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05 August 2018 / 28 Comments

Île du Levant in France - Europe's only naturist island

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The Île du Levant in France is Europe's only naturist island, and a very special place. Here, nature is wild and beautiful, and in many places it intrudes and takes over what humans once built. Here you will find paradise beaches for naturists, flowers of all colours, cosy little restaurants and a lively nightlife.

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Bus to Le Lavandou

We started in the morning by taking a bus from the campsite outside of the Le Lavandou into the centre of Le Lavandou in Hyreres, which belongs to Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in the French Riviera. Here we immediately looked for the small harbour office where you can buy boat tickets to the three islands known as the "Golden Islands". 

We were keen to visit all three islands, and chose to start with perhaps the least visited island, Île du Levant. A large part of this island is a military area and the rest is only open to naturists.

Le Levandou

Booking of tents (!) and boat trip

As we got away quite late in the day, the (extremely helpful!) girl at the ticket office suggested that we stay overnight on the island and take a boat to one of the other islands the next day. We took the idea and called 15 or 20 hotels. All were fully booked. We told the girl at the ticket office that it was not possible, but she was not satisfied with that answer. Soon she had booked a tent (!) for us at the island's campsite. Time to go on an adventure towards our French islands!

Le Levandou
Leaving Le Levandou behind
Båttur till Levant
En route to Ile de Levant
Ön Île du Levant i Frankrike
Arriving on the Île du Levant in France, Europe's only naturist island.

Île du Levant island in France

Île du Levant in France is a stunningly beautiful, and very special, island. Here, in 1931, doctors Gaston and André Durville established Héliopolis, Europe's first village dedicated to naturism. Today, it remains a naturist's paradise, with glorious cliffs, beautiful beaches and lush greenery reminiscent of Asia.

Peter

Green trees and shrubs abound on the island, along with flowers in every colour of the rainbow. In some cases, the houses have fallen into disrepair and have been taken over by nature. 90 per cent of the island is owned by the military and is off-limits, with high fences. The island is large but there is still plenty of space. The village is dominated by Fort Napoleon and includes a chapel, post office, police station, town hall and the Capitaine du Port harbour office, pizzeria, bazaars and much more.

Grönska

Let's go camping!

The campsite on the island of Île du Levant is just a few minutes from the harbour, and getting here was an experience! The first thought was that the campsite was a bit shabby, but then we realised that it is like everything else on the island. There is a bit of a hippie feel to everything here, and nature tends to take over what is built by humans. Then there was the whole living in tents thing... How did we happen to agree to that? Welcome adventure!

Tält
How to do it again ...?
Tält Frankrike
The green pup tent is up (for €25 per night)!

Naturist beaches

Walking along the coast is like walking in an exotic paradise. Nature is wild and beautiful and the path is only lightly trodden. The sandy beach we arrived at was surrounded by greenery and was almost unbelievably picturesque. There are two beaches Bain de Diane and Plage des Grottes that are more beach, otherwise it is to swim from rocks.

But no, it's not possible to photograph a beach with naked people, so you'll have to make do with some pictures from the way there... Just outside where we walk in the completely wild and untouched nature, the French coast with its incredibly crystal clear water, which changes in blue colour.

Frankrike Levant
Île du Levant island in France
Ön Levant

Three-course dinner

In the evening, we walked up to the island's small centre, where pubs, bars and dance floors abound. The bars La Fourmi and Heliotel encourage nudity or very little clothing. We were here in the early evening, but judging by the atmosphere and dress, we can imagine that things get hot here a little later in the evening. I (Helena) had by now got a migraine from the heat, so for our part it was instead a three-course dinner and then straight to the house ... I mean the tent.

barer

We had dinner at a super cosy little restaurant called The Palm Grove. Here we were served a really good three-course dinner for 30 euros per person. Very good and well cooked, and also good service!

Förrätt med getost
Starter with goat cheese and salad
Två sorters inbakad fisk med ris och saffranssås
Two kinds of baked fish with rice and saffron sauce

More golden islands in France

Read also about the other two golden islands in France. Porquerolles is the most touristy island with Notre Dame beach, which has been voted the most beautiful in France. The island of Port-Cros is a wild and green island almost reminiscent of the Caribbean.

There are also three small islands in the archipelago of Iles d'Hyères, located in the south of France between Nice and Marseille, which are Saint Honorat, Bendor and Embiez.

