Staying in style on France’s Mediterranean coast doesn’t have to mean an expensive hotel. Nicola Iseard from The Guardian picks two beach pads in the south of France that don’t cost the earth.
Port Rive Gauche, Marseillan, Languedoc
Ooh la la! J’aime ces appartements! New last year, these 12 gorgeous 2-bedroom apartments, each sleeping up to four (one double, one twin) are located bang on the waterfront in the tiny Languedoc port of Marseillan, which opens onto the Etang de Thau, a vast lagoon cut off from the sea by miles of sandy beach. Inside they are all cool colours, sink-into sofas and beautiful fabrics, with excellent kitchens and sitting rooms that lead onto a terrace or balcony perfect for eating outside.
The apartments are extremely versatile: you can use them as a hotel for a few nights and have breakfast delivered, or take them for longer stays and self cater. A few steps away is a small beach (perfect for a morning dip) or you can hire bikes to check out beaches further afield. One of the owners has a small boat and is happy to take guests for a jaunt around the port for next to nothing. The little Languedoc village of Marseillan is quintessentially French, with its small port, bustling quay and bistros selling oysters plucked straight from the lagoon.
• From €120 a night (€30pp based on four sharing). Ryanair flies to Béziers from Bristol, Manchester and Luton
Boutique Apartment, Cannes, Provence-Cote d’Azur
A funky new apartment in the centre of Cannes, 200m from the beach, for just over £20 per person a night? There’s got to be a catch right? Well, you do have to find eight friends to share it with, but that won’t be a problem once they hear about its four en suite bedrooms and kitchen that opens onto a large dining room with cool decor (vintage wallpapers, retro furniture and movie-star portraits hanging on the walls). There are two great daily markets close by, ideal for stocking up on cheese, wine and suncream.
Cannes is much more than glitz, glamour and a film festival: Eat out at one of the down to earth seafood restaurants overlooking the water at the old port. Wander the cobbled streets of the old town of Le Suquet. Rollerblade La Croissette, the seafront esplanade lined with palm trees. Or, venture into the Cote d’Azur backcountry and mountain bike the Massif de L’Esterel.
• From €250 a night (€28pp based on nine sharing). EasyJet flies to Nice from eight UK airports
This article is an edited version of one that appeared in The Guardian on the 14th April 2012.
