Recommendations for idyllic French town by the sea

[MrsToadflax]

Can anyone recommend a really pretty French town on the coast? We'd like somewhere with great architecture, some independent shops, perhaps a promenade and definitely a lovely patisserie and boulangerie etc. We will hire a car so can drive to local attractions. Would like somewhere interesting enough to keep DC (under 9) occupied, but not too built up.

St Briac sur mer. Very small but beautiful, lovely beaches, great restaurants, very arty and near St Malo, Dinard and Dinan. Not many British tourists but big with French holidaymakers.

For kids it’s mostly rock pooling but there’s a crazy golf in the town and an aquarium and bowling not far. Also not far to Cobac park.

Quimper (south brittany) is not on the coast but is a) near lots of lovely beaches and b) beautiful

wiki entry

Menton is lovely!

We are in il de re at the moment- it’s beautiful. Also benodet is lovely.

I like St Jean des Monts, lovely prom and you can hire those bikes that seat 3 across. Beautiful, gently sloping beach.
Near enough to Les Sables for the zoo, also a trip onto Normoutier, there's some sort of place that does an evening light show as well but can't remember the name. Local tourist information is very good down there though.
It's an easy drive down from the western ports too.

Collioure mentioned by a pp is a good shout. I'd then fit in a visit to Montpellier.

How much warmer is it in those places than the south of England? I’m fed up of summer holidays sat in my coat on the beach.

St tropez!

Cassis (and many others already mentioned on this thread).

Deauville, though may be expensive. Arcachon is small and lovely, you can have a day trip into Bordeaux from there.

Another who came on to suggest Ile De Ré. So pretty, and the cycle tracks are fabulous.

Saint-Georges-de-Didonne
Dinard

Cassis is beautiful. I loved it there. Lots of other beautiful towns nearby too.

Morlaix in Brittany has a beautiful port you can walk all around it about 1 1/2 k. There is a pub half way around with terrace. Plenty of little gift shops, cafes, home made ice cream shops, restaurants and some old medieval architecture. Lovely beeches 20 mins away with Diving platform on sand for when high tide, lifeguards, many cafes and restaurants, canoe hire etc.mini golf course, swimming pool complex. Very family oriented and close to a maize.

Also green route cycle track and bike hire at Tourist Information in centre of Morlaix and giant viaduct you can climb steps and walk over coming down by ice cream shop.

These all sound amazing

Narbonne and Narbonne-Plage

Ile de Ré and Ile d'Oleron get absolutely rammed in the summer , there's hardly room to spread a towel on the beaches.
St Maxime is prettier than St Tropez.
Arcachon and Biarritz are both great, with fabulous beaches between the two on that stretch of coastline.
The beaches on the Côte d'Opale are really good too but many of the towns were bombed to buggery in WW2 so were extensively rebuilt sfter the war. Le Touquet is great for shopping and dining with miles of stunning beach and even a water park but it's not exactly pretty, although there still are some lovely 19th C /Belle Époque villas set back from the beach.

Villefranche-sur-mer near Nice. You can manage without a car and it’s easy to get to Nice, Monaco and lots of other places. Lovely harbour, lots of shops and restaurants, and a sandy beach with wonderfully clear water.

The only downside is it’s all built on a hillside which is hard work if you have pushchair-aged DC or have mobility issues (I saw your DC is 9 but for the benefit of anyone else reading this…).

Le Touquet and Hardelot. Northern France, really easy to get to by car on the ferry. Lots of French people there and not many Brits.

St Cast

This! And St Lunaire is one of my favourites.
Had fab holidays around there when kids were younger.

Is there anywhere in particular in corsica you would recommend to stay with a 1 year old baby?

Bandol?

How far a drive?