Côte d'Azur

The Côte d'Azur is the stretch of French Mediterranean coast that, roughly speaking, runs from Cannes to the Italian border after Menton. From there, regional TER trains run right along the sea and link Cannes, Antibes, Nice and Menton on short journeys, which makes it possible to stay in one hotel and visit several towns.

Nice is the largest city on the coast. It has the Promenade des Anglais on the Baie des Anges, the Vieux Nice with the Cours Saleya flower market, the Colline du Château and two museums dedicated to painters who lived in the city: Henri Matisse and Marc Chagall. Nearby are the medieval village of Èze, the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild on Cap Ferrat and Saint-Paul-de-Vence with the Fondation Maeght. Monaco, which is a separate country, is a few minutes away by train and is often visited as a neighbouring excursion.

Cannes is the city of the film festival, held in May at the Palais des Festivals. Outside the festival, highlights include the Boulevard de la Croisette, the old quarter Le Suquet and the Îles de Lérins, two islands a few minutes by boat — one with the fort where the Man in the Iron Mask was imprisoned and the other with an active monk’s abbey.

Antibes, between Cannes and Nice, combines a walled old town by the sea, the Musée Picasso in the Château Grimaldi, the Port Vauban full of yachts and the Cap d'Antibes with a coastal path over the rocks. Juan-les-Pins, part of Antibes, has sandy beaches and the Jazz à Juan festival in July.

Nice’s beaches are pebble beaches (galets), not sandy; bring water shoes. The sea is usually warmer from July to September.

This destination brings together 3 cities: Nice, Antibes, Cannes.