Menton's beaches, from Les Sablettes to the last one in France

Menton’s beaches have a backstory that explains what they’re like. In the early 1990s the town laid underwater breakwaters to tame the swell that used to crash against the rocks beside the road, and that’s how the beaches came about. It’s also why nearly all of them are pebbly. To me that’s a small price for swimming with the colourful old town as a backdrop. Here’s which one I’d pick depending on who you’re with, and how to get there by train.

Sand or pebbles in Menton?

Pebbles, nearly always. The town explains that sand wouldn’t survive the natural slope of the seabed and the sea would simply carry it away. There are two useful exceptions. Les Sablettes, by the Vieux Port, has fine gravel mixed with sand, and Rondelli, just before Garavan harbour, is a small sandy beach. The rest range from small pebbles, like the Marché beach, to large ones, like the Casino beach.

Every May the town’s teams level the beaches and clear the driftwood and big stones left by the winter. Lifeguards are on duty from 1 July to 31 August, there are code lockers, and every beach is non-smoking. For bathing water quality, the town points you to the French health ministry’s bathing site.

Les Sablettes, the one I’d pick with children

It’s Menton’s biggest beach and the one that has it all. A gentle slope, shallow water, palm trees, pergolas and water fountains for the heat, toilets, showers and lockers in season, and a lift down from the quay or the Esplanade des Sablettes car park. In summer the Handiplage service helps disabled visitors into the water, by appointment. Behind it runs the pedestrian Promenade de la Mer, and above it the old town and the Basilica of Saint-Michel.

If you’d like somewhere a little more tucked away, Fossan sits right by the Cocteau Museum, with wooden terraced seating and play areas nearby. And if you’re arriving by car, Rondelli has a large car park alongside and a sandy shore.

Where can you swim with a dog in Menton?

The sources don’t say quite the same thing here, so I’ll tread carefully. The tourist office mentions a dog area on the Casino beach and the plage des Chiens on Promenade Reine Astrid, with no lifeguard. The town lists the Casino beach and Hawaï. Dogs are banned on all the others, even on a lead. I’d head for the Casino beach or the dog beach and read the signs before letting mine off.

Hawaï, Borrigo and the quiet beaches

Hawaï is the last beach in France, a kilometre from Italy. Narrow, pebbly and popular with anglers, it has a lifeguard in summer, but the tourist office doesn’t recommend it for families. Borrigo, past the Casino towards Cap Martin, is wide and pebbly. And Saint-Roman, small and right on the Monaco border by the Monte-Carlo Country Club, suits anyone coming from the Principality who doesn’t want to walk far. Monaco’s own beaches are compared in Monaco beaches.

La Buse, my favourite, even if it’s in Roquebrune

If you’ll let me leave Menton, the beach I like most is one train stop away, in the bay of Cabbé. La Buse is small, pebbly and away from the road, with freshwater springs under the sea that keep it cool in August. There’s no lifeguard and you can only walk there, down the steps from Cap-Martin-Roquebrune station or along the Le Corbusier path. Next door is the 700-metre Golfe Bleu, lifeguarded in summer and with dogs allowed on its western end. For the view from above, Roquebrune castle looks out over that bay. The village itself is in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.

Getting there without a car, and one rule that surprises people

The tourist office itself calls parking near the beaches a headache, so I’d take the train. Monaco to Menton takes 11 minutes. For Rondelli, get off at Menton-Garavan, and for La Buse, at Cap-Martin-Roquebrune. Zest buses serve the whole seafront, and a day ticket costs €5. The rest of the town is in things to do in Menton.

And the rule that surprises people. A municipal bylaw bans walking bare-chested through Menton’s streets. If you’re heading up from the beach to the Halles market, put a top on.