Plage de la Baule, Beach in France

The beach of La Baule is a wide expanse of fine sand stretching along the Atlantic coast in the Pays de la Loire region. The sandy shore curves gently between two towns and offers plenty of space where people walk, relax, swim, or play various beach activities.

La Baule grew from the hamlet of Escoublac, whose original settlement was buried by drifting sand in the 18th century. The present resort was laid out from 1879 by the Parisian developers Hennecart and Lafontaine, who bought the dunes and sold building plots along a planned seafront avenue. Its casino and grand hotels followed, making it one of France's earliest seaside resorts.

La Baule lies in the Pays de la Loire department of Loire-Atlantique, not in Brittany; the town's name comes from the Old French baule, a marshy or muddy area, not from a Breton root. The beach's nine-kilometre sand arc made the resort fashionable from the late 19th century, when the railway reached the coast and villas and hotels were built facing the sea.

The beach is accessible by car, bicycle, or on foot with parking areas nearby for convenience. Lifeguards are present during peak seasons to ensure safety, and basic facilities like restrooms and water fountains are available at different spots along the shore.

The beach lies about 400 km southwest of Paris, on the Atlantic coast of the Pays de la Loire, not in Brittany. Its climate is mild: average temperatures run from 4 °C in February to 20 °C in August, with October among the wettest months at around 134 mm of rain.