What?
La Londe les Maures sits on the French Riviera by the sea, smack in the middle of Hyères and Bormes les Mimosas.
It may not have the old-town charm and history of its neighbors Hyères and Bormes les Mimosas. What it does have are boat-loads of summer-time activities from sailing to kayaking to fishing to discovering the golden islands of Hyères just ahead. Not to mention the interesting ornithological and botanical garden with its exotic birds. Plus many seaside restaurants by the port. That makes La Londe les Maures popular with families and the young & active crowd. And best of all... it offers a string of clean, wide sandy beaches.
Why Best Beaches?
What we like about the La Londe les Maures beaches is the variety. Within walking distance of each other, you'll find four nice and wide beaches of golden sand.
The Miramar Beach. Pictured above, the Miramar beach sits to the west of the Miramar port in La Londe les Maures. To reach it, when you walk toward the port facing the sea, head to the right (west) and continue along a pleasant port with its many restaurants. The beach begins where the port ends.
Miramar beach is very wide and convenient with restaurants and snacks just behind. In the summer, it sometimes sports inflatable slides and play area on the sand. The only hic is that it's not shaded.
Smaller and to the east of the Miramar port, you'll find the Tamaris Beach. To reach it from the port, walk over the pedestrian bridge heading east and you're there. We find it a little more crowded than Miramar and not as wide.
Continuing east, you reach the long stretch of the Argentière beach. All of the beach is public. You'll find no fancy restaurants on site, just a tiny snack as well as a couple of public bathrooms, three lifeguard surveillance towers and an area marked off for windsurfing boards and dinghies.
With this minimal setting, you would expect few folks. Not so.
Many folks camp or stay in the area behind Argentière. They love this beach for its wide expansive feel, the view the Bregançon fort in the distance and the Islands of Hyères in front. The pine trees in the distance give it a tropical feel. And thus it's busy in the summer. However, the sandy beach is very long and wide and rarely feels compact.
If you're like us and enjoy walking, you can even reach our favorite beach in the area: Pellegrin Beach. Just continue walking on l'Argentière heading east. Pellegrin sits in a little bay and is wilder than the above beaches closer to La Londe les Maures. It isn't supervised. You can also reach it by car (car park costs 6 euros as of 2012).
And if you're a good walker and are equipped with enough drinking water, sun hat, sun protection, you could continue and reach another one of our favorites closer to Bormes les Mimosas: Plage de Cabasson.
Tips?
If you're looking for a bit of a splurge, you can stay in an apartment on the grounds of a provençal winerie at the Chateau de la Pascalette. We're not affiliated with them, but have heard only good things from travellers who stayed there.
Where?
You'll find the beaches on the below Google map.
View AzurAlive.com: Argentiere Beach, French Riviera in a lar
Interested in discovering the Western French Riviera on foot through short half-day hikes? Take a look at this hiking guide:
