Cruise Ship Tours to Coastal France & Iberian Peninsula - The Atlantic coast, The Mediterranean coast Travel Videos HD, World Travel Guide http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=World1Tube What is the French seaside like? What are the seashores and beaches like? Where are the best beaches in France? These are questions that tourists often ask; but with over 2000 miles of coastline, continental France (i.e., excluding Corsica) has plenty of coastline and beaches of different sorts to satisfy the millions of tourists and holidaymakers who flock to them each summer. But for the foreign visitor, a holiday on the French coast can sometimes be a disappointment if the resort or region chosen has the wrong kind of seaside or seashore. The map opposite divides the French coast very schematically into two types: in pink, coasts that are predominantly rocky, often with cliffs; in yellow, the flatter areas of coastline, where there are plenty of long sandy beaches. The North coast ------------------------ The extreme north coast of France, from Belgium to Calais, borders on the North Sea, and is characterised by broad sandy beaches and sand dunes. Beyond Calais - reflecting the English coast opposite - the Channel coast round and south of Cap Gris Nez has chalk cliffs, with small harbours and beaches of shingle or sand. The cliffs give way to a flat coastline with beaches and estuarine shores in Picardy, round the mouth of the River Somme. The resort of Le Touquet is famous for its sand dunes. In the north of Normandy, the chalk cliffs return, culminating in the famous cliffs of Etretat, the highest in France. The small seaside resorts, tucked into creeks, were once very popular with Parisians. Beyond the mouth of the Seine, the Normandy coast is generally a mix of broad sandy beaches with, here and there, low cliffs and pebbly beaches. This mixed shoreline, the site of the Second World War Normandy landings, carries round and up the Cotentin peninsula. The northern end of Cotentin is marked by another rocky area, with granite cliffs and sandy beaches, rather like the Channel Islands which are close by. At the western base of the Cotentin peninsula, Normandy becomes Brittany, and after the flat shores surrounding the Bay of Mont Saint Michel, the coastline is then very rugged and rocky right round the Breton coast, as far as the department of Morbihan, in the south. The variety of the rocky north Breton coast is reflected in the names of sections of this coast; the Jade Coast, the Emerald Coast, the Pink Granite coast (sounds better in French!), and the Wild Coast. But along with the rocks and cliffs, this coastline, like that of North Cornwall, offers a wealth of sandy coves and beaches. Click here a carefully selected choice of hotels on the coast of Brittany. The Atlantic coast ============= Southwards from the mouth of the Loire, from Vendée, through Charentes and as far as the Gironde, the Atlantic coast is largely made up of long sandy beaches; coastal towns and villages, such as La Rochelle, Les Sables d'Olonne and Rochefort, have tended to spread along behind the shoreline, but in many parts, the beaches are backed by a band of pine forests, and can be remarkably uncrowded even in summer. The Mediterranean coast ======================= The south coast of France is conveniently divided into two sections, west of the Rhone (Languedoc), and east of the Rhone (Provence - Riviera). Languedoc offers mile upon mile of sandy seashores - though the Mediterranean being non-tidal, these sandy beaches are not generally as broad as those of the Atlantic coast. On the other hand, the water is usually warmer. The Languedoc coast is a popular tourist destination. Around the Rhone delta, between the Camargue and Marseilles, the coast is not particularly touristy; with the proximity of shipping ports - Fos and Marseilles, and the water coming from the River Rhone, this is not the best part of the French coast. The Camargue itself has long beaches, not always very accessible as this is a protected wetland area. The main tourist beaches, with their long expanses of sand, lie between the western end of the Rhone delta and the start of the Pyrenees, south of Perpignan. At actual resorts, beaches can be busy in summer time; but between the resorts, there is plenty of room for everyone, even at the peak of the holiday season.

• published: 05 Jan 2016
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