Just a two hour train ride from Paris is this stretch of Normandy coast, which has some great villages to visit. Trouville, the first stop on the train, has been a favorite seaside resort since the 1800s, and was a favorite subject of Monet. Lunch at the legendary Les Vapeurs is a must, as is a walk on the beach. Stay at the small and antique filled Hotel St-James, or in Deauville just down the road, at the Normandy Barriere. Heading west is Port-en-Bessin–another favorite on this coast–a sleepy fishing village, and a great place to situate yourself if you want to visit the D-Day beaches, or nearby Bayeux with its famed tapestry. Stay at Le Chenevriere, a lovely chateaux about 10 minutes from the sea, with a great garden and lawns to run around–perfect for kids. Le Bistro d’à Côté is the best seafood spot in town–it’s beloved by locals who don’t care that it isn’t right on the harbor. Honfleur, further east, is a small, elegant 11th century town on a harbor, that is incredibly beautiful. Stay at the Hotel du Dauphin des Loges, or just outside town at Hotel Le Chaumiere, which has huge rooms, lovely views, big grassy areas to run down to the sea, and a delicious breakfast. If you have a car, don’t miss Etretat which is 45 minutes away, and has the most beautiful cliffs (Monet was a fan!), pebble beach, and charming
town.

You can take a train directly to Arcachon and don’t need a car at all to explore it and nearby Cap Ferret, which you can take
a boat to. But this area has some real gems nearby–like Pyla, the largest dunes in Europe, and some sweet little villages–so you may want to rent a car in Bordeaux and drive. In the town of Arcachon itself, stay at Hotel Ville d’Hiver, explore the historic area around it, and make sure you have lunch or dinner at Club Plage Pereire–it’s fantastic, and right on the beach! Eat cannelés and Dune Blanche from Patisserie Guignard–the best. The town of Le Moulleau, which is near the dunes, has a nice cafe Chez Fernande. La Salie Sud is where all the surfers and cool kids go–it’s in the middle of the forest, and right next to the sea! La Coorniche, right next to the Dunes of Pyla,  is on the posh side of things–and is the most phenomenal location overlooking the sea–but the seafood towers compete with the view! Don’t leave the area without having lunch at Chez Hortense in Cap Ferret–the mussels are a must.

While this region is famous for its legendary wines, the secret is its empty Atlantic beaches! Soulac-sur-Mer, an easy train ride from Bordeaux, is a seaside town with a main street filled with stores and cafes, and lovely beach cabanas you can rent for the day, or the week. Their daily market has such beautiful products–the local fish and oysters a highlight–that you’ll want to find a place to rent so you can cook! But if you do a day trip, get a loaf of the most amazing artisanal bread at Montreal-sur-Mer to snack on, have a late lunch on the beach at Brasserie La Plage, and finish with a delicious ice cream at Judici. If you’re an antique-fan, don’t miss Alain Dufort’s fantastic store just on the edge of town. Another seaside town to consider is Le Pin-Sec, which is more of a surfers’ spot. It doesn’t have cabanas to rent, but has some nice food options, and the beach feels more wild. Heading into the wine region, lunch at Cafe Lavinal or Maison d’Estournel is a treat, and a visit to one of the oldest estates in the region, Chateau Larrivaux (women-owned since 1580!), is a treat.

You’ll need a car to get around Brittany, where the landscape looks like Scotland—maybe not surprising since the region's first inhabitants were Celts. You can drive southwest to Le Guilvinec harbor, where boats bring in bushels of langoustines and oysters and there’s a pretty epic fish auction, which you should try to catch. Or go northwest to Pointe de la Torche, where you can see land-sailing races from the dunes at low tide and French teens in wetsuits surf big waves. Look for World War II–era bunkers all around the coast. If you can, keep on to the Pointe du Raz lighthouse at the westernmost tip of France for a drink at the clifftop Buvette de Pors Théolen, and stay at Le Clos de Vallombreuse to the east in Douarnenez. And while driving around the coast, stop for a meal at Breiz Armor, on the side of the road outside of Penhors. Quimper is the capital of Finistère–the gateway to a coastline of craggy inlets that you must drive around. Quimper has a walkable Medieval center whose streets are lined with Norman timber houses. Pick up a buckwheat crêpe filled with egg, ham, and Gruyère (a regional specialty) and a bowl of cider (try Crêperie Sucré-Sallé). You can also stop in at the Armor Lux factory store for classic marinières and those almost bulletproof Breton sweaters.

From here, you can explore the Breton Riviera, a series of beaches in small coves, like Les Oiseaux, les Pyramides, Lanroz, La Roche Percée, Lantecoste, and Bot Conan. Some of the water here looks like the Caribbean (although much colder!), with little wooden cottages by the sea—sort of quiet Maine or Nova Scotia vibes. The town of Fouesnant is super sweet, by the water and with charming little houses fronted by hydrangea gardens, and plenty of little restaurants serving langoustines, oysters, cider and crepes made from buckwheat flour—also ginormous breads that are basically the size of a chair and you get a small piece cut off for you. If you want to stay, the Hôtel Belle Vue in Fouesnant is a little mom-and-pop where the owners greet you with a glass of hard cider.