Visiting Nice Beach Clubs and Our Day at Le Galet Beach Club – Nice, France

July 2024

Visiting Nice Beach Clubs and Our Day at Le Galet Beach Club – Nice, France

The French Riviera is the perfect spot to enjoy a beach vacation. Every coastal town along the French Riviera offers gorgeous beaches to enjoy throughout the summer months.

In every town, there are both public sections of the beach though most of the sand is taken by private beach clubs. Beach Clubs vary in amenities but all have an entry fee that includes an umbrella and two beach chairs, and typically have options available to pay for food and drinks. Some are more luxurious and have cabanas, beach service, towels, and other amenities. Due to the demand for this beach, I would definitely recommend booking a spot at one of the beach clubs over the public spaces. Note that many beach clubs do not accept reservations in advance and require queuing at least thirty minutes before the opening time. Pay attention as many beach clubs accept reservations for their dining area so be careful when looking on the websites.

When evaluating which beach club you want to visit, look at:

• Reviews
• Price for amenities
• Amenities offered
• Food and drink options
• Number of chairs
• Location
• Hours of operation

During our time in Nice, it was essential to have at least one day relaxing at a beach club. After looking through reviews, I noted my top three beach clubs with Le Galet being my top choice. My biggest reason for selecting this one was it was more private than some of the larger beach clubs nearby and the food was rated well. Since the beach clubs in Nice do not take reservations in advance, I figured it was worth a shot going in person to make our morning easier. When I spoke with Le Galet the day before our beach day, I was told they do not accept reservations and to arrive early as a line does form. The beach clubs open at 930AM and when she told us to queue around 9AM, we knew that meant earlier for us. 

In the morning, we arrived at Le Galet around 910AM and there was already a line. We immediately joined the queue and may have been fifteen or twenty in line and by looking at all the beach chairs and umbrellas, we knew we would definitely get chairs as the line continued to build behind us. And as we approached the host stand, we were shocked to find out we were some of the last people to even get a chair. Come to find out that only the back row was available. Somehow, the first two rows were fully reserved. Everyone else in the line was notified Le Galet was full for the day and while I was ecstatic we were lucky enough to be here for the day, I looked around baffled at how a place that does not accept reservations, was booked. A mystery I may never solve but in any case, make sure to arrive at the beach club of choice super early to best enjoy your day. 

Le Galet was full of amenities to take advantage of:

• Sun bed with umbrella (23 euro)
• Full bar and restaurant with beach service or terrace service 
• Towels (6 euro)
• Double sun bed (60 euro)
• Bathrooms  
• Private beach

After paying for our sun beds and towels, we were escorted to our spots in the last row of three rows total. The beach is so beautiful here – in Nice the beaches are rock/pebble (Le Galet translates to pebble) and the ocean is clear, bright blue. We did not notice any jellyfish but keep an eye in the summer months in the European waters as they enjoy the warm waters. The sun beds here are quite close to each other so you may be directly next to a stranger and this does make the umbrella situation dicey if there are varying opinions on wanting it open or closed. The beach attendants are available to arrange the umbrellas in a way that suits everyone as much as possible so do not be afraid to speak up – everyone is paying to be there.

My absolute favorite thing about the Nice beach is that it is directly on the flight path into the Nice airport which you can see from the beach. We watched countless planes take off and land from all over the world. Kevin downloaded a flight tracker app as we identified where planes were coming from. And it really validated how active and connected the Nice airport is which makes it such a desirable destination.

After a full morning of relaxing, we ordered food directly from our sunbeds and enjoyed fried seafood and nicoise salad. While the prices are high, the portion sizes are large and the quality of everything was very good. And I will say, the restaurant directly behind the sun beds was bopping for the entire lunch service (note the restaurant does take reservations). We also enjoyed several beverages throughout our stay that were delightful.

We arrived at Le Galet at 9:30AM opening – we wanted to make sure we got every minute of our time there and we stayed here until closing at 6PM. To say we enjoyed the day would be an understatement – it was an amazing time at Le Galet. I honestly wish we spent another day of our trip here instead of some of the more ‘traditional’ day trips of visiting other towns along the French Riviera.

Le Galet was wonderful and we recommend it to everyone visiting Nice. While there are many beach clubs along the Nice coast to choose from, the fact that you get a less crowded experience is well worth the extra price. The food and drinks were also great here which is not the case at every beach club. And since we stayed all day, I think we definitely got our money’s worth and thought it was a great value.

Continue reading about our trip in Nice here!

Read all blog posts for French Riviera here!

See our complete itinerary here!

Planning your own trip? Read the Perfect Itinerary for French Riviera here!

Review our complete carry-on packing here!