French coast and islands off the beaten path.
Less-touristed coastal towns and islands in France, for travelers seeking fewer crowds but all the beauty.
Collioure's waterfront drew artists before it was voted France's favourite village in 2024, and that pull toward the overlooked is what runs through all 85 picks here. From Bastia's Genoese harbour on Cap Corse to the Aristide Maillol memorial on the jetty at Banyuls-sur-Mer, and inland to Corte's citadel-turned-museum, the French coast rewards the traveler willing to move past the obvious stops — Haute-Corse, Pyrénées-Orientales, and Pas-de-Calais included.
Bastia
Corsica's principal port and commercial hub, Bastia sits at the base of Cap Corse on the island's northeast coast, where a walkable harbour front, small fort…
Collioure
A Mediterranean fishing village on the French Catalan coast where the last ridges of the Pyrenees meet the sea, Collioure has long drawn artists to its water…
Clermont-l'Hérault
A modest wine-country town in the Hérault department of southern France, Clermont-l'Hérault sits alongside the Lergue and Salagou rivers and carries a café a…
Banyuls-sur-Mer
Banyuls-sur-Mer gives its name to the surrounding wine region and sits on a bay at the southern end of France's Mediterranean coast, making it the country's…
Calvi
This small Corsican town on the northwest coast with a waterfront setting, a café and restaurant scene that outpaces the town's size, and scenic viewpoints a…
Lodève
This small town in the Hérault department of southern France's Occitania region, Lodève sits at the confluence of several rivers and offers a compact central…
Corte
Corte served as the capital of independent Corsica under Pascal Paoli between 1755 and 1769, and the town still carries that history at its centre — the cita…
Neuville-sous-Montreuil
The Chartreuse Notre-Dame-des-Prés, a Carthusian monastery founded in 1325 and the largest preserved Carthusian monastery in France, sits in this small villa…
Wimereux
Seafront resort town on the Opal Coast in Pas-de-Calais, Wimereux sits where the river of the same name meets the English Channel, just north of Boulogne-sur…
Nonza
Small Corsican hillside village of stone and pastel houses, crowned by a watchtower, with dramatic mountain ridges behind and the sea close below.
Sète
This Mediterranean port town in southern France's Hérault department, Sète is built across canals between the sea and the Étang de Thau lagoon, climbing up t…
Douarnenez
This photogenic port town on Douarnenez Bay in Brittany, long famous for sardine fishing and canning, with a walkable centre and a food-and-drink scene to ma…
Ascain
A modest Basque town in the French Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Ascain sits on the Nivelle river at the foot of La Rhune — the last peak of the Pyrenees before the…
Saint-Florent
A former fishing port on the Gulf of Saint-Florent in Haute-Corse, this small Corsican village now fills its harbour with pleasure boats and its waterfront w…
Lussan
This compact village on a rocky outcrop above the garrigue scrubland of the Gard in southern France, Lussan was added to the Les Plus Beaux Villages de Franc…
Gruissan
A little Mediterranean coastal town in the Aude, southeast of Narbonne, Gruissan sits within the Narbonnaise en Méditerranée regional nature park alongside l…
Le Touquet-Paris-Plage
One of France's most storied seaside resorts, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage sits on the Opal Coast at the mouth of the Canche river in Pas-de-Calais, with a wide be…
Talmont-sur-Gironde
Founded in 1284 by Edward I of England, Duke of Aquitaine, this tiny hamlet on a promontory above the Gironde estuary in Charente-Maritime holds the 12th-cen…
Saint-Martin-de-Re
This waterfront village on the Île de Ré, off the Charente-Maritime coast near La Rochelle, Saint-Martin-de-Ré is home to Vauban's 17th-century fortification…
Bidart
A small Basque Atlantic-coast town in southwestern France, Bidart stretches along several kilometres of shoreline where heavily folded cliffs drop down to be…
Ambleteuse
This compact coastal village on the Opal Coast in northern France's Pas-de-Calais, Ambleteuse sits at the mouth of the Slack river where, on clear days, the…
Saint-Jean-de-Luz
A little beach resort on the Bay of Biscay in France's Basque Country, Saint-Jean-de-Luz sits at the mouth of the River Nivelle near the Spanish border, with…
Elne
Once the first capital of the historical province of Roussillon before Perpignan took that role, Elne is a small town in southern France's Pyrénées-Orientale…
Leucate
A small Mediterranean coastal town in the Aude, Leucate sits between the sea and the Étang de Leucate lagoon, with a café and restaurant scene that punches a…
Port-Lesney
A small village on the banks of the Loue river in the Jura, Port-Lesney draws visitors with a five-star château hotel, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and a r…
La Condamine
La Condamine is Monaco's commercial ward, running along Port Hercules between the old rock of Monaco-Ville to the west and Monte-Carlo to the east.
