We Tried a Naked Gay Holiday in France – Here’s What Happened…

We've done a lot of things together since we met back in 2009. We've travelled to more than 100 countries over 7 continents, partied at some of the world's biggest Prides, slept everywhere from jungle huts to luxury hotels, and found ourselves in more than a few situations we probably wouldn't tell our mothers about.

But spending an entire week completely naked with a group of men we'd never met before? That was a first.

When we joined The Naked French Experience run by Everything To Sea in the South of France, we had so many questions.

Do you really walk around naked all day?
What happens at breakfast?
What if everyone else has the body of a Greek god and you've spent the summer saying yes to dessert?
And, is it going to feel awkward?

So, we packed our bags – slightly ironic considering how little we'd actually be wearing – and headed to the South of France to find out.

What followed was 6 nights of naked breakfasts, lazy afternoons around the pool, kayaking, wine, new friendships, some surprisingly deep conversations, and one VERY eye-opening day at Cap d'Agde.

But the biggest surprise wasn't getting naked…

What is the Naked French Experience?

The Naked French Experience is a week-long clothing-optional holiday for men organised by Everything To Sea in the South of France.

And when we say clothing optional, we mean it. You can have breakfast naked. Lounge around the pool naked. Have a glass of wine naked. Sit around chatting to a bunch of guys you only met the day before…also naked.

When we first heard about this experience, we were intrigued. We've traveled all over the world together since 2009 and thought we'd become pretty difficult to surprise. Turns out there was one rather obvious thing missing from our travel CV: spending an entire week on holiday without any clothes on!

The concept is pretty simple. A small group of guys stays together in a gorgeous private villa in the South of France, with meals, drinks, activities and excursions organised throughout the week. Back at the villa, you wear as much or as little as you want.

But that’s the official description. What we really wanted to know was: what does it actually feel like to spend a week naked with a group of guys you’ve never met before?

So we packed an absurd amount of clothing for a holiday where we wouldn't be needing much of it and headed to France to find out.

So… were we really naked all week?

Pretty much!

Before arriving, this was the part we were most curious about. It's one thing getting naked around a pool or at a nudist beach. It's another thing walking downstairs in the morning completely naked, making yourself a coffee and casually asking someone you've known for approximately 24 hours how they slept.

Yet somehow, very quickly, it stops feeling strange.

The villa is completely private, so once you're there, you can be naked whenever you want. Some guys stripped off almost immediately. Others took their time. That's the important thing: nobody is forced to be naked, and there isn't some ceremonial moment on arrival when everyone dramatically throws their underwear into a bonfire!

For us, it didn't take long.

By the second day, walking around the villa naked felt completely normal. We'd wake up, head down for breakfast, sit around chatting, jump in the pool, grab a drink…and at some point you realise you haven't thought about the fact that nobody is wearing anything for hours.

The funniest part was actually leaving the villa.

Suddenly we'd have an excursion and have to put clothes back on.

“Oh. Right. Trousers. Remember those?”

What was our villa actually like?

The villa was a huge part of the experience because this is where you spend most of your downtime together.

And we mean together.

This isn't the sort of holiday where you disappear into your hotel room after breakfast and don't see anyone again until dinner. The pool, terrace, living areas and dining spaces naturally become communal hangouts, so you very quickly get to know everyone.

Our favorite moments weren't necessarily the organised ones. They were the lazy afternoons around the pool, the conversations over breakfast that somehow continued until lunchtime, or everyone gradually congregating for a drink before dinner.

And being in a private villa makes the whole naked thing far easier.

No random hotel guests walking past. No children cannonballing into the pool. No need to suddenly reach for a towel because room service has appeared.

It's your own little naked bubble for the entire week.

There was a pool, a hot tub, plenty of space to lounge around and, crucially, enough room to disappear for some downtime when you needed it.

Because however sociable you are, seven days of being around the same group of people is intense. Sometimes you need an hour alone.

What did we actually do during the Naked French Experience?

One thing that surprised us was how much there was to the week beyond simply being naked around a swimming pool.

We had plenty of downtime at the villa, but we also got out and explored the region. And this balance ended up being one of the things we liked most about the trip.

Kayaking down the River Orb

One of our favorite days was kayaking.

There is something wonderfully peaceful about floating through the French countryside with your boyfriend…

…until one of you decides kayaking is suddenly an Olympic event.

We had our own kayaks, which was probably sensible for the future of our relationship, and spent the day paddling along the river surrounded by some beautiful scenery.

