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Best non touristy sand beaches in south of France

Husband and I will be in France next month after several days in Paris we are planning to super train to the south of France for a few days. We would like to find a hidden gem of a beach, preferably worth white sand. One that the locals prefer and is not too touristy.
Thank you

Posted by
2527 posts

A nice sandy beach in the south of France that's not too touristy. Good luck.

Posted by
10 posts

Last Sep we made our way from Marseille to Menton along the coast (and then back the other direction all the way to Lisbon). We stayed in Menton for a couple three nights. Nice hotel on the beach for around 100 euro. Beaches were really mellow compared to the other cities. Pretty low key and pleasant place to spend a few days or as a base for day trips. Lots of beach, mostly sandy, but not really white sand.

Posted by
3391 posts

The south of France is a very large area and I'm not sure where you'll be based...
The beach at Cap d'Agde is wide, good for swimming, and there are only French tourists - you want to be on the eastern beach of Cap d'Agde though as the western half is a naturist resort. Although it is an interesting experience!
Some of the French beaches, including the eastern part of Cap d'Agde, are not very picturesque. A lot of them were developed in the 60s and 70s and there is lot of concrete and ugliness.
This website has some good suggestions for nice beaches in Languedoc which is quite an untouristed area for the most part. Some of the beaches are spectacular!

Posted by
10185 posts

For sand you have to go west to the beaches in the Languadoc. The Riviera is mostly rock varying from small pebbles to stones.

Posted by
4684 posts

The South of France is one of the oldest-established seaside holiday regions in the whole of Europe. Your chances of finding a decent beach that is "not touristy" are virtually zero.

Posted by
32733 posts

When you find what you are looking for, Shelly, can you please report back here? I've been looking for non touristed places on the Cote d'Azur for decades but haven't found much....

and with sand - let alone white sand - I don't think so.

If you don't mind sharing, there are a couple of nice sandy coves on Cap Ferrat, but there is a fee and you won't be alone.

All the other public beaches in that area are pebbles, very sharp pebbles.

Posted by
32733 posts

This thread is a twin - there is another identical one running around and the only way to tell which is which is that this one has a small freckle on her right wrist.

There are answers in both threads.