French Riviera
Coves and pebble beaches between Menton and the Estérel. The sea is warmest from July to September and still swimmable in June and October for anyone used to it. Most spots here are reached on foot from the coastal path or a train station.
- Spots15
- Water in Sep22°
- Free to enter15
Every spot in French Riviera
Typical water temperature in September.
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Calanque d'Anthéor
Calanque, Saint-Raphaël · Dogs not allowed.
Calanque d'Anthéor is a 100 m sand beach directly below the arches of the Anthéor railway viaduct, where about 850 Allied troops came ashore on 15 August 1944.
22°Sep Free -
Coco Beach
Cove, Nice · Diving and jumping from the rocks are banned by the city
Rock ledges east of Nice's port, below the Cap de Nice coastal path, where locals swim off the rocks and call it "the pool".
22°Sep Free -
Île Sainte-Marguerite
Beach, Cannes · Protected site (site classé): any fire is banned, dogs on a lead, stay on marked paths, take your rubbish back to the mainland
The larger Lérins island, 15 minutes by ferry from Cannes, with 22 km of paths through state forest and Sainte-Anne beach five minutes from the landing stage.
23°Sep Free -
Plage d'Agay
Beach, Saint-Raphaël · Dogs not allowed. Part of the bay is private beach concessions.
Plage d'Agay is the main sandy beach of Agay's harbour bay, with the Estérel massif behind it and restaurants and bars along the back.
22°Sep Free -
Plage d'Argent
Beach, Porquerolles · Port-Cros National Park core area: dogs banned from beaches, no fires or smoking outside the village, no camping. Summer visitor numbers are capped, with booked crossings from La Tour Fondue.
Plage d'Argent is a white-sand beach west of Porquerolles village, sheltered from the mistral with pine woods behind it, and the national park itself calls it very busy.
22°Sep Free -
Plage de Gigaro
Beach, La Croix-Valmer · Entrance to the Domaine du Cap Lardier, a protected area managed by Port-Cros National Park. Dogs are banned from La Croix-Valmer's beaches in the daytime.
Gigaro is a sandy family beach at the gate of the Domaine du Cap Lardier, a protected stretch of coast managed by Port-Cros National Park.
22°Sep Free -
Plage de la Garoupe
Beach, Antibes · Part private beach restaurants (Le Rocher, La Petite Garoupe, Keller), part public
A sand beach in a bay on the east side of Cap d'Antibes, rebuilt with a planted promenade above the beach restaurants.
23°Sep Free -
Plage de la Paloma
Cove, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat · Public beach with a private part (Paloma Beach); no dogs
A small gravel beach on the east side of Cap Ferrat, looking across to the cliffs of Beaulieu and Èze, with the Paloma Beach restaurant on part of it since 1948.
22°Sep Free -
Plage de la Petite Afrique
Beach, Beaulieu-sur-Mer · Part private beaches (Baïa Bella, La Javanaise) in season, part public
A 400 m gravel beach under the cliffs on the Monaco side of Beaulieu, shaded by umbrella pines, with a playground and a beach-volley court.
22°Sep Free -
Plage de Pampelonne
Beach, Ramatuelle · Beach clubs along much of the bay. Naturism is authorised on the Gros Vallat and La Mataranne sections. Dogs on a leash only.
Pampelonne is 4.5 km of fine sand where Tahiti Plage opened in 1946 and Club 55 followed in 1955, and beach clubs still line much of the bay.
22°Sep Free -
Plage de Passable
Beach, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat · Public beach with a private part (Plage de Passable, open Easter to end of September); no dogs
A gravel beach on the west side of Cap Ferrat facing across the bay to Villefranche, with its own car park.
22°Sep Free -
Plage des Marinières
Beach, Villefranche-sur-Mer · Part beach restaurants with mattress and parasol hire, part public
Villefranche's largest beach: 700 m of gravel along the bay, with the train station just above its west end.
22°Sep Free -
Plage Mala
Cove, Cap-d'Ail · Non-smoking beach; beach operated under a municipal concession for eight months a year
A cove of fine sand and small round pebbles set in the rocks at the west end of Cap-d'Ail's coastal path, reached on foot by the path or the Mala stairs beside the Belle Époque 'Eden' residence.
22°Sep Free -
Plage Marquet
Beach, Cap-d'Ail · Non-smoking beach
A pebble beach beside Cap-d'Ail port, right on the Monaco border, where the 3.6 km coastal path from Plage Mala ends.
22°Sep Free -
Plage Notre-Dame
Beach, Porquerolles · Port-Cros National Park core area: dogs banned from beaches, no fires or smoking outside the village, no camping. Summer visitor numbers are capped, with booked crossings from La Tour Fondue.
Notre-Dame is a fine-sand beach at the east end of Porquerolles, the farthest from the village, with pine and oak woods right behind the sand.
22°Sep Free
Nothing here for that filter.
Questions about French Riviera
Can you still swim on the French Riviera in October?
Yes. The sea is typically about 20 °C in October from Cap-d'Ail to Porquerolles, and 19 °C at Pampelonne, L'Escalet and Gigaro, after about 22 °C in September. By November it drops to 17 or 18 °C. Lifeguard posts close in September (mid-September at La Garoupe and La Petite Afrique), so an October swim is unsupervised.
Are the beaches on the French Riviera free?
The beaches listed here are public shores with no entry fee. At Pampelonne, La Garoupe, Agay, Passable, La Paloma, Les Marinières and La Petite Afrique, beach clubs rent out part of the sand, and the rest is free to use.
Which Riviera beaches can you reach by train?
Plage des Marinières sits just below Villefranche-sur-Mer station. Plage d'Agay is about 150 m from Agay station, and the Calanque d'Anthéor is about 250 m from the Anthéor-Cap-Roux halt, both on the line between Les Arcs-Draguignan and Nice.
How do you get to the beaches on Porquerolles?
There are no visitor cars on the island. Ferries run from La Tour Fondue on the Giens peninsula to Porquerolles harbour in about 15 minutes. Plage d'Argent is 1.8 km from the harbour, about 35 minutes on foot, and Plage Notre-Dame is 3.2 km, about an hour. The island is in Port-Cros National Park: dogs aren't allowed on the beaches, and visitor numbers are capped in summer.
What is the water quality like on the French Riviera?
Of the 16 places listed here, 11 were classified excellent in the 2025 EEA bathing season and 5 good: Passable, Plage Marquet, Coco Beach, Les Marinières and Plage Notre-Dame.