The calm, elegant coastal town of Beaulieu-sur-Mer has "only" two beaches--Plage des Fourmis and Plage Petite Afrique--but they are beauties. Both beaches are sandy and both have large public portions in addition to private beach-restaurants.
Plage de Fourmis
Even better, both beaches are protected by anti-jellyfish netting in summer. The beaches are centrally located just steps from the town center and each curls around a sheltered cove.
While in Beaulieu, why not sign up for a solar-powered boat tour. This tour takes you through the coastal highlights of Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Eze before gliding around stunning Cap Ferrat.
Plage des Fourmis
Plage des Fourmis is on the western side of the Beaulieu port on the Baie des Fourmis. The fine gravel beach has no shade but a pleasant promenade under the pines runs along the beach.
It's a great family beach as toddlers are safe playing at the edge of the shallow water and older kids will enjoy swimming out to the diving platform offshore. There's a lifeguard on duty during the season but the shallow waters and gradual drop-off pose little danger.
The water quality here is not consistently good. It's cleaner in the mornings.
As for dining, their are two options: La Calanque beach-restaurant (tel 04 93 01 45 00) which offers everything from coffee to full meals and rents a beach chair and umbrella for €16; and Royal Riviera Plage affiliated with the hotel of the same name.
Parking is extremely difficult near the beach. It's best to look for a place in town.
Train access is easy. Plage Fourmis is only 500m from the Beaulieu-sur-Mer train station. Book a train with thetrainline.
Bus access is also easy. Take bus 15 or 607 from Nice to Baie des Fourmis. See more on getting to Beaulieu-sur-Mer.
Hotel Pick
La Reserve *****
Stay in Beaulieu-sur-Mer
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Plage Petite Afrique
This glorious stretch of beach is on the eastern side of the port. Most of the beach is public except for Zelo's Beach which offers fine dining and beach chair rental. The beach is on a protected cove with gravelly sand and there's some shade under the pine trees.
The water quality here has been consistently excellent. (source: baignades.sante.gouv.fr/)
There's ample public parking on the eastern side of the beach which of course fills up rapidly in the summer.
The beach is easily accessible from bus 607 from Nice to the Petite Afrique stop. From the train station, the walk is a little over a kilometer.
See more on getting to Beaulieu-sur-Mer.
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