There are sand beaches in all of those countries.
I have to leave now, will come back to this thread tomorrow.

Having been to Costa del Sol in Spain and the French Riviera, I’d probably recommend Spain for what you’re looking for. It probably has the “best” beaches in terms of being the most like American and Caribbean beaches. Frankly, if you’re looking for that type of beach you’re better off in Mexico, Caribbean or US.

Overall, I like the Riviera/Southern France better and Costa del Sol is a long ways from just about any other place you’d visit in Europe. Even though it’s rocks, the beach at Nice is great for swimming, sunbathing, people watching, and all variety of water activities. Sand beaches are minutes away by car or train.

Antibes (French Riviera) is a sand beach.
The southwest Atlantic coast of France has expansive sand beaches—even a big dune.
There is good people watching all over the Riviera (and also at the Liguria and Amalfi coasts, Italy, which are dotted with small sand beaches).
I enjoyed the cliffs and sand beaches at the Costa Blanca in Spain, but that was many years ago and I am unsure of how nice it is now.

I would definitely recommend France. If you are really into sandy becahes, the beach at pampelonne is beautiful, right near St. Tropez. Might not be as cheap as you want it to be though. I would also reccomend again Bormes les Mimosas and the nearby islands of Port-Cros and Porquerolles.

Some of the good beaches in the south of France are private…if you want to hang out you have to rent a chair (20 euros) or an umbrella (8 euros). Don’t even ask what it cost to have a drink at the beach bar.

There are private beaches, but there’s usually a decent and reasonably uncrowded free beach nearby — it takes some looking and asking.

Also, the time of year would be an issue — Costa del Sol has a longer “beach season” than the Riviera and more days when there’s at least some sunshine. The advertised 360 sunny days is based on being able to see the sun at some time during the day… maybe 10 minutes at 4:00 PM.

All of Europe has an irregular, scenic coast line, containing sandy beaches intermittent with scenic rocky coastlines. The difference between Northern and Southern Europe is that the weather will be very reliably sunny in the South, whereas in the North it can fluctuate and be unreliable. You can find what you’re looking for in either Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, or Croatia.

Thanks for the comments! I know all three places have beaches, but which has the better beaches?

Amy

They all have “better” beaches and beaches that probably don’t meet what you’re looking for — you can find great beaches in all three. As Luv says…

and I’d add Turkey, Black Sea beaches in Bulgaria and Ukraine, and the tiny bit of Slovenian coastline to the list. If you don’t need scorching heat to enjoy the beach the list for a summer trek to a sandy beach gets even longer…

What are you looking for besides a “better” beach?

Portugal has some beautiful sandy beaches in the Lagos and Faro areas, but since its on the Atlantic the water can be a bit cold.

Amy,

I think you’re misunderstanding us.

Spain, Italy, and France are more than “places”. They’re entire countries with countless “places” within them. All 3 countries have “the better beaches”. As oldlady asked: what exactly is a “better beach” to you? At this point, we have no idea what you’re looking for, we can only assume.

In either of these 3 countries, you can be somewhere where the beach isn’t that good (pebbles, instead of sand, for example) and then a couple miles down, there might be an amazing beach with gorgeous sand. What exactly are you looking for in a beach?

Ok I see… My parents want to go to either Rome, Paris, or Barcelona. We can’t decide which one? They also want to spend some time on a nice, sandy beach preferable in a scenic spot. Thus, maybe if I knew which country offered the ‘’ better “ beach it could help me choose. I’m currently considering Costa del Sol or Nerja for Spain, the french riveria, Capri Island, Lake Como… Maybe the better question is which country has beaches closest to its main city, i.e. Rome, Paris

This is a little like asking if there are nice sand beaches in California. California has sand beaches, rocky beaches and beaches that are so rugged you can’t even get to them, so the answer is “yes, you can find a nice sand beach in California.” That doesn’t mean every beach is California is scenic and sandy or even that every beach in one part of California is scenic and sandy. As we’ve all said, the beach you want exists in any of these three countries — probably nestled between two beaches that don’t quite measure up.

Of your choices for cities, Rome is probably closer to beaches that meet your requirements. Paris is about 5 hours from the Riviera by train and Barcelona is about 5 hours from Costa del Sol, although I think there are other beaches that meet your criteria closer to Barcelona.

I would probably choose Rome.
Haven’t been, but have heard good things about Sperlonga.
Further down is the spectacularly scenic Amalfi coast (some rock, some sand) and yes, Capri is there too.

The rock makes for a fantastic scenic coastline. Many areas of the Mediterranean have rocky/cliff coasts with gorgeous intermittent sand beaches. It’s not like flat Florida where there’s mile after mile of sand beach…and that’s exactly what I love about the Mediterranean. Give me the Amalfi Coast, or Costa Blanca, or the Côte d’Azur, Cinque Terre, Setúbal/Arrábida, Zákynthos, Crete, Corsica, Costa del Sol, etc, over Florida any day. Amy, I think you’re far too preoccupied with finding “the perfect beach”, entirely unaware of the essence of the Mediterranean. It’s gorgeous there, trust us. Do some research, browse the internet. browse flickr, browse well-illustrated travel books on the South Euro/Med countries, instead of just asking us such a broad question. You’ll see what I’m talking about…and you may find some specific places that grab your attention. It’s absolutely beautiful. Trust me.