Day trip to the Ile de Porquerolles, South of France - one of Europe’s best beaches with kids
When we booked our trip to Le Lavandou in the south of France - see this blog post if you haven’t already - I knew that we HAD to book a trip in to have a day on the most amazing islands off of the coast. The Ile de Porquerolles reminded us of our favourite Rottnest island off the coast of Western Australia.
When we booked our trip to Le Lavandou in the south of France I knew that we HAD to book a trip in to have a day on the most amazing islands off of the coast. The Ile de Porquerolles reminded us of our favourite Rottnest island off the coast of Western Australia.
To get there; we booked a ferry in advance with an early sailing from Le Lavandou on this website. It cost around 80 euros for 2 adults, I can’t remember if we had to pay for the kids but they were 3 & 1 at that point.
It took a bit longer, and cost twice the price, from here compared to going from Hyreres but it saved us a car journey & finding somewhere to park as we could walk to the harbour from our Airbnb.
Don’t do as we did and nearly got off at the wrong island! We literally got off the boat, looked at the map and couldn’t work out why it looked different then asked somebody and ran back to the boat which thankfully was just about to leave! Phew. Another 20 mins or so later we departed where we actually wanted to be… the Ile de Porquerolles rather than Port-Cros.
You can hire bikes and it’s blissful to cycle around but we had a buggy and two children so we walked to the beach I’d heard the most about called Plage Notre Dame. It was a pretty tough trek in the heat but boy was it was worth it! Past vineyards and that dreamy holiday smell of pine trees & eucalyptus trees.
Just look at that water, it was one of those days you know will just stay in your memory forever as a real travel highlight.
It’s been named as one of the best beaches in Europe and I can see why.
With a boardwalk view of dreams, the beach was shady at the back with a crystal clear bay, perfect for small children. It was shallow enough for Freya to walk out in which she loved.
Once we’d swam and splashed and paddled on the shore for a while we walked back to the town and discovered the most amazing village square surrounded by cafes, gelato shops and a playground in the middle. We just wished we’d had longer before we had to catch our ferry back! Next time I’d definitely look at staying for a couple of nights.
You can see more on my story highlights from the trip here.
Have you been?