Ön Port-Cros i Frankrike
The island of Port-Cros in France

Video from Île du Levant island

Facts about Île du Levant

  • Living: There are many guesthouses, rooms and hotels, but you need to plan well in advance. About six months before you come here. Check out Airbnb.se
  • Eating: There are many restaurants on the island as well as bars and small shops. There is a large shop at the top of the island for food shopping.
  • Getting here: There are boats from Hyères and Le Lavandou that take about 45 minutes to the nude island of Île du Levant.

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05 August 2018 6:00
France
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Port-Cros Island in France - France's exotic national park

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Camping and swimming at Le Lavandou - Côte d'Azur in France

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26 Comments

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  1. diana's dreams says:

    Looks wonderful and you like adventures 🙂 hugs!

    05 August 2018 - 8:17

    Reply

  2. Ama de casa says:

    Wow! A nude shock, indeed... I thought it was mostly in Schlagern 😉 😀 😀 .

    Now I recognise the camping thing - fun! 🙂

    05 August 2018 - 8:21

    Reply

  3. Lena - good for the soul says:

    Haha, you are too nice! You offer the most! The island looks amazing!

    Hug Lena

    05 August 2018 - 8:40

    Reply

  4. Ditte says:

    What an experience! And the island looks beautiful. What greenery! But I would probably have backed off on living in a tent in the heat - But you could perhaps sleep outside, if it was cooler. However, people looked dressed for dinner. And of course it feels a little fresher when it comes to the food context to be a little dressed.
    The food looked really good!

    05 August 2018 - 9:26

    Reply

    • Comment by post author

      Helena says:

      Truly an experience and fantastically beautiful! Yes, it was hot to sleep in tents, but we did not dare to sleep outside because of mosquitoes... And yes, people are dressed in the restaurants and at the harbour, at least in something light.

      05 August 2018 - 10:59

      Reply

  5. Monet says:

    But what a cool experience that was! Tents and nudist beach and other exoticism. I told you - it's like coming to the Caribbean - feels completely overseas! Hope your head feels better and that it will be just as wonderful experiences at Port Cros and Porquerolles. Do not forget the big new art museum there. And then the clothes of course?

    05 August 2018 - 12:17

    Reply

    • Comment by post author

      Helena says:

      Yes it was an interesting and exotic adventure in many ways! I agree that it feels overseas, both the nature and the relaxed way of life. Thanks, the headache got better in the end, but is unfortunately triggered by the sun so I think the heat is pretty tough.

      05 August 2018 - 16:00

      Reply

  6. JoY says:

    It looks very beautiful on that island. Bathing naked is lovely, I do it when it is allowed, but I am afraid of burning the white parts of my body, from experience?
    Good to have clothes on at dinner
    Hugs

    05 August 2018 - 12:21

    Reply

  7. Anonymous says:

    You are great at finding "out of the box" phenomena that I have never heard of. But, you are also real adventurers.

    05 August 2018 - 12:46

    Reply

  8. Britt-Marie Lundgren says:

    What a cool island!
    I understand exactly your analogy of "hippy-like feeling".
    It's nice to know that not everything after the French Riviera is luxurious and icy...

    05 August 2018 - 13:29

    Reply

  9. Travel Linda says:

    Wild adventure! Vacation from the motorhome holiday!

    05 August 2018 - 16:54

    Reply

  10. Anonymous says:

    Have a good trip, nice to meet you ? Greetings from the Norwegian couple on Ile du Levant.

    05 August 2018 - 17:08

    Reply

  11. Matts Torebring says:

    You are real adventurers! I also sometimes yearn for a cliff, where I can lie alone without being seen and just jump into the sea, when it suits me without a lot of wet swimwear when I come up.

    05 August 2018 - 19:55

    Reply

  12. BP says:

    Thank the girl at the ticket office for that adventure, hahaha:-) Can't even imagine what/how you did in that little tent;-) The island is otherwise really cool. Like the "piece". Oh yeah, I got to see Peter's arse too;-)
    It's also good that people were dressed in the restaurants, because I wouldn't be comfortable with naked people eating and drinking there.
    A great, spontaneous and exotic adventure on the island:-)

    05 August 2018 - 21:22

    Reply

  13. Role o Carina says:

    Wonderful places you'll come across when travelling south!
    Sure, we've gone skinny dipping at home sometimes, nice!

    Take care.....

    05 August 2018 - 21:36

    Reply

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