Beaches in France

Three coasts with almost nothing in common: an Atlantic shore of dunes and swell, a Channel shore of tide and Belle Époque resorts, and a Mediterranean shore of pebble, calanque and beach club. France is where the modern seaside was invented twice — first as a health cure at Deauville and Biarritz, then as a summer at Saint-Tropez — and both inventions are still standing and still trading. Access is public along the whole shore by law, including the strip in front of private property, which matters most on the Riviera where concessions occupy much of the frontage; those concessions are licensed and charged, with free public sections between them, and on Pampelonne every structure must be dismantled each winter. Corsica belongs to none of the three, with the clearest water and the emptiest sand in the country. Lifeguard cover is seasonal and the flag system is used strictly — on the Atlantic coast, where the rip currents are among the most dangerous in Europe, swimming outside patrolled hours is genuinely risky rather than merely unsupervised. Practically: patrols run June to September, the whole country holidays in August, and the Mediterranean sea stays swimmable into October while the Atlantic and the Channel do not.

They spread across six beach worlds, the largest group being two beach-club shores. Together they account for 22 km of shore. · computed from the 8 records below