France Special: In search of... seaside France

Whatever your fantasy, there's a cove or stunning stretch of coast that's just across the Channel, say Aoife O'Riordain and Lucy Gillmore

Oh, j'adore passer les vacances au bord de la mer

Don't we all love to be beside the seaside? Luckily, France has lots to be beside. In the north, the coastline stretches along the English Channel, rounding the corner at Brittany and surfing down the Atlantic coast to Spain, while the South of France lazes on the shores of the Mediterranean. As you'd expect, each coastal region has its own distinct character.

Where are the best beaches?

That depends what you're looking for. If your idea of the perfect beach is one lined with stylish cafes and hotels, then you probably fantasise about the French Riviera. On the other hand, if you prefer your beach deserted and wild, then head to the Atlantic, while for the quintessential traditional seaside resort, Normandy and Brittany can supply Victorian elegance in bucketfuls. There are golden lengths of sand to be found almost everywhere, but some of the best are located near the towns of Biarritz, St Tropez and on the island of Corsica. If you judge best in terms of the most popular, then the Côte d'Azur is the winner hands down, closely followed by Brittany.

But where can I build the biggest sandcastles?

That would have to be on Hardelot Plage near Boulogne in Normandy – although you will be up against some fairly stiff competition, as the beach is host to an annual International Sand Sculpture competition. Now in its third year, the festival runs from 8 May until 16 June, when the beach is transformed by all manner of weird and wonderful confections, crafted by artists from all over the world.

What's so special about Brittany?

Seven hundred miles of coastline, for a start. With long, white sandy beach and craggy cliffs, rich Celtic history and Breton cuisine, Brittany has a flavour unlike anywhere else in France.

The two favourite stretches are the Côte d'Emeraude on the north coast between Le Val-André and the Pointe du Grouin (where the best beaches are around St-Malo and medieval Dinard across the estuary), and the Morbihan coast on the Atlantic near Vannes.

The Côte d'Emeraude has a number of family resorts and, around Cap Fréhel, gently shelving beaches bordered with heather and heath. At St-Brieuc, the wilder Côte de Goëlo takes over with tiny coves and the beginnings of the startling pink granite, best seen slightly further west on the Côte de Granit Rose.

Brittany also lays claim to the most westerly point in France: the dramatic headland, Pointe du Raz in the département of Finistère. This area also sees one of the longest beaches in Brittany, the bay of Audierne. Almost 30 miles long, stretching from the town of Audierne to the Pointe de Penmarch, it's also relatively uncrowded.

The beaches further south are more popular. Quiberon, at the end of a peninsula near the Gulf of Morbihan, has a lovely south-facing stretch of sand.

The coast continues to the Guérande peninsula, named after the walled medieval town that dominates the salt marshes. Just to the south is Brittany's answer to St-Tropez, La Baule. Gone are the dunes bordered by pines or heather; in their place are the apartment blocks of the rich and glamorous.

I like unspoilt, rugged coast

Then you're already in the right area. On the Atlantic coast from Brittany to Biarritz you can enjoy long stretches of unspoilt and often deserted beaches. La Rochelle in Poitou-Charentes is one of the country's prettiest seaside towns, its town centre a traffic free, pedestrian paradise.

The almost ruler-straight coast of the fittingly named Côte d'Argent slices from the Gironde estuary to just before Bayonne. Its seemingly endless beaches are edged by the pine forests of the Landes region, the largest woodland in Europe.

The seaside town of Soulac near the estuary was established by Napoleon III's wife, Eugenie. The thin strip of land between the Gironde and the Atlantic is home to one of Bordeaux's great wine producing regions, the Médoc (see "48 Hours" on page six). Further down the coast is the Bay of Arcachon, famous for its oysters and, just below, the curious sight of the Dune du Pyla, a veritable mountain of sand almost 120 yards high. Scaling the dune takes around half an hour and the views it affords of the coastline are spectacular. The Côte d'Argent is also a favoured spot for surfers.

The Côte Basque is the final, thin sliver of coastline before the border with Spain, from which you can see the peaks of the Pyrénées. You will also find the towns of Bayonne, Biarritz and St-Jean-de-Luz.

Where's the most stylish spot?

Not all the chi-chi Parisians flock to the Côte d'Azur. The Ile de Ré, just off La Rochelle, is where the style aficionados congregate, while the fishermen's huts and fanciful, grand villas of the Bassin d'Arcachon have been attracting the rich and famous for centuries, among them Louis XIV, Alexandre Dumas and Toulouse-Lautrec.

But what about the Côte d'Azur?

