Things to Do in the South of France: Riviera Guide
Things to Do in the South of France: A Riviera Guide from Cannes to Menton
The French Riviera packs a ridiculous amount into a short stretch of coast. You can start your morning on a sandy beach in Cannes, eat a chickpea pancake in a Nice market by lunch, and watch the sun drop behind a perched medieval village by evening. Trains and buses link almost everything, so you rarely need a car.
Here is how to spend your time across the coast, working west to east, with the inland detours that are worth the trip. Then there is a section on the food you should actually be ordering, and one on the beaches that earn their reputation.
A quick note on getting around: the coastal TER train is the backbone of the whole region. One line runs Cannes to Antibes to Nice to Villefranche, Beaulieu, Monaco, Menton and on to the Italian border at Ventimiglia. Trains run roughly every twenty to thirty minutes in season, and most journeys between neighbouring towns take well under fifteen minutes. For the hilltop villages off the rail line, you switch to a regional bus.
Rather than memorise route numbers, which do change from time to time, plan each journey on the network sites. Buses and trams around Nice and the coast run on Lignes d'Azur (lignesdazur.com). The wider regional bus and TER train network is Zou! (zou.maregionsud.fr), which also sells the Sud Azur Explore pass for unlimited travel over several days. Google Maps and Moovit both pull live times across all of them.
Cannes
Cannes is more relaxed than its red-carpet reputation suggests. The Palais des Festivals is the home of the film festival, and you can stand on the famous steps and photograph the handprints of stars set into the pavement of the Allée des Étoiles around it. From there it is a short walk along La Croisette, the palm-lined seafront, to the old town of Le Suquet on the hill, where the lanes are steep, quiet and worth the climb for the view back over the bay.
Cannes also has proper sandy beaches, which is rarer on this coast than people expect. Stretches of the Croisette are public and free, so you can swim without booking a sunbed.
The real escape is offshore. Take a boat to the Lérins Islands from Quai Laubeuf at the port. The crossing to Île Sainte-Marguerite takes about fifteen minutes, and the island is car-free, covered in pine and eucalyptus, and ringed with coves. Walk up to Fort Royal, where the legendary Man in the Iron Mask was held, and look for the underwater sculpture museum just off the shore if you have a mask and snorkel. The smaller island, Saint-Honorat, is home to a working monastery whose monks make wine and liqueur you can buy on site.
Getting there: Cannes is on the coastal TER line, about thirty minutes from Nice. Lérins ferries leave from the port; book ahead in summer.
Grasse
Twenty minutes uphill from the coast, Grasse is the perfume capital of the world, and the smell of it is woven into the town. The three historic houses, Fragonard, Galimard and Molinard, all run free tours of their workshops, and each offers a paid class where you blend and bottle your own scent to take home. For the wider story, the Musée International de la Parfumerie runs you through three centuries of the craft, with a rooftop garden on top.
Beyond perfume, the medieval old town is a tangle of steep, vaulted lanes built into the hillside, with the Place aux Aires market most mornings and long views back down to the sea.
Getting there: The TER train reaches Grasse from Cannes in around thirty minutes, but the station sits below the town and you face an uphill walk or a shuttle. The bus drops you right in the centre, so it is often the easier choice from Cannes or Nice. Check routes on Zou.
Valbonne
If you want a village with almost no tourists, Valbonne is a curiosity. Built on a strict grid in the sixteenth century, which makes it unusual for the region, it centres on the Place des Arcades, a handsome arcaded square lined with cafés. The Friday Provençal market is the day to come, and the old abbey is worth a look. It sits beside the Sophia Antipolis tech park, so you will see a different, working side of the Riviera here.
Getting there: Valbonne is the trickiest stop without a car. The simplest option is a bus from Antibes on the Envibus network, roughly twenty to thirty minutes, or a connection from Grasse. Driving is genuinely the easiest way in.
Antibes
Antibes is one of the most likeable towns on the coast. The walled old town opens onto the daily Marché Provençal, a covered market piled with cheese, olives, vegetables and socca, and the lanes behind it are made for an aimless wander.
