Marseille is a well-populated industrial city making its beaches busy so people often take a shuttle boat trip to the usually less crowded Frioul Islands: Maison des Pilotes and St Estève Calanque are sandy beaches, while Havre de Morgiret and Debarcardere are more rocky.
Back on the mainland, explore the creeks towards Cassis at Calanque d'En-Vau, which is not very accessible, so be prepared for a walk, and at Calanque de Figuerolles, La Ciotat, which has a pebble beach and some rock formations.
Moving eastwards, the Îles d'Hyères are a collection of small islands off the Var coast, one of which, Île de Porquerolles, provides pine-fringed, white sand beaches. The island is only 15 minutes by ferry from the mainland. One of the island's beaches, Plage de Notre Dame, is not too busy. Other beaches on the island are Plage d'Argent and Plage de la Courtacle.
L'Elephant beach at Le Lavandou is only accessible by sea or by scrambling across rocks, which means it's usually quiet. Le Lavandou provides another 12 miles of long sandy beaches.
Further eastwardsis St-Tropez, the epitome of Cote d'Azur beach life. Plage Tahiti was made famous by Brigitte Bardot with its sandy beach being the backdrop for the 1956 film "And God Created Woman." There's topless and nude sunbathing here. Plage Port Grimaud offers a long beach of golden sand. Three miles north from St-Tropez is the Pampelonne Beach at Ramatuelle, so long it is split into sections, one of which is a public nude beach.
Further north are the long sandy beaches at St-Aygulf and Fréjus and Plage d'Agay at St. Raphaël offers more small creeks to explore and accessible sandy beaches.
Miles of white sandy beaches at Cannes and the celebrity spotting in Nice are the major attractions in Alpes-Maritimes. For less hustle and bustle, St Honorat on the Îles de Lérins can be reached by ferry from Cannes.
Between Cannes and Nice is Antibes, playground of the rich and famous. The beach at La Garoupe at Cap d'Antibes, with its rocky creeks and sandy beaches, can get crowded in the summer. Also in the Gulf of St. Tropez at Antibes is a huge beach at Juan-les-Pins.
Villefranche-sur-Mer boasts white sand beaches, while Monte Carlo beach, which is actually in France on the Monaco border, has had its sand imported, but Frommers notes it's still a hit with the celebs.
