South of France- help! Does my dream destination exist?

[SLAW70s]

Hello everyone, we recently had an amazing holiday on the west coast of France and are looking to recreate the experience further south but have never been to the south of France.

We splashed out £3k on a beachfront cottage with little pool as it was a big anniversary so am now obsessed with seeing and hearing the sea from my bedroom!

Our wish list:
Waterfront (essential)
Ability to cycle (flat, easy safe route) from the door to local shops and restaurants
Beautiful scenery
Not glitzy/ glam / mega expensive location
Prefer rustic village charm/ small town feel
Beautiful coastal scenery
Villa/ cottage/house/ gite ( not camping or apartment block)
Dds will be 17&19 so somewhere without much/any nightlife (it’s a chill out holiday- they can do that with their friends- I don’t want to be up late worrying about them!)
Budget £3k for a week max in school summer holidays ( I’m looking for waterfront location not luxury)

Can anyone recommend a stretch of coastline that might fit the bill, to help me narrow my search? I know I’m asking for a lot!

Tia :)

I'm just watching Rick Stein Secret France, it night help with your homework.

Not South of France but Isle d’Oleron very cycle friendly. Loads of cycle paths.

Martigues is not at all what you'd described in your OP ... you do know there's a massive oil refinery next door don't you? And it's a port ...

Personally, I'd head to Collioure/Port Vendres rather than the Cote d'Azur. It's still busy, but nowhere near as packed and crazy at the CdA in summer. Collioure has those rocky areas by the water you say you want and it has a wonderful market - I have a salad bowl I bought there years ago and it's still as good as new.

As a contrast week how about heading to Provence? Nimes, Orange, Avignon, some classic Provencal villages like L'Isle sur la Sorgue, Pernes les Fontaines, the lavender fields at the Abbaye de Senanque.

Hi Zafferana. Thanks for your post. Actually, the place we’ve reserved is near La Couronne so 20 minutes south of Martigue. I must admit, we’ve chosen because it is absolutely waterfront (albeit a sandy bay) and has a little pool. I know it’s not the best area but the immediate beach vicinity looks nice enough. Perhaps I’ve been a bit hasty booking it but the property further east was so much more expensive and we couldn’t find cheap flights west of Montpelier.

I did look extensively at the Colliour area but I couldn’t find a property in budget right on the waterfront with outside space without heading into Spain and the flights were much more expensive.

My plan is to just relax and swim for the first week and explore the second week. Maybe just have a day trip to Cassis.

We’ve booked a week in a village house on the edge of Sanary Sur Mer for week 2. We plan to have a detour/ mini tour up into the alpilles on changeover day before heading back to the south.

Thanks so much for the advice!

Re beaches it really depends on the individual.

I am not a fan of huge deep sandy beaches, I much prefer little coves, places with quite shallow depth I e close to sea and amenities or with coves, caves and rock pools.

I appreciated the beach at St maxims but much preferred smaller beaches like Paloma beach or ville France sur met or other little cosy beaches..

Op for future reference antibes is a great spot with many cosy interesting beaches to explore around the town and cap d antibes.

I vaguely remember menton, the area is sensational, so much to explore, so much character. The only tacky glitz comes from the huge plastic boats in the bays.. The towns are beautiful.. Which is why the tacky boats are there.

Martigues is interesting, not much of a tourist destination. Still feels like a real lived in place, has long had a communist town hall due to the industries nearby. There’s a very nice beach near there, pm me for details if you like. You could drive over to the carmargue and do some bird watching or visit Arles. Cassis does not close during the summer as someone said, but it’s likely to be v v busy and hard to park. Still a lovely place. Access to the calanques can close in high summer due to fire risk.