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Lakes, reservoirs and rivers: Where are France’s best inland beaches?

Take a look at the map of France's best beaches and the first thing you will notice is that many of them are a long way away from the sea. This is because in France, a 'plage' doesn't always mean the seaside.

Published: 5 June 2023 17:09 CEST

Lakes, reservoirs and rivers: Where are France's best inland beaches?

People are relaxing on the shores of Lake St Ferreol Revel. Photo by ERIC CABANIS / AFP

The Pavillon Bleu (blue flag) designation is a label given to France’s best beaches – those that have passed inspections regarding cleanliness, safety and accessibility.

One thing they are not required to be is by the sea, in fact the Pavillon Bleu website is divided into plages littoral (coastal beaches) and plages (beaches).

France’s ‘blue flag’ beaches. Map: Pavillonbleu.org

The reason for this is the profusion of lake or riverside beaches in France, bringing the seaside experience to people far from the sea.

France is a pretty big country, so a large part of the population live too far away from the coastline to make seaside day-trips feasible. This is where lake and river beaches come in – usually created and/or maintained by local authorities, they create a sandy or pebbly ‘beach’ by the side of a lake, reservoir or river.

Some of these are just a strip of sand, others are far more ambitious with sun loungers and umbrellas, swimming areas with lifeguards, bars, cafés and restaurants, seaside entertainments like arcade games and crazy golf.

Many also run a programme of night-time entertainments such as live music and are popular hangouts for families and young people alike.

So if you hear your French neighbours say they’re ‘going to the lake’ at the weekend, they don’t just mean they’re going to stare at some water.

They’re such a big part of the French social landscape that a lake beach is the setting for the classic French horror/suspense movie L’Inconnu du Lac (Stranger by the lake) – although in our experience most French lake beaches have a little less sex and murder and more in the way of ice cream stalls and sandcastles.

There are thousands of smaller, lesser-known inland beaches, but here are some of the most famous non-seaside beaches in France.

The Verdon river running through its canyon. Photo by MICHEL GANGNE / AFP

Les gorges du Verdon

The Verdon gorge is one of the biggest and most beautiful in Europe – situated in south east France, inland from the Riviera, it is best known as a white-water rafting and extreme sports area.

However, there are multiple beautiful beaches along the River Verdon as is carves its way through the mountains, so those who prefer to chill and soak up the sun are also catered for.

The site can get busy in the summer, and some areas are well known as party hangouts for young people.

French mountaineer Charles Dubouloz takes part in a climbing training session above the Annecy Lake. Photo by JEFF PACHOUD / AFP

Annecy – Haute-Savoie

The huge, beautiful and crystal-clear Lake Annecy has the town of Annecy on one side, while much of the other sides are covered with wide, sandy beaches.

The lake, fed with meltwater from the Alps that you can see towering above it, is perfect for swimming, with diving platforms and life-guards in the summer. There are also water-sports in summer including sailing and kayaking.

Pont d’Arc – Ardèche

Another river beach, this lies along the Gorges de l’Ardèche. The ‘pont’ – a natural bridge created by the river slicing through the rock, is an instantly recognisable tourist attraction, and on both sides of the bridge are wide, sandy beaches.

The river offers sports such as kayaking, while the surrounding mountains are very popular with climbers.

The ‘pont d’Arc’ rock formation over the Ardeche river in the Gorges de l’Ardeche. Photo by PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP

Soustons – Landes

This lake in south west France is nestled among pine forests providing a quiet and peaceful backdrop, although the lake itself has plenty going on including paddle-boarding.

There are also semi-regular ‘sardine parties’ at the lakeside where you can enjoy grilled fish, drinks and music.

Aydat Lake – Puy-De-Dome

In central France, the historic Auvergne region is about as far from the coast as its possible to get – but it is home to stunning scenery of mountains (some of which are actually defunct volcanoes) and lakes.

The Aydat lake is part of the natural park and offers a wide variety of water-sports and fishing in the summer.

The lake shores have beaches plus plenty of bars, cafés and restaurants and activities for children.

. . . and don’t forget the Paris ‘plages’.

If you’re in Paris you don’t need to travel to a beach – for around six weeks in the summer the beach comes to you. City authorities create two city ‘beaches’ – one along the banks of the Seine in the city centre and one by the Bassin de la Villette in northern Paris.

While they don’t actually have sand, there is supervised swimming, deckchairs and umbrellas to help you soak up the sun and a variety of games and activities.

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Travel deals to take advantage of as prices drop ahead of Paris Olympics

After some soaring prices earlier in the year, costs for both accommodation and travel are now back to roughly seasonal norms.

In certain cases, train and plane tickets have fallen well below their summer averages.

As for lodging, the French press has reported that occupancy rates at Paris hotels are “gradually falling” as the event approaches, with many hotels and Airbnbs available.

What’s going on?

Around 15 million people are expected to visit Paris between late July and early September – considerably more than the 6.2 to 6.4 million visitors who came between July and August in 2023 or the roughly 10 million summer visitors Paris saw in pre-pandemic days.

As such, many predicted that prices would skyrocket ahead of the Olympic Games, but there are a few other factors to consider aside from large volumes of tourists.