After several days of eating, drinking and lying beside a swimming pool, it was also nice to remind our bodies that they were technically capable of exercise.

The whole day felt very South of France: sunshine, water, countryside and absolutely no rush to be anywhere.

Our eye-opening day at Cap d’Agde

Then came Cap d'Agde.

If you've never heard of it before, Cap d'Agde is home to one of the most famous naturist villages in the world. And we thought that after several days of walking around naked, we'd be completely prepared for it.

We were not.

The Cap d'Agde not only includes a beach for naturists, it has an entire village/community built around it – all for naturists. They have a post office, supermarket, rows of camping areas, all for nudists!

The interesting thing for us was how different it felt from being naked at the villa. At the villa, nudity had become almost incidental. We were a small group who knew each other, completely secluded from the outside world. Cap d'Agde was an entire community where naturism is built into everyday life.

Seeing people casually going about their day naked takes a little adjusting to, even when you've spent the previous few days doing exactly the same thing yourself!

It was definitely one of the experiences we'll remember most from the week and deserves an article of its own.

A romantic wine tasting

One of the most beautiful moments of the week was our wine tasting in the middle of a vineyard called Allegria just north of Pézenas. As the sun began to set, our whole group sat down for dinner surrounded by vines, local wine, and that gorgeous golden South of France light.

It was romantic, intimate, and one of those evenings where you look around the table and realise that the strangers you arrived with only a few days earlier now feel like old friends. Definitely one of our highlights of the week.

What were the other guys like?

This is probably one of the biggest questions we had before booking this trip.

Who else is going to be there?

Because let's face it, getting naked in front of people you already know can be intimidating enough. Getting naked in front of a house full of complete strangers is next level.

What surprised us was how quickly that barrier disappeared.

Our group was a mixture of different personalities and backgrounds, with some traveling alone and others as couples. Everyone arrived with their own reasons for wanting to do something like this, but the unusual nature of the experience gave us an instant connection.

There is very little room for pretence when everybody is naked.

And we don't mean that physically.

Without clothes, labels, and all the other little things we normally use to present ourselves to the world, conversations somehow became very open very quickly. Within a few days, people we'd only just met felt like people we'd known for decades.

We also think this is why the experience lends itself to solo travelers.

And if you're worried that everyone will look like they just walked off the set of a swimwear campaign, don't be.

Real people have real bodies!

That sounds obvious, but spending a week naked around other people is a surprisingly effective reminder of it.

Is the Naked French Experience sexual?

Let's address the naked elephant in the room.

Before we went, whenever we told friends we were spending a week at a naked gay villa, there was usually a pause followed by that look.

But nudity and sex are not the same thing, and that distinction became very obvious to us during the week.

Most of the time, you're simply doing completely normal holiday things without clothes on. Eating breakfast. Reading beside the pool. Having a conversation. Yoga. Drinking wine. Swimming. Arguing with your boyfriend because he took another rubbish photo of you…

After the first day or two, you barely even register the nudity.

That's actually one of the things we found most interesting about the whole experience. Before going, being naked was the big story.

Once we were there, it wasn't.

The people were.

Did we ever feel awkward being naked?

At the beginning? Of course.

We'd be lying if we claimed we marched into the villa, threw everything off, and immediately felt like we'd been naturists our entire lives.

There is definitely a mental hurdle.

Most of us spend our lives worrying about our bodies in some way. Too much of this. Not enough of that. This bit should be higher. That bit should be smaller. And social media certainly hasn't helped any of us with that.

Then suddenly you're standing completely naked beside a swimming pool with a group of people you've just met.

And something rather nice happens.

Nobody cares.

After a while, neither do you.

We stopped thinking about how our bodies looked and started thinking about whether we wanted another coffee, whether it was time for the pool, what we were doing that afternoon, and when somebody was going to open the next bottle of wine.

But yeah, not gonna lie, there was also some rompy pompy, especially later in the evening once the drinks started flowing…

What was the food like?

We were very well fed.

Meals are a big part of the Naked French Experience because everyone generally eats together, so breakfast, lunch, and dinner aren't simply something you squeeze between activities. They're part of the social side of the trip.

There is something quite bonding about sitting around a table over food and wine every day.

Even if nobody at said table is wearing trousers.

We particularly loved the fact that we didn't have to spend the week constantly thinking about where we were going to eat next. Meals, snacks and drinks formed part of the experience, with excursions giving us opportunities to try more of the region's food and wine as well.

And having Seby there meant every French culinary decision could be independently audited.

What is included in the Naked French Experience?

