - Saint Tropez, Juan les Pins, Saint Raphael, Cannes, Nice and many others. It is an area that is extremely popular in summer, and holidaymakers thinking of going here in July or August should make sure that they have booked up their hotel - or campsite - well in advance.
As for the "best beaches in France", that's really a matter for individual choice. Hopefully the guide above will help point you in the right direction, if that is what you are after.
Click here for a
detailed map of France, which you can scroll and zoom on any area.
Photo by Ronnie Garcia .