Tréguier
Small port town on the Breton coast in Côtes-d'Armor, Tréguier has a café and restaurant scene that punches above its size, with waterfront access and a hist…
Cerbère
Pocket-sized French village where the Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean, Cerbère sits at the southernmost seaside point of mainland France and serves as a key…
Urrugne
This tiny Basque Country town on France's Atlantic coast, Urrugne pairs a handsome half-timbered town hall with flower-box balconies, a compact café scene, a…
Loupian
This rural coastal village in the Hérault département of southern France, Loupian sits on the edge of the Étang de Thau lagoon, within three overlapping Natu…
Frontignan
Frontignan, a coastal town in the Hérault department of southern France, is the home of Muscat de Frontignan, an AOC sweet wine made solely from the Muscat g…
Eu
Small Normandy town where a grand French château with formal clipped gardens and slate mansard roofs anchors a compact riverside centre close to the Channel…
Mers-les-Bains
A small seaside resort on the Somme coast, Mers-les-Bains is known for its Belle Époque seafront villas — a listed quarter that earned the town second place…
Pietraserena
A tiny Corsican hamlet of weathered stone houses and a square church tower, where a quiet road winds through an upland village that feels genuinely rooted in…
San-Martino-di-Lota
A stone-built Corsican village spread across terraced hillsides above dense maquis, with a prominent church tower, sweeping mountain backdrops, and coastal p…
Cabourg
Marcel Proust's favoured retreat on the Normandy coast, Cabourg is a Belle Époque seaside town on the Côte Fleurie where the river Dives meets the English Ch…
Luri
This compact Corsican village on the Cap Corse peninsula holds an unusual number of churches for its size, with the mountains close behind and the sea at its…
Venzolasca
A hilltop Corsican village of grey-stone houses crowned by a tall church tower, with open sea views stretching to a distant island silhouette and nearby vine…
Bagnols-sur-Cèze
Wine-country town in the Gard department of southern France, set on the Cèze river with a walkable centre full of cafés and restaurants.
Castelnou
A compact village in the Aspres region of Pyrénées-Orientales, Castelnou sits among vineyards and Mediterranean terrain between the Têt and Tech river valleys.
Le Grau-du-Roi
The only commune in the Gard department with a Mediterranean coastline, Le Grau-du-Roi is a small southern French town with a real café and restaurant scene,…
Corbère
A rural village in the Aspres region of Pyrénées-Orientales, southern France, set between the Têt and Tech river valleys in Mediterranean mountain terrain, w…
Mauguio
This Mediterranean-climate town in the Hérault with a compact centre of cafés and restaurants, Mauguio sits in the heart of Languedoc wine country and extend…
Occhiatana
A compact stone-built Corsican hamlet in the Balagne hills, its orange-roofed houses and tall church tower rising above flowering olive trees, with upland wa…
Mont-de-Marsan
Founded in the Middle Ages at the confluence of three rivers on the Vézelay route of the Camino de Santiago, Mont-de-Marsan is the prefecture of the Landes d…
Barfleur
Modest fishing village on the Normandy coast in Manche, Barfleur holds membership in the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France association and was one of the bus…
Soorts-Hossegor
This small Atlantic resort town in the Landes department of southwestern France, Hossegor is built around surfing: its beach break, including the wave known…
Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer is a sub-prefecture town in Pas-de-Calais where the canalised river Aa begins its course toward the North Sea, giving the centre a waterside chara…
La Roque-sur-Cèze
A modest hamlet on the Cèze river in southern France's Gard department, La Roque-sur-Cèze holds membership in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and sits with…
Le Perthus
Mountain border village in the Pyrénées-Orientales where France meets the Iberian Peninsula, Le Perthus sits in the Pyrenees along the historic Roussillon re…
Île-aux-Moines
A sandy bay lined with blue-and-white beach huts, windsurfers on calm water, and a grand white villa behind stone walls — this Breton island village in the G…
Pignan
A pocket-sized town in the Hérault department of southern France's Occitanie region, Pignan sits in Mediterranean wine country with a central core of cafés a…
Le Barcarès
A tiny Mediterranean coastal town in the Pyrénées-Orientales, Le Barcarès sits on the shore of the Salses-Leucate lagoon complex — a protected natural area t…
Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie
Pottery has shaped this small village in southern France's Gard department for centuries, and today more than twenty ceramic workshops and sculptors line its…
Morsiglia
This compact Corsican hamlet on the Cap Corse peninsula sits at the water's edge with vineyards close by and an unusual number of churches for a settlement o…
Étaples
Fishing and leisure port on the Canche river in northern France's Pas-de-Calais, Étaples has a café and restaurant scene that punches above its size and sits…
Ile-d'Aix
This small Atlantic island commune off the Charente-Maritime coast draws summer day-trippers to a heritage-dense streetscape, with listed buildings concentra…
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
Two Vauban watchtowers — on the islets of Tatihou and La Hougue — earned this pocket-sized Normandy fishing village a place on the UNESCO World Heritage list…
Trégastel
Tiny seaside resort on Brittany's Pink Granite Coast, Trégastel sits right on the water between Perros-Guirec and Pleumeur-Bodou, with scenic viewpoints alon…
Villerouge-Termenès
This small hamlet in the Corbières massif of southern France's Aude department, Villerouge-Termenès sits in limestone hill country between the Massif Central…
Auvillar
A member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France since 1994, this compact village on the Garonne in Tarn-et-Garonne is also a stop on the Santiago de Compostela…
Fitou
Fitou, a small village on the Mediterranean coast of southern France's Aude department, lends its name to one of the region's oldest AOC red wines, produced…
Bidarray
A small village in the French Basque Country where the Nive river draws visitors for rafting and hiking in the surrounding Pyrenean terrain.
