French Riviera towns: which should you choose?

Nice is the largest city on the coast and the best base for exploring it. It has an international airport, a railway station and trains running along the seafront.

• Promenade des Anglais: seven kilometres on the Bay of Angels, palms, blue chairs and Negresco.

• Old Nice and Cours Saleya: flowers, vegetables, socca and cafés.
• Matisse Museum: the artist’s largest collection, housed in a 17th-century Genoese villa. Also visit the Chagall Museum.
• Castle Hill: best view of promenade and port.

Nice guide. → Excursion

A principality of around two square kilometres between Nice and Menton.

• Prince’s Palace on the Rock, old town where Grace Kelly is buried.

• Monte-Carlo: Belle Époque casino, Casino Square and Opera.
• Oceanographic Museum: palace over the sea, founded by Albert I.
• Formula One Grand Prix on the streets in May.

From Nice and in half a day. → Excursion

City of cinema and red carpets.

• Croisette: waterfront beaches, hotels and boutiques.

• Festival Palace: May film festival since 1946.
• Suquet: hilltop old quarter overlooking the bay.

→ Excursion

Ancient Greek Antipolis.

• Port Vauban, among Europe’s largest marinas.

• Fort Carré, star-shaped fortress at the harbour entrance.
• Picasso Museum in Château Grimaldi, where he worked in 1946.
• Old town and market, with Juan-les-Pins’ sandy beaches nearby.

→ Excursion

Easternmost town by Italy: quiet, warm, citrus gardens and a colourful old town above the sea. Each February, the Lemon Festival creates giant lemon-and-orange sculptures.

Villefranche-sur-Mer is a small town beside one of the Riviera’s loveliest bays, between Nice and Monaco. Nearby lies the green peninsula of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, home to Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild: a pink Belle Époque palace with gardens and dancing fountains.

• Èze: medieval cliff village between Nice and Monaco, 360-degree exotic garden and nearby perfumery. → Excursion

• Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a fortified village with 14th-century walls, where Chagall, Braque and Picasso lived and worked. The Maeght Foundation is one of France’s finest modern-art museums. The legendary Colombe d’Or café has paintings on its walls. → Excursion

Once a fishing port, Saint-Tropez became a symbol of resort chic: the old harbour with its yachts, the market on Place des Lices and Pampelonne beach. It is farther from Nice than the other towns: the drive takes at least two hours and longer in summer. It combines well with a tasting of Provençal rosé wines.

→ Excursion

The world capital of perfume lies in the hills above Cannes. Fragrances have been made here since the 17th century. Jasmine and May roses grow in the area, and perfume houses work alongside the International Perfume Museum.

Choose Nice for a first visit or a trip without a car. For a sandy-beach holiday, choose Cannes or Juan-les-Pins. For peace and a mild winter, choose Menton.

• Nice: pebbles and clear water, swimming shoes useful.

• Cannes and Juan: sand, some paid clubs with loungers.
• Villefranche and Ferrat: small clear coves.
• Saint-Tropez: famous Pampelonne and beach clubs.

Urban beaches often alternate free public areas with paid private clubs and restaurants.

• Socca: thin wood-fired chickpea pancake, hot at Saleya.

• Salade niçoise: tomatoes, eggs, anchovies or tuna, olives, no boiled potato.
• Pissaladière: onion, anchovy and olive tart.
• Pan bagnat: round roll filled with niçoise salad.
• Petits farcis: stuffed courgettes, tomatoes and peppers.
• Bouillabaisse: Marseille fish soup also served here.

Try them on a Nice food walk.

• Bellet: small appellation above Nice, Rolle, Vermentino, whites plus reds and rosés; vines visible from town.

• Côtes de Provence: Riviera summer rosé.
• Bandol: west of Toulon, powerful Mourvèdre reds and rosés.
• Cassis: whites on sea cliffs by the calanques.

Bellet wine tour and Saint-Tropez and wine Provence.

Give Saint-Tropez its own day: four to five hours’ return travel.

• Independent state, no French-border passport checks, euro currency.

• Casino: dress code, ID and minimum age.
• May Grand Prix: track and grandstands close streets, accommodation prices multiply.
• Walking: public lifts and escalators connect levels.

The French Riviera has mild, sunny winters, which have long attracted visitors for the winter season. This is how its Belle Époque villas appeared in the 19th century. From November to March, promenades are quiet, restaurants have available tables and accommodation prices fall. February brings Nice Carnival, Menton’s Lemon Festival and flowering mimosa. Swimming is cold, but walking, visiting villages and drinking rosé on a terrace on a sunny day are quite possible.

• Coastal TER: quick between Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Monaco and Menton; Nice–Monaco twenty minutes.

• Buses: cheaper, but summer traffic.
• Car: useful for Èze, Saint-Paul, Grasse and Saint-Tropez, with full summer parking.
• Driver: easiest for several towns without parking worries.

• One: Nice, promenade, Old Town, market and Castle Hill.

• Two: add Èze and Monaco.
• Three–four: Antibes, Saint-Paul and Cannes.
• Five or more: Menton, Villefranche, Ferrat, Saint-Tropez or Grasse.

→ Whole Riviera in a day excursion

• May–June and September: warmth, warm sea, fewer visitors.

• July–August: heat, crowds, traffic and high prices.
• October–April: mild, quiet, coat-free seafront walks.
• Events: February carnival and lemons, May Cannes and Grand Prix, August Grasse flower festival.

• Air: Nice-Côte d’Azur, one of France’s largest airports; tram downtown around thirty minutes.

• Rail: Paris–Nice TGV around six hours via Cannes and Antibes.
• Italy: coastal trains through Ventimiglia and Menton.

A driver can meet you directly at the airport exit.

1. Summer rush-hour coastal driving. Take trains between towns.
2. Half-day Saint-Tropez. Four to five hours travelling needs a full day.
3. Ignoring Grand Prix dates. Check closures and prices.
4. Expecting sand in Nice. Choose Cannes or Juan.
5. Everything in two days. Allow four to five.

Private Nice-based excursions: food walk, Èze and Monaco, Antibes and Saint-Paul, Cannes, Bellet, Saint-Tropez and wine Provence, or the whole coast in a day. → Riviera excursions · Riviera food tour · The region