5 Amazing Beaches on Ile de Porquerolles, France

We had the most amazing time during our recent family holiday to Ile de Porquerolles, France. Before we even visited  I had heard wonderful things about the beaches; about the golden (and silver!) sands, the crystal clear waters, and the heavenly scented pine trees.  But I didn’t realise just how beautiful they were going to be, and I mean truly stunning!

These beautiful beaches, along with the cycling and hiking trails across the island, are the main draw for visitors. On warms days, tourists from the mainland pack onto the passenger ferry and head to the beaches closest to the port.

Every day during our visit we headed to a different beach, visiting as many as we possibly could during our stay. One day we ate breakfast on the beach, another we had a picnic dinner; we truly made the most of our time on Porquerolles! So read on to find out which ones were our favourites, and be prepared to come down with a serious case of wanderlust!

1. Plage D’Argent

The clue is in the name here, and argent in French means ‘silver’. The sands along the long, narrow and curved beach are a silvery colour, rather than a typical golden. This bright and fantastically soft sand helps to accentuate the crystal clear sea that reflects beautifully in the light.

At only about a 15 minute walk from the port, this beach is popular with day-trippers, and you will find a stream of people walking along the route, laden down with their picnics and beach bags. But when we visited in late May/Early June, there was plenty of space for everyone and the beach never felt overcrowded.

 

Plage d’Argent was the only beach we found on the island that had any form of facilities, here in the shape of a fantastic restaurant open for lunches only; Le Restaurant La Plage D’Argent. Here you can eat on the large terrace, shaded by pine trees, and over looking the silver sands and clear waters and they also have an area of sun loungers and parasols available to hire. Our boys absolutely loved it here, and being able to run down to the beach when they had finished eating. As well as a great menu including absolutely massive salads and fab kids options, your waiter will also bring along a platter displaying the catches of the day!

2. Plage Notre Dame

If you do a google images search simply for the word ‘Porquerolles’ the majority of images that you will be presented with will be of this beach. And it will honestly make you want book the next flight out there!

The blue sea and golden sand are back-dropped with stunning green pine and eucalyptus trees, it truly is picture perfect.

Even the cycle ride to the beach was scenic; along a flat path flanked with pine trees and passing vineyards.

Because this beach is not really walkable from the port, it was quiet and we had a great time playing beach football without disturbing anyone! If you would like even more space to yourself, you can continue along the path and head to the furthest entrance to the beach which is inevitably quieter.

3. Plage de la Courtade

This is another beach that is walkable from the port, and is therefore also popular with day-trippers, but again there seemed to be plenty of space for all during our visit in late May/early June. And despite being popular, it is still beautiful and unspoilt, with the classic pine tree backdrop. When we visited there was quite a heavy covering of dried out seaweed, both on the sand and in the shallow waters, but it didn’t bother us at all.

The kids loved playing in the shallow waters and building castles in the soft sand.

4. Calanque du Brégançonnet

The southern side of the island is a whole different story to the soft sandy beaches of the North. Here you will find craggy rocks, with little inlets called calanque. Normally quite tricky to get to, these calanque are rewards for the hikers and bike riders who venture South on the island.

Calanque de Brégançonnet is around a 20 minute cycle from the village, and our 9-year-old found it hard work (and Mr Dais Like These had to work even harder with the two smaller ones in the trailer behind him!). But it was worth it! When we arrived, we had this stunning little inlet all to ourselves.

Made up of pebbles rather than sand, and surrounded by craggy rocks topped with beautiful green pine trees, Brégançonnet is picturesque. The rocks are teeming with life, and as well as spotting a beautiful starfish, the boys came back from rock pooling with a bucketful of little friends.

5. Plage de L’Aiguade

We stumbled upon this beach quite by accident, when on a mega bike ride gone wrong (we were headed to Plage Noir, right at the other end of the island but took the steepest route, in the wrong direction, and when we were finally in the right direction we realised the route was too tricky for our 9-year-old and so turned back!) But what a fantastic little find! We had this beach to ourselves for the morning, which was real treat, however being not far from Plage d’Argent, I can imagine this will get much busier in the Summer months.

It was scattered with dried seaweed and washed up logs, which soon became climbing frames, and perfect little perches for eating a late breakfast!

So, there you have it; our favourite beaches on Ile de Porquerolles! And these are only some of the ones we made it to, there are more we are yet to discover! Plage Noir and Plage du Langoustier, on the western tip of the island both also look stunning, but are some of the trickiest to get to on bike or foot. We did however get a glimpse of Plage Noir on a boat trip of the island when we dropped anchor just off the beach whilst the boys jumped in and swam.

Have you visited Porquerolles? Which is your favourite beach?

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