Paraza
A pocket-sized hamlet in the Minervois wine country of southern France's Aude department, sitting alongside the Canal du Midi and the Aude river.
Valognes
From the Middle Ages through the 18th century, Valognes served as the administrative capital of the Cotentin peninsula, and the concentration of aristocratic…
Beaucaire
This heritage-dense small town on the Rhône in southern France's Gard department, Beaucaire has a walkable centre with many listed buildings, a good spread o…
Sauve
A small village in the Gard department of southern France, set on the Vidourle river amid Mediterranean vineyards, with a café and restaurant scene that punc…
Uchaud
A compact town in the southern Gard, within the Nîmes agglomeration, set in Mediterranean wine-growing country with vineyards in the surrounding area.
Collias
This compact village in the Gard department of southern France, Collias sits on the River Gard within the Gorges du Gardon, with mountain views and a Mediter…
Liouc
Tiny stone-house hamlet in southern France's Gard, set among wooded hills and vineyard-covered plains, with a low ridge of mountains on the horizon and the V…
Souvignargues
Little village in the southern Gard, near Nîmes, set in Mediterranean wine country and drained by several small streams.
Olmeto
This compact stone village on a densely forested Corsican hillside, Olmeto rises above olive-covered slopes with the upland interior behind it and the Valinc…
Saint-Cyprien
A Mediterranean coastal town in the Pyrénées-Orientales, Saint-Cyprien holds the third-largest marina in France and sits within the historic Roussillon regio…
Cloucarnac
Carnac, on the south coast of Brittany, is defined by its Neolithic menhir alignments — one of the most extensive collections of standing stones in the world…
Salinelles
A small wine-country hamlet in the southern Gard, Salinelles sits along the Vidourle river in a Mediterranean landscape of protected natural areas, including…
Savoyeux
Tiny riverside hamlet in eastern France's Haute-Saône, Savoyeux offers a calm inland marina where motorboats and barges moor against still water, backed by l…
Uzès
Uzès, a tiny town in the Gard department of southern France's Occitanie region, carries the historic title of "premier duché de France" — a precedence grante…
Saint-Martin-Boulogne
A small town on the edge of Boulogne-sur-Mer in Pas-de-Calais, Saint-Martin-Boulogne has a notably dense café and restaurant scene for its size, several hist…
Île-de-Sein
A little Breton island in the Atlantic off Finistère, Île-de-Sein sits eight kilometres from the Pointe du Raz, separated from the mainland by the Raz de Sei…
Berck
This seaside resort town on the Opal Coast in northern France's Pas-de-Calais, Berck sits behind a broad sandy beach stretching several kilometres along the…
Deaux
Little stone village in southern France's Gard, with a clock-towered church rising above limestone houses, cypress trees, and Mediterranean scrub, set amid t…
Gaillac
Gaillac wine has given this small Tarn town its identity for centuries, with vineyards spreading across the surrounding countryside and the River Tarn runnin…
Argelès-sur-Mer
A Mediterranean coastal town in the Pyrénées-Orientales, Argelès-sur-Mer sits directly on the water with a café and restaurant scene that punches above its s…
Cavillargues
A modest village in the Gard department of southern France, Cavillargues sits alongside the Auzigue river amid Mediterranean vineyard country, with mountain…
Saint-Palais-sur-Mer
A modest Atlantic seaside town on France's Côte de Beauté, just west of Royan in Charente-Maritime, Saint-Palais-sur-Mer developed as a resort in the late 19…