A survey in March 2024 found that almost half of Parisians planned on leaving the city during the Games period. On top of that, over half (64 percent) of Olympics tickets were sold to French people, many of whom are planning to stay with friends and relatives in the capital and thus have not booked accommodation.

As of late May, almost half of the French ticket holders had not reserved any hotels or Airbnbs during the Olympic period.

Many property owners in the capital also listed their homes on Airbnb with the hopes of earning some extra money during the Games. However, this led to an over-saturation of the market.

French daily Le Monde reported that there were more than 145,000 properties on offer on Airbnb during the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, compared with 65,000 in normal times.

When it comes to hotels, UK online newspaper The Independent reported that hotel occupancy rates are expected to be “between 60 and 70 percent during the Games.”

The deals to look out for

Eurostar

According to reporting by The Independent, Eurostar tickets during the Olympics have declined by 11 percent in the last two weeks alone. The UK online newspaper found that the average Eurostar ticket price had dropped by €30 (or £26).

At the time of writing, The Local found that the cheapest one-way tickets on the day of the Opening Ceremony (July 26th) were €126, dropped to €112 the following day.

For a round trip ticket from July 26th to August 2nd, the lowest price was €169 – around average for the summer holiday period.

Flights

If you are flying from the UK, as of mid-June, Google Flights placed London-Paris flights in the ‘Typical’ price range. The cheapest round-trip tickets were with budget airline Vueling, at €139 for one week (July 26th to August 2nd).

However, flights from other cities in the UK were significantly cheaper, particularly if you are willing to change the dates slightly.

For example, five-day (July 29th to August 2nd) round-trip tickets from Bristol from cost €99 with Easyjet, and one-week (July 27 to August 3) round-trip tickets with Ryanair from Belfast cost €59.

For those flying from the US, prices had dropped significantly for a 10-day trip (July 26th to August 5th) from NYC to Paris, when compared with December 2023.

At the time, tickets were in Google Flights’ seasonal norms with average prices around €821. However, as of mid-June the same round-trip tickets were available for as low as €523.

The flight planning tool also ranked tickets during the Olympic period between LA and Paris as ‘low’ compared to seasonal norms.

Hotels and accommodation

As mentioned above, there were still many hotel options still available in and around Paris as of mid-June.

At the time of writing, Airbnb offered over 1,000 options for the first week of the Games, with options around €150 for an entire apartment for two people in central Paris, and possibilities closer to €230 for a family of four.

When it comes to hotels, many were still above seasonal norms, but prices were lower than initial estimates.

For example, in December the Paris deputy mayor in charge of tourism Frédéric Hocquard had estimated that the average price of one night in a hotel in Paris would be €699 during the Olympic Games, compared with €169 in July 2023, an increase of 314 percent.

At the time of writing websites such as Booking.com and Kayak still had several rooms available for around €200 per night.

Other costs

Those visiting during the Games will also pay a higher price for public transport.

Between July 20th and September 8th, the price of a single ticket – which can be used on the Metro, buses, RER trains or trams – will go up to €4, in contrast to the €2.10 it costs currently, and purchasing a 10 tickets at once (a carnet) will increase from €16.90 to €32 during the Games.

This does not affect residents with a travel pass or monthly card, or people who buy tickets in advance.

Are Olympics tickets still available?

Yes. While many have already secured tickets, there are still opportunities on the official resale platform – full details HERE. Games organisers are also releasing a limited number of new tickets every Thursday on the official ticket platform here.

Meanwhile there are ticket available for the Paralympics via the ticketing website here.

The Olympics/Paralympics website is the only official channel for ticket sales, so you should be extremely cautious about any tickets offered for sale on any other websites or forums.

But should I visit Paris during the Olympics?

If you were hoping for a last-minute Olympics trip then this is very much still on the table.

But if you want to enjoy a more typical tourist visit, you should expect larger than normal crowds and you should be prepared to reserve early. You should also keep in mind that there will be security zones across the city, as many of the matches and events are taking place in central Paris.

Eiffel tower – Be aware that the Tower is close to a Games venue. It will remain open during the Olympics period apart from the day of the Opening Ceremony (July 26th). However between July 18th and July 25th the Tower is in a security zone so you will require a QR code to enter – more info here. From July 27th onwards no QR code will be required for visitors – the Tower will be in a red zone, which has restrictions on vehicles, but which pedestrians can enter freely.

Louvre – During the Olympic Games, the Louvre will remain open to visitors, except for July 25th and 26th. However, all visitors from July 1st to September 8th must book a ticket ahead of time. As for the Tuileries Garden, it will be closed on August 28th and throughout the Games it will be in a security zone, meaning vehicular traffic will be severely limited – although pedestrians can still access it.

You can find more info about Olympics related disruption/changes for the Louvre HERE.

Versailles – The château, as well as the gardens will remain open to the public throughout the Games, with normal visiting hours.

The rest of France

Just because you’re taking a train or a plane to Paris, it doesn’t mean that you have to stay there – the capital is connected to all of France’s major cities – Marseille, Bordeaux, Lyon and more – by high-speed TGV trains, as well as many smaller cities and towns.

Of the millions of people who visit France each year, 80 percent of them visit sites within just 20 percent of the country; largely Paris, the Riviera and certain well-known Alpine towns.

However, there are many other options – here is our guide to off-the-beaten-track places.

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