I invest considerable time and effort in my quest to find France’s best beach breaks. I’m a snob: I grew up in Cornwall, with the sea visible from both sides of my house, so it takes a lot to impress me.
With 3,400 miles of coastline, getting away from tourists, even during les vacances, just needs a little insider knowledge. The trade-off is rather more rustic accommodation, because an undiscovered beachside Ritz-Carlton simply doesn’t exist. Personally, it’s one I’ll take to avoid fighting half the Home Counties for a plaster-sized patch of sand. Here are 10 spots you’ve probably never heard of, prime for a visit this summer.
Erbalunga, Corsica
This little place, with higgledy-piggledy houses sprawling up the hill, had its heyday in the late 19th century when rich merchants trading with the Americas built mansions on the Cap Corse peninsula. On my latest visit, I admired them – and the surrounding mountains and sea caves – by renting a kayak. The beaches are small and pebbled, but utterly charming.
How to do it: easyJet runs seasonal flights from London Heathrow to Bastia, where car rental is available from the airport. From here, it’s a 20-minute drive to Erbalunga. Hôtel Castel Brando has doubles from £234, room only.
Séné, Morbihan, Brittany
This pretty little port in the tidal, wild Gulf of Morbihan, has direct ferries across to the Medieval town of Vannes (full of tourists no matter the season), taking just 20 minutes. Séné is always peaceful: the waterfront houses, largely enveloped by trees, and the nearest neighbours barely visible. On the peninsula, Plage de la Villeneuve is the best of the numerous beaches, and can only be reached on foot or by bike.
How to do it: Brittany Ferries runs from Portsmouth to St Malo six times a week in summer. From here, it’s a two-hour drive to Séné. L’Escale Sinagote has doubles from £74, breakfast included.
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Camargue
A region of wetlands, saltwater lagoons and beaches largely inaccessible by road, Camargue bulls, horses and flamingos roam free here. Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is the capital, and one of only a few towns in the area. Most of the year, it basks quietly under a southern sun, sandwiched between dune-backed beaches and lagoons. From late May, it’s a major pilgrimage site for the Romani community. Plage du Crin Blanc is the best beach, with loungers for hire.
How to do it: easyJet has flights to Montpellier from London Gatwick and Manchester. From Montpellier, it’s 70 minutes drive to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. Hôtel le Dauphin Bleu has doubles from £94, room only.
Bidart, Basque Country
Just four miles down the coast from Biarritz, Bidart is less glitzy, but there’s a whole lot more greenery, and it’s full of typical Basque houses – whitewashed walls with brightly-coloured half-timber in burgundy and teal. Fewer tourists mean that Basque culture feels particularly strong here, and evenings are brought to life with al fresco Basque dancing and live music. Oh, and the beach is three miles long.
How to do it: Ryanair has flights from Edinburgh and London Stansted to Biarritz. From Biarritz, it’s a 15-minute drive or 20-minute bus ride to Bidart. Capybara Bidart has rooms from £130.
Sauzon, Belle-Île-en-Mer, Brittany
Translated into English, “Beautiful-Island-in-the-Sea” sounds nauseatingly over-the-top, but it’s accurate. The largest island in Brittany is bursting with hiking trails and tiny coves sheltered by rocky cliffs. Sauzon, the island’s capital city with a mighty population of around 1,000, has the sort of picture-perfect waterfront you’d imagine the Famous Five cycling around. It’s not exactly under-the-radar, but visitor numbers are organically filtered by its inaccessibility.
How to do it: Ferries to Belle-Île-en-Mer run from Lorient, Quiberon, La Trinité sur Mer, Locmariaquer, Port Navalo and Vannes. Each one is under three hours from Roscoff and St Malo, which have regular ferries from southern England. Hôtel le Cardinal has rooms from £190.
Audresselles, Pas-de-Calais
Many coastal towns in Pas-de-Calais are largely concrete, one of the prices paid for D-Day liberation. Not Audresselles, where the blue-shuttered houses have roofs the colour of caramel, meadows spill out to infinity beyond town, and every restaurant serves supersized portions of mussels and crab at very reasonable prices (my waistband groaned, and I had what the French call une bonne fourchette, a hearty appetite). At low tide, the beach is immense.
How to do it: LeShuttle has up to four services per hour between Folkestone and Calais. From here it’s a 30-minute drive to Audresselles. La Villa L’Escale has rooms from £128, breakfast included.
Sainte-Maxime, Côte d’Azur
Saint-Tropez got overrun, Ramatuelle followed suit. So where do those in the know go now? To Sainte-Maxime, just across the gulf. Of course, it’s not totally under-the-radar, this is the Côte d’Azur and generations of travel writers before me have worked hard to expose it. Loungers start from around £30 per day, but if you’re allergic to paying to sunbathe, head to the rocky beaches at La Pointe des Sardinaux. You’ll need to share it with some canine beach bums, though.
How to do it: Numerous airlines have flights to Nice from various UK cities, including Jet2 and easyJet. From Nice, it’s an 80-minute drive to Sainte-Maxime. Hostellerie La Belle Aurore has rooms from £251.
Soulac-sur-Mer, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
At the end of the Médoc peninsula, Soulac-sur-Mer has four miles of exactly the kind of sand every beach bum is looking for: powdery, finer than sugar and pale gold. The town itself has an old-worldly charm, with Neoclassical architecture from the early 20th century. This is when tourism “took off”, but it’s largely only the French that have discovered Soulac’s turreted manor houses and soft sands.
How to do it: Eurostar has up to 19 services a day between London St Pancras and Paris Gare du Nord. High-speed trains run from Massy to Bordeaux St Jean (two hours), followed by a TER to Soulac-sur-Mer (one hour 50 mins). Hôtel Michelet Plage has rooms from £103.
Saint-Cast-le-Guildo, Emerald Coast, Brittany
Although tourists have been coming here since the 19th century, its remote location near the tip of a peninsula has kept it low-key. The long beach is often windy, making it a popular sailing spot, and fishing boats catch fresh scallops and spider crabs. On land, one of the most unusual activities is to take to the trees for your sundowner, with a hanging apéritif at La tête en l’air on a picnic bench suspended from the trees.
How to do it: From St Malo (Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth or Poole), it’s a 40-minute drive. Hôtel Port-Jacquet has rooms from £71.
Surtainville, Cotentin, Normandy
One of only a handful of surf spots in Normandy, on the western side of the Cotentin peninsula, Surtainville is as laid-back as the people who frequent it. When not catching breaks, days are spent fishing, sailing or hiking along some of the wildest cliffs in the region. Hydrangeas spill out of the gardens of little grey slate cottages, vying with the sea to produce the most vivid shade of blue.
How to do it: Brittany Ferries runs from Poole to Cherbourg daily. Cherbourg is a 30-minute drive from Surtainville. Surtain Surf House has packages from £173 for a two-night stay, including two surf lessons.