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No cars are allowed on the island, so it’s a walk or cycle-ride along the rocky, 3-km (2-mile) track from the port to the loveliest beach in France (see Hill Walks in the Maures Mountains). Pine-fringed, it boasts white sand, calm waters, no commerce and few people. Your private slice of paradise.

Everyone has his or her “place” on St-Trop’s largest beach. Famous beach clubs cater to the super-rich and glamorous, to nudists, to gays, as well as to everyday families. The 5-km (3-mile) sandy stretch across the headland from the town also has extensive public areas. There’s space in which to escape the crowds and appreciate natural beauty (see Plages de Tahiti and Pampelonne).

“Calanques ” are creeks formed where the chalk cliffs between Cassis and Marseille plunge to the sea. En-Vau is the prettiest and one of the more accessible – a mere 90-minute walk from the nearest Cassis car park. It’s worth it. At the foot of the white, pine-clad rocks, the setting of sand and luminous sea is intimate, wild and quite unforgettable (see Les Calanques).

Le Lavandou has a total of 12 beaches, covering the full seaside spectrum, from the great sandy stretch of the Grande Plage to the nudist creek of Rossignol. Most appealing of all, however, is l’Eléphant. The approach is only by sea or by scrambling over rocks, a feature which usually ensures relative tranquillity.

Steps on the eastern edge of town lead down to this extraordinary creek. On either side are cliffs, while further back are terraces of fig-trees and pines. Out front, the blue sea laps around weird rock formations and onto the pebble shore. A world unto itself.

Between them, Antibes and Juan-les-Pins have 25 km (16 miles) of coast and 48 beaches, slotted into rocky creeks or opening out into sandy expanses. The prettiest is La Garoupe, on an inlet of the peninsula. It’s highly fashionable and, in summer, very crowded – but with good reason.

As the red rocks of the Esterel hills tumble into the clear blue sea, they give the coast around St-Raphaël an untamed allure. The small creekr are enticing; equally alluring, but bigger, sandier and more accessible, is the Bay of Agay – perfect for families (see Plage d’Agay).

A short ferry ride leads from the crowds of Cannes to this island owned by Cistercian monks. The presence of the monastery seems to discourage more brazen holidaymakers so the pretty rock outcrops and tiny beaches remain calm and, unusually for Provence, under populated.

Long, wide, sandy and safe, the main beach at St-Aygulf, near Fréjus (see Fréjus Old Town), has the additional advantage of being in a Nature Preservation Area. This protects the Etangs de Villepey – great, wild, freshwater lagoons on the other side of the road, where 217 different bird species have been noted. A beautiful setting.

This is the beach beyond civilization. You must thread around salt-flats and lagoons before arriving at the flat, exposed sands. Life is a little rugged, but ideal for wilder beach elements.