One of the most appealing things about this trip is that once you're there, most of the experience is taken care of.

Our accommodation, meals, drinks and scheduled activities were organized as part of the trip, along with transport for the group excursions. It meant we could largely switch off from the usual travel admin of figuring out restaurants, transport and what we were doing every day.

We'd still recommend checking the latest inclusions directly with Everything To Sea before booking because these can change between departures.

Who would we recommend the Naked French Experience to?

You definitely don't need to be an experienced naturist.

We weren't.

In fact, we think part of the fun is doing something that's completely outside your normal comfort zone.

We'd particularly recommend it if you're curious about naturism but don't quite know where to start. Being inside a private villa with a small group felt like a far easier introduction than simply turning up at a huge nudist resort and hoping for the best.

It's also a good fit if you're a solo traveler who wants to meet people, a couple looking for something completely different, or simply someone who prefers smaller group experiences where you actually get to know the people you're traveling with.

You do, however, need to enjoy being social.

You're spending a lot of time together. If your dream holiday involves putting your headphones on at breakfast and avoiding human interaction until your flight home, this probably isn't the one.

And obviously, you need to be reasonably comfortable with nudity.

You don't have to be naked every second of every day, but if the idea of seeing other naked men around the breakfast table fills you with horror, there may be easier ways to spend a week in France.

Our top tips for your first naked holiday

The first thing we'd tell anyone is don't overthink the nudity. It feels like an enormous deal beforehand. It won't after you've been there for a day or two.

We'd also pack far fewer clothes than we did. The irony of staring at a suitcase trying to decide what to pack for a naked holiday was not lost on us.

Bring something easy to throw on when you need it, comfortable clothes and shoes for excursions, and plenty of sunscreen. Naked sunbathing introduces certain parts of the body to sunlight that may not be accustomed to receiving it. Apply accordingly!

We'd also recommend giving yourself permission to disappear occasionally. You don't need to participate in every conversation or spend every minute with the group. We loved the social side, but a little alone time makes a big difference on any group holiday.

And finally, don't arrive worrying about what everyone else is going to think of your body.

They aren't.

They're probably too busy wondering the exact same thing about theirs.

So… would we do a naked holiday again?

Yes.

And that's probably the biggest surprise for us.

We went into The Naked French Experience thinking the story would be about spending a week without clothes.

It wasn't.

The nudity is obviously what makes you curious enough to book something like this in the first place. It's what made our friends raise their eyebrows when we told them where we were going, and it's definitely what makes for the most attention-grabbing headline.

But by the end of the week, being naked had become completely normal.

What we remember much more are the people we met, the conversations around the table, kayaking through the countryside, our day at Cap d'Agde, the food, the wine and those long lazy afternoons around the villa.

Perhaps that's the strangest thing about going on your first naked holiday.

Eventually, you forget you're naked.

And that's when the actual holiday begins.

When is the next Naked French Experience?

Everything To Sea runs the Naked French Experience on selected dates, so we'd recommend checking their website directly for the latest departures, availability, and prices.

If you're seriously considering going, we'd also book sooner rather than later. These are deliberately small-group trips, for up to 14 people, which is a huge part of what makes the experience work, but it obviously means there are only a limited number of places available.

And if you're sitting there thinking, I'd love to do this, but I'm not sure I could actually get naked in front of everyone…

We get it.

We had the exact same thoughts before we went.

Give it a day.

Why should you trust our Naked French Experience review?

We know there are plenty of articles online telling you what a trip is supposed to be like. This isn't one of them. Everything in this guide comes from our own experience of actually stripping off and spending the week there.

• We actually did The Naked French Experience: we stayed at the villa and experienced the trip ourselves rather than writing about it from behind a laptop.
• We experienced the entire week: from naked villa life and group meals to kayaking, Cap d'Agde, and exploring the South of France.
• We've been travelling together since 2009: after all those years travelling around the world as a gay couple, it takes something quite different to give us a genuine travel first!
• We've been writing about gay travel since 2013: we've experienced gay tours, cruises, Prides, festivals and destinations around the world, so we have plenty to compare it with.
• We literally wrote the book on gay travel: we're the authors of Out in the World: The Gay Guide to Travelling with Pride.

And yes, after all those years of travelling together, apparently there are still new ways for us to make each other blush 🙂

Read more travel adventures like this in our book!

We've published our very own gay travel book called, ‘Out in the World'. It has all our practical safety tips, first-hand advice, and travel stories from some of our favorite destinations.

We hope it inspires you to have a fun and safe trip!

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