Best Beaches on the French Riviera

Outside of Nice, you are spoiled for choice for fabulous beaches for every taste, and most are an easy stop on the local train line.

Take the train to:

Get off at Roquebrune for the gorgeous family-oriented pebbly/sandy public beach Plage de la Buse with beachside bar, snack bar, and reasonably-priced restaurant La Cabanon tucked right into the cove.

Get off at Cap d’Ail and take the stairs (100!) next to Eden Palace for paradisiac Mala Plage, a stunningly beautiful cliff-backed setting with a large public beach and 2 luxurious private beaches La Reserve de Mala where you can get waited on hand-and-foot, and Eden Plage which is more laid back and with live music in the afternoons.  Both are very popular with the Monaco crowd, and both have an area where you can have a beach massage with Melissa from MeliMassage.  She is set up at Eden, but you just ask at La Reserve and they will call her to come over, and I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that she gives the best massage I have ever had.

Get off at Eze-sur-mer:  The narrow pebbly Adjuna beach is popular with yachties and has a lively vibe and almost always live music.

Beaulieu-sur-Mer stop: The family-friendly Petite Afrique public beach is nestled in a protected cove and even has a jellyfish net!   Really good for the little ones.

Another great beach is at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, which you can get to from the Beaulieu train stop (then a 30 minute flat scenic walk), or from Nice via the bus #15 which will bring you right into the little town, where the award-winning  Paloma Beach (named after Picasso’s daughter) awaits you.  Voted one of the top 2 beaches on the Riviera by popular vote in the local paper, this beach has coarse sand, a large public area, a water sports concession, and a snack bar, or splurge for the private beach and wonderful high-end restaurant.  Here is a link with some things not to miss after the beach…

Villefranche-sur-Mer  This public beach has views on Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on one side, the picturesque pastel-hued village on the other, and in the middle the super-yachts and cruise ships moored in the bay.  This beach has gentle waves, gravelly sand (so beach shoes are still recommended), and they even have a jellyfish protection net.  Besides the train, you can also get here from Nice or the Beaulieu train station with the bus #15, and I encourage you to make a day of it.

Then continuing down the coast on the other side of Nice…

Sandy beach at Juan-les-PinsGet off at Juan-les-Pins  This is the beach for fine smooth sand! From the train station turn right until you get to the sea (5 minutes), where you have your choice of Saint-Tropez-like private beaches with all the luxury, excess, and prices to match; or lots of spacious public beaches where the smooth sand makes it easy to throw down a towel.  …OR get the best of both at municipal beach Plage Lutetia where you have all the comforts (sun bed, parasol, changing rooms, bathrooms…) for a pittance: just 11€ for a whole day including parasol!  And with the money you save, treat yourself to an awesome beach massage from the roving masseuses for 40 minutes for 45€.

From Juan-les-Pins you can take a scenic walk on the paved path around the windswept Cap d’Antibes peninsula to the fine-sanded public Plage des Ondes, or continue all they way around the point to the high-roller La Garoupe beach near the famous Eden Roc hotel, where Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald used to summer, and where he set Tender is the Night.

Cannes Just 2 minutes out of the train station and you’ll find yourself on the famous Croisette. Right in front of you is a free public beach, and large and sandy one at that (nice change from Nice!), followed by lots of pricey private beaches, delineated by the color of their parasols.  New this year, the city has opened a municipal beach Plage Zamenhof where you have all the comforts (beach chair, parasol, changing rooms, bathrooms…) for a pittance: just 11€ for a half day!  Here are all the details plus some ideas for exploring Cannes apres-beach…

From the Théoule-sur-Mer train station, a short hike down the red-hued cliffs of the Esteral rewards you with the most beautiful wild, secluded, and untouched beaches on the Riviera: the Plage de l’Aiguille was voted the Best Beach on the Riviera in the Nice-Matin.  Bring your snorkel to follow the underwater discovery trail in the crystalline waters.  You can also walk to the end of the cape to discover secret coves and crannies full of marine life.

Get off the train at Saint-Raphael for launching point for the final and most famous beach on the French Riviera (and the hardest to get to): Saint Tropez.  You can take a car but I don’t recommend it.  You can take a direct boat from Nice or take the train to Saint-Raphael and then a much shorter boat ride, and both drop you off to the village.

Most first-time visitors to Saint Tropez are surprised to find that the famous topless beaches of ’70’s Riviera lore are nowhere to be found (plus they’re not really topless…) they’re in Ramatuelle, a 15-minute cab/uber ride away (approx. 20€). The holy grail of famous beaches is Pampelonne, where you can post like an influencer at Le Club 55, drink Champagne like a tech-bro at Byblos Beach, and frolic in the footsteps of Bridget Bardot with nepo-babies and C-listers, all while having the most expensive beach day of your life.

For the ultimate resource on all beaches on the coast, check out Riviera-Beaches by my friend, Jeanne Oliver

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