Right on the ramparts, in a honey-coloured seaside castle, the Picasso Museum occupies the Château Grimaldi, where Picasso actually worked in 1946. It holds pieces he made on the spot, and the sea-facing terrace alone is worth the entry.
Walk round to Port Vauban, one of the largest yacht marinas in Europe, and you will find the superyachts lined up bow to stern. It is the spot for sunset drinks by the boats, glass in hand, watching the light go gold over the masts. With more time, the coastal path around Cap d'Antibes, the Sentier de Tire-Poil, is a beautiful walk along the rocks.
Getting there: Antibes is on the coastal TER line, around fifteen minutes from Nice and ten from Cannes.
Saint-Paul-de-Vence
A perched stone village in the hills behind the coast, Saint-Paul-de-Vence has been an artists' haunt for a century. The lanes inside the ramparts are full of galleries and studios, and the walk along the village walls gives you sweeping views over the valleys. Just outside, the Fondation Maeght is one of the finest modern art collections in France, with works by Miró, Giacometti and Chagall set among gardens and sculpture. Chagall himself is buried in the village cemetery.
Getting there: There is no train. Take the bus from Nice, which runs via Cagnes-sur-Mer, or take the coastal train to Cagnes-sur-Mer and pick up the bus from there. Check the route on Lignes d'Azur, and allow extra time, as buses to the hill villages are not frequent.
Nice
Nice is the capital of the Riviera and an easy place to lose a few days. Start in Vieux Nice, the old town, where the Cours Saleya hosts a flower and produce market every morning except Monday, when antiques take over instead. This is also socca country, so eat as you browse.
For the postcard view, climb Castle Hill, the Colline du Château, above the old town. There is no castle left, but there are gardens, an artificial waterfall and a viewpoint that looks straight down the curve of the bay. If the steps feel like too much, a free lift runs up from near the port.
End the day on the Promenade des Anglais, the long seafront walk, and watch the sunset over the water from one of the blue chairs. Note that Nice's beaches are pebbles rather than sand, so bring water shoes if you plan to swim. With extra time, the Matisse and Chagall museums up in the Cimiez district are both excellent.
Getting there: Nice is the hub of the coastal TER line and has its own airport, with a tram running into the centre.
Villefranche-sur-Mer
A few minutes east of Nice, Villefranche curls around one of the deepest natural harbours on the coast. The old town tumbles down to the water in ochre and pink, and the Rue Obscure is a genuinely medieval covered street running under the houses. Down by the port, the small Chapelle Saint-Pierre was decorated inside by Jean Cocteau, a nice thread to pick up if you are following his work along the coast. The bay itself is calm and sheltered, which makes it one of the better places to swim near Nice.
Getting there: The coastal train from Nice takes about six minutes and drops you steps from the harbour.
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and the walk to Beaulieu-sur-Mer
Cap-Ferrat is the green, moneyed peninsula between Villefranche and Beaulieu, and it rewards walkers. The headline sight is the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, a pink palace surrounded by nine themed gardens with fountains and sea views on both sides.
The best thing to do here, though, is free. The Promenade Maurice Rouvier is a flat, paved seafront path that links Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat to Beaulieu-sur-Mer, running right along the water past gardens and villas. It is gentle enough for anyone and quietly spectacular. For something wilder, the Sentier du Littoral loops around the tip of the cap along the rocks. Over in Beaulieu, the Villa Kérylos is a faithful recreation of an ancient Greek house perched on the sea.
Getting there: Take the coastal train to Beaulieu-sur-Mer, then either walk the promenade across to Saint-Jean or pick up the local bus to reach the heart of the cap. Times are on Lignes d'Azur.
Èze
Èze is the perched village everyone pictures when they imagine the Riviera: a knot of stone lanes spiralling up a rock high above the sea. At the very top, the Jardin Exotique is planted with cactus and succulents around the ruins of a castle, and the view from there runs the length of the coast on a clear day.
