Opinion Needed: Laid Back Parts of the South of France?

French beaches have much less of an emphasis on beach clubs compared to Italian ones. Beach clubs here in France are fancy by essence; less fancy areas have no beach clubs at all!
If you are looking for good, sandy beaches, they are scarce between Marseille and Nice.
Le Lavandou has a very good one, and is a pleasant and pretty resort town that's not too spread out. For something fancier, the Saint Tropez peninsula has long stretches of sand too - you could look into staying in Ramatuelle, on the hill. In both areas, you'd need a car.
Antibes also has sandy beaches (smaller ones) and is not a resort. If you choose your accommodation carefully you could do without a car - but a car in Provence is helpful anyway. Also, if you do not visit Nice/ the Riviera, it makes less sense to go all the way to Antibes.

If you're looking for tranquil seaside towns regardless of beach quality, your options open a bit. For example, Sanary-sur-Mer is a very cute harbor town (where I happen to be right now, I go regularly) with plenty of bars, restaurants and shops, and a pretty but small beach a 15 minutes' walk from the center of town.

Overall, late June should be perfect: no crowds, swimmable water temperature (usually), fair weather (usually).

Great information - appreciate it. I will check out the different areas you are suggesting! In terms of beaches doesn’t need to be sandy per se…. rocky beaches are ok too. Thanks again -

Go west. The Herault is laid back, haven't run across beach clubs, has sand beaches and reasonably priced restaurants that rent beach chairs for the day or half day. Check for "paillotes" meaning the beach restaurants, and the rental chairs/lounges are called "transats." One example of many is La Plage des Lézards in Palavas les flots. A barefoot waiter will bring your meal to your transat.

But if you want striking beauty with the mountains plunging into the sea, the Riviera is the place to go.

Dear Andrew,
We just returned from our 2wks.in South of France. We had 2 teenagers, 4 adults. We stayed in apartment in Nice and day tripped using public transport. We checked out beach in Antibes.There are several nice beaches in Antibes. Plage de la Gravette- Very sandy beach. Changing area with bathrooms. We brought blankets to put our stuff on. There were vendors sellling beach blankets,etc. No need to rent a chair if you're ok with lying on sand. Water was very clear. There were large rocks, pebbles in water you may want water shoes. Pretty shallow for a distance. Antibes is a neat town with Picasso museum and antiques market. In Nice, there are plenty of public areas to stay on beach. Very large rocks, pebbles no sand beach. Plenty of beach goers lying right on pebbles with towels. Can't speak to renting lounger, we walked out to dip our toes in. So many other things to do in Nice we did not stay on the beach there. Another beach spot is on the beautiful Villefranche-sur-mer. Such a beautiful place to explore.
Hope this helps,
Lynn

In a general sense, I would push through to a secondary destination upon arriving CDG and visit Paris at the end of my vacation time. CDG is close by making you return less susceptible to unknown disruptions and potential misconnects.

The south of France is a big area. Western Provence, the region around Avignon, the transportation hub, could easily consume 2 weeks just visiting the highlights. For stays of just a few days, staying in Avignon allows use of public transportation to visit St Rémy, Ile sur la Sorgue, Arles, les Baux de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, even Nîme, Pont du Gard, Uzès, Aigues Mortes and le Grau du Roi. With a car, you can stay anywhere and add destination such as Gordes, Rouissillon, and many others.

The Côte d´Azur also has many options, most of which will not require a car. Eze is not near the beach (unless you are referring to the small community of Eze sur mer), and is not as easy to visit without a car. I cannot comment on the price of beach chairs on the Côte d´Azur, but Italy just changed the way it grants access to beaches. Operators will no longer be guaranteed to maintain their business as they once did because licenses will be given to the highest bidder. Expect changes and, logically, price increases.

Unless you have 2 to 3 weeks to spend in France, consider Paris and probably only one other location, Western Provence or the Côte d´Azur.

Many Antibes beaches were sandy and open to the public and it's easy to get to the Nice Airport. You can also walk along the ramparts or arrange to go out in a boat.

In Provence, we stayed in Arles and walked around the Roman structures. It was relaxed and in a fairly small walkable area.

We stayed in Eygalières in Provence. Rented a villa/ home. Eygalières very laid back town. Day tripped to Les Baux, St. Remy, The Camargue, Avignon, Arles, Aix En Provence (Aix is not laid back). So many markets in Provence, you make it as laid back as you'd like. (Check out Rick Steves audio tour guides in his App.) Our house had a pool so after exploring we could chill out at home around the pool. Several Michelin star restaurants in Eygalières or just eat fresh foods purchased at the markets. Can't go wrong either way.
-Lynn

Real great suggestions here. Looking into them all this week. We are leaning towards the mountain into the sea areas vs. the west as you mentioned as we are from to the east coast of the US and don’t have the mountains where we live. Thanks again for all the suggestions!

Tocard- very interesting news about the Italian beaches. On the note of ending in Paris vs beginning there…. We realized that our family likes to end our trips outside of big cities. Our last 2 trips were great but both ended in large cities and for some reason we were wishing we were back on the beach or countryside. I do agree with you on the increase chance of trip disruptions though. Thanks again for the advice

In the Cote d'Azur, there are some beaches where the price goes to 50E+. The most expensive ones are those near or associated with the exclusive resorts, in Cap Ferrat, Ramatuelle/St. Tropez and few places like Mala Plage (100E in July) and in Cannes, Most start from 16 to 35Eish for beach clubs, and the newish public operated ones in Juan Les Pins are a bargain at 11E. The vibe in most areas is pretty laid back in the South of France, with a couple of partying exceptions.

There are a number between Ramatuelle and Hyeres (Le Lavandou was cited earlier) that are is less densely populated areas -- and others in the Var as well.

How about Hyeres Thalassa on the Giens peninsula near Toulon. It was beautiful but very laid back when I visited years ago and was family oriented. There are many hotels to choose from. The Golden Isles can be seen from the beaches of this area. There are salt marshes near and plenty of activities. You will need a car. Not a place many Americans know about.