Best Naturist beaches in the south of France

There you are, minding your own business and all of a sudden, wham! You are surrounded by naked people. Sound like a dream come true? Or your worst nightmare when your six-year- old pipes up. “What are they daddy?” and points a finger at a pair of sagging breasts.

It all depends on your perspective and preferences of course. Some people are very comfortable being surrounded by naked people and others extremely uncomfortable. The thing about French beaches is, first of all, they are all topless, so the sagging breasts could appear on any one of them. Some beaches on the other hand are “clothing-optional” which means you can wear clothes if you wish, but you don’t have to, and most people on these beaches are likely to be naked. You feel rather out of place if you are wearing clothes as well, so be warned. It’s no big deal in France and the warning signs to help those of us with a more sensitive nature are about as well-placed as French parking meters. They are easy to miss. This sign at the top of the hub is a typical example.

So, this is a guide as to where to find or avoid the naturist beaches on the French Riviera. There is no way I can cover them all, but I will try to point out as many as possible that are close to popular destinations. Some of them have something worth saying about, others are just a listing because when all’s said and done, a nudist beach is a nudist beach. Some of the larger towns have several beaches or parts of larger beaches. So here are either a list of destinations or places to avoid:

ST TROPEZ

• Plage de Pampelonne. This beach is several kilometers long, but the nudist section is restricted to the southern end of the beach.

• Tahiti beach. Probably the most up-market clothing-optional beach on the coast and the best chance of bumping into ( not literally unless you are very lucky) a naked celeb is here.
• Plage de Lamoutte

• Cap Tailla
• Plage de Gigaro

CANNES

• Plage de la Batterie

GOLFE JUAN

• Plage de la Batteries.

CAP FERRAT

• Saint Jean.

BORNES LES MIMOSAS

• Plage Pélegrin, near the harbor at Bornes.

CARQUEIRANNE

• Plage du Bau-Rouge: Nudist on the rocks.

CAP NEGRE

CAP SICIE

• Malpasset Saint-Melon.

CAVALAIRE-SUR-MER

West of the beach Bonporteau, up to Pointe de Nasque.

ESTEREL

• Cap de Dramont.

• Plage de Trayas.

• Plage de la Petite-Vaquette.

NICE

There are several sections of the Nice beach that are nudist:

• Between Pointe des Sans-Cullotes and the rocks near the harbor station.
• Pointe de la Cuisse.

FREJUS

• Plage des Esclamandes (only a short stretch of the main beach)
• Plage de Venus

There are dozens more smaller beaches, but these ones are all close to the usual tourist spots.

Last but definitely not least is Cap d’Adge, the “Naked City.” Not just a nudist beach, but an entire nudist village. This is not “clothing optional, this is “clothing-forbidden.” They have nearly two miles of beach and an entire town devoted to naturism. They have a website located here: