Juan Les Pins/Antibes.. Skegness or scenic?

[WestYorkshireGirl]

Anyone been to this area of France - is it built up, busy and tacky? Looking for sandy beaches, sunshine and a bit of French charm and hustle and bustle....

We stay at a relatives house about 40 mins inland from juan les pins and have been there and to Antibes a few times.

Antibes has a lovely old town and great walks along the harbours and the harbour wall. It also has horrendously expensive parking though lol. Lovely beach reached by walking through a big old gate in a wall at the bottom of the old town area. Clean, safe and lifeguards along with first aid and showers.

Juan les pins reminded me a little of any touristy seaside towns, lots of souvenir shops and cafes along the main road. Beach was ok but a thin strip, rubbish and hawkers. Some of the restaurants have private beach areas which looked nice though.

Nice is good for a day trip, flower market, castle/fort ruins on top of the hill and the promenade des anglais for walks, pebble beach though.

There are some lovely places to stay nearby if you've got a car. If I had to pick out of your two I'd go for Antibes.

Me and dh also stayed in Eze just along the coast with its famous old town and ten minutes to Monaco/Monte Carlo which was a fun evening out.

This place was good too and not far from where you mention

www.labyfolies.com

Agree with pervious poster, definitely not Skegness you should see the yachts!!!!!
I recommend it and also eze as previous poster suggests

I quite fancy going to this part of France this year too. Can anyone recommend any good hotels with swimming pools? Or any camp sites with good cabin/mobile home accommodation?

Thanks for the replies - confirmed what I thought from looking at the pictures! Still fancy the area but might look at staying more inland.

Love Antibes. Don't know Juan les Pines. Loathe Cannes. DH likes St Tropez but he wasn't paying.

There's a town a bit inland which has a big art community.. Touristy but nice, trying to remember the name...

I love Antibes, it just has a lovely feel. The beach by the old gate isn't a vast sandy beach by any means & gets fairly crowded but is still pleasant. The catering van does a mean salad nicoise. We haven't stayed in Antibes but we stay further along the coast. I love that part of France, so much to see and do. You can stay anywhere along the coast and there is plentiful public transport to visit Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo, Eze, St Paul de Vence, catch a boat to Ile st marguerite etc etc! Further inland you would need to a car I think.

Valbonne is lovely too, although inland. Lovely market one day a week and nice restaurants in the town square.

Lovely lakes inland for swimming etc.

Can you guess I want to go back soon ...

Antibes is lovely, esp the Old Town. Good restaurants, a great market, lots to do. You can walk to Juan Les Pins in about half an hour. Frequent trains to Nice and Cannes and beyond. Buses to villages inland. Definitely recommend!