Juan les Pins

Juan les Pins is the lively side of the Antibes peninsula, a resort town wrapped around a sandy bay and backed by the pine grove that gave it its name. This is not a place to find solitude. It is a proper beach resort with a long strip of soft sand, clear gentle water, watersports buzzing offshore and a town of bars and restaurants pressed right up behind it. People come for the energy, and on that count it delivers.

The sand is split between free public sections and a long line of private concessions. The concessions rent loungers and parasols and serve food and drinks to your spot, which is the comfortable way to spend a full day, while the free stretches let you swim and sunbathe for nothing if you bring your own kit. Lounger rates and any minimum spend vary by operator and season, so confirm directly, but unlike some Riviera beaches there is real free sand to fall back on.

Juan les Pins is also famous after dark. The town has a long nightlife tradition and hosts the Jazz a Juan festival in July, one of the oldest jazz festivals in Europe, set in the pinewood by the sea. That gives the resort a double life: easy family beach by day, lively bars and music by night. If you want both in one trip, this is the beach that offers it, but light sleepers should choose accommodation away from the busiest streets.

Who should skip it: anyone seeking a quiet, unspoilt cove, who will be happier at Garoupe around the cape or the calmer peninsula beaches. Who should go: families who want easy sand and amenities, watersports fans and night owls. Pair a Juan les Pins beach day with the calm of Garoupe nearby, the glamour of La Croisette along the coast or a wander through Antibes old town and its market.

Juan les Pins has its own station on the coastal rail line between Cannes and Nice, so the train is the easy way in, dropping you a short walk from the sand. By car it is a few minutes from Antibes with paid parking around the town that fills on summer days. The beach, the station, the bars and the restaurants all sit within an easy walk of one another.

Because the resort is compact and busy, arriving earlier in the day means easier parking and a better choice of spot on the free sand or a lounger. Book a concession ahead at peak times and during the July jazz festival, when the town is at its fullest. June and September give warm settled water and a lively but more relaxed resort than the August peak.