Swimming in France

Yes, in the Mediterranean. The sea is typically 19 or 20 °C in October from Marseille to Menton, falling to 17 or 18 °C in November, and the sea beaches' season runs from June to October. Most lake beaches are lifeguarded only in July and August.

Yes, many of them. On the Riviera, Plage des Marinières sits just below Villefranche-sur-Mer station, Agay and Anthéor have stations within 250 m, and ferries cross from Cannes to Île Sainte-Marguerite and from La Tour Fondue to Porquerolles in about 15 minutes. In Marseille, RTM bus 83 runs along the Corniche to the Catalans, the Prophète and the Prado, buses run to Luminy for Sugiton and to Les Baumettes for Morgiou, and the Frioul If ferry leaves the Vieux-Port for Saint-Estève. West of the city, the Côte Bleue train stops at Ensuès-la-Redonne for Méjean.

Most of the calanques between Marseille and La Ciotat are in the Calanques National Park, along with Les Goudes and the Frioul islands, and the massif closes on red fire-risk days from June to September. The beaches of Porquerolles and Port-Cros are in the core area of Port-Cros National Park, which bans dogs from the beaches and caps summer visitor numbers on Porquerolles. Gigaro is the entrance to the Domaine du Cap Lardier, which Port-Cros National Park manages.

At most of the beaches listed here, no. Marseille bans dogs all year from its bathing zones, and they're also banned at Menton's Sablettes, the Ponchettes in Nice, Agay, Anthéor, La Paloma, Passable, Figuerolles, the Mugel, Les Salins, on the Porquerolles and Port-Cros beaches, on the public beaches of Serre-Ponçon, and at Bauduen, Plage Margaridon and Plage du Touron in the Verdon. Pampelonne, L'Escalet and Cap Taillat allow dogs on a lead, and so do the Pont du Galetas and Île Sainte-Marguerite.

In the 2025 EEA bathing season, 45 of the 57 places listed here with a monitoring site were classified excellent. Coco Beach, Grande Plage de Juan-les-Pins, Les Goudes (Plage de la Maronaise), Plage de la Courtade, Plage de Passable, Plage des Marinières, Plage des Sablettes, Plage du Prado, Plage du Prophète, Plage Marquet and Plage Notre-Dame were classified good. Plage de Saint-Estève (Frioul) was classified sufficient.