Cannes, St Tropez, St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat – the names just trip off the tongue. It wasn't always the case, however. St-Tropez was once a tiny backwater discovered by bohemian artists and writers at the turn of the 20th century. Matisse, Vlaminck and Colette all washed up here and liked it so much they stayed. However, the name everyone associates with St Tropez is that of Brigitte Bardot. It was in 1956 that Roger Vadim brought his protegée into town to film And God Created Woman. The place cast its spell and Bardot, too, stayed.

Apart from St Trop, there's glitzy Cannes, famous for its film festival; elegant, less brash Antibes; and Juan-les-Pins, its sandy beach lined with pine trees. The road between Antibes and Nice is a disappointing sprawl of modern resorts – not what you'd expect from the glamorous Riviera. However, Nice itself, now the fifth largest city in France and once a grand seaside resort, is down-to-earth and far from disappointing.

And then, of course, there are the Corniches. Three high roads between Nice and Menton (last stop before Italy) which conjure up images of starlets and fictional spies in sports cars, but in reality are clogged with traffic travelling at a snail's pace. The views, however, are spectacular.

So the Côte d'Azur is as crowded as they say?

It is the most popular – and expensive – stretch of coast in France, so yes, you might have trouble finding a spare inch of sand. However, there are still a few secluded coves if you know where to look. Those in the know who want to stay on the Côte d'Azur head for Cassis, a tiny fishing village 12 miles east of Marseille, once popular with early 20th-century artists Matisse and Dufy. Here you'll find the fjord-like Calanques, inlets in the jagged limestone cliffs.

Further west, the Camargue, a flat region of marsh on the Rhône Delta famous for its pink flamingos, white horses and sand dunes, is one of the largest wetlands in Europe. The town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is the main seaside resort with its 12th-century church and long beach, but for a deserted stretch head out towards the Pointe de Beauduc or the enormous empty beach at Piemanson at the mouth of the Grand Rhône.

Just a few miles from the border with Spain is the little town of Banyuls-sur-mer, bordered by the Pyrénée. At Pierrefitte beach a couple of miles from the town, a submarine nature trail allows you to see red coral as you snorkel in what was France's first protected underwater environment, the Marine Reserve of Banyuls-Cerbère.

What about island life?

France's coastline is dotted with islands, large and small. One of the most famous on the northern coast is Mont-St-Michel, claimed by both Brittany and Normandy. The island is a mass of granite crowned by an abbey. It's connected to the mainland by a causeway that disappears at high tide. In the height of summer it's deluged with tourists; out of season, however, it is a magical place to visit.

On the western coast, Ile d'Oléron is a short hop from the coast near the town of Rochefort, and is the largest of the French islands after Corsica. Long, sandy beaches dominate the island, which is a patchwork of forests and oyster beds. Above it is the 30km-long Ile de Ré, which is criss-crossed by a network of cycle paths.

The beaches of Corsica are some of the most spectacular in the Med. Thankfully it has still not fallen prey to mass tourism, but remains largely unspoilt and undeveloped.

In the Med, near the town of Hyères, lie the Iles d'Hyères, or Golden Isles. The three main islands are Porquerolles, Port-Cros and Levant and with no cars, they are a haven from the often traffic-choked coastal mainland.

How do I get there?

Coastal France is well served by both traditional and no-frills airlines. Nice has flights on British Airways (0845 77 333 77, www.ba.com) from Heathrow; on Bmibaby (0870 264 2229, www.bmibaby.com) from East Midlands; on easyJet (0870 600 0000, www.easyJet.com) from Gatwick, Luton and Liverpool; and on Go (0870 60 76543, www.go-fly.com) from Stansted and Bristol. Despite Go's takeover by easyJet, flights will be marketed separately until next year. Ryanair (08701 569 569, www.ryanair.com) flies from Stansted to Dinard, Biarritz, Perpignan, Montpellier and Nîmes.

The airline with the widest range of destinations in coastal France is Buzz (0870 240 7070, www.buzzaway.com). It flies from Stansted to Caen and Rouen close to the Normandy coast; Brest in Brittany; La Rochelle and Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast; and Toulon and Marseille in the south.

The leading ferry operator for the western Channel is Brittany Ferries (08705 360 360, www.brittanyferries.com); for Normandy, P&O Portsmouth (0870 24 24 999, www.po-portsmouth.com). For the eastern Channel, choose from Hoverspeed (08705 240 241, www.hoverspeed.co.uk), Norfolkline (0870 870 10 20, www.norfolkline.com), P&O Stena (087 0600 0600, www.posl.com) or SeaFrance (08705 711 711, www.seafrance.com).

Rail Europe (08705 848 848, www.raileurope.co.uk) offers high-speed links and competitive fares for connecting services via Paris and Lille to Channel, Atlantic and Mediterranean resorts. Fares start at £84 for the nearest destinations up to £114 return to distant resorts such as Biarritz and Nice.