If you have the legs for it, walk down the Chemin de Nietzsche, the steep path the philosopher used to hike, which drops from the village to the seaside at Èze-sur-Mer in about forty-five minutes.
Getting there: For the hilltop village, take the bus from Nice and get off at the stop marked "Èze village" (routes are on Lignes d'Azur and Zou). Be careful not to confuse it with Èze-sur-Mer, the train stop down at sea level, which leaves you with a long climb or a connecting bus up the hill.
Menton
The last French town before Italy, Menton is warm, golden and full of lemons. The light and the Italian-influenced architecture make it one of the prettiest old towns on the coast, climbing up to a baroque church and a cemetery with views worth the walk.
A heads-up on the Jean Cocteau museum: the large modern museum on the seafront has been closed since a 2018 storm flooded it and remains shut while a legal dispute drags on. His art has not gone anywhere, though. Visit the Bastion, the small seventeenth-century fort by the harbour that Cocteau decorated himself, which still shows his work, and step into the Salle des Mariages at the town hall to see the frescoes he painted in the wedding room.
Menton is also a city of gardens, thanks to its mild microclimate. The Val Rahmeh botanical garden is the tropical one, packed with exotic and subtropical plants, and the Serre de la Madone is a romantic, terraced garden built by an English plantsman. And you cannot leave without a lemon tart, made with Menton's own protected lemons. If you can time a visit for February, the Fête du Citron fills the town with sculptures made entirely of citrus fruit.
Getting there: Menton is the last major stop on the French side of the coastal TER line, around thirty-five minutes from Nice.
🍋 What to eat along the coast
The food here is its own reason to visit. It leans on chickpeas, olive oil, anchovies, sun-grown vegetables and, the closer you get to Italy, pasta and seafood. Order these.
Socca. The signature Niçois street food: a thin pancake of chickpea flour and olive oil, baked in a blazing wood oven until the edges blister, then scraped off and served hot with a heavy crack of black pepper. Eat it standing up in the Cours Saleya in Nice or at one of the old socca counters in the old town.
Panisses. Chickpeas again, this time set firm, cut into sticks and fried until golden outside and soft within. A perfect aperitif snack.
Pissaladière. A Niçois tart of slow-cooked sweet onions topped with anchovies and black olives, eaten warm or cold.
Pan bagnat. A salade niçoise crammed into a round bun and pressed so the olive oil soaks the bread: tuna or anchovy, egg, tomato, olives. The ideal beach lunch.
Salade niçoise. The real thing skips cooked potato and green beans. Expect tomatoes, egg, raw vegetables, olives, and anchovy or tuna, dressed simply in olive oil.
Beignets de fleurs de courgette. Zucchini flowers in a light batter, fried. A short summer pleasure when the flowers are in season.
Moules-frites. Mussels steamed with white wine, shallots and herbs, served with a mountain of fries. A reliable, generous order at almost any seafront brasserie.
Spaghetti alle vongole. As you near Menton and the Italian border, the cooking turns Ligurian. Clam spaghetti, bright with garlic, white wine and parsley, is the dish to get here, ideally with a sea view.
Tarte au citron de Menton. Sharp, fragrant and made with Menton's protected lemons. The benchmark lemon tart, best eaten in the town that grows them.
A few more worth chasing: barbajuan, fried parcels of chard and cheese you find around Menton and Monaco; tourte de blettes, a surprising sweet chard pie from Nice; farcis niçois, vegetables stuffed and baked; and daube, a slow Provençal beef stew often paired with little ravioli. To drink, a chilled rosé de Provence is the obvious move, with pastis as the classic aperitif.
🏖️ Beaches not to miss
One thing to know upfront: not all Riviera beaches are sandy. Nice and much of the central coast are pebble, while Cannes, Antibes and Menton have stretches of real sand. Here are the ones worth planning around.
Plage de la Mala, Cap d'Ail. A turquoise cove tucked beneath the cliffs, reached by a stairway and coastal path from Cap d'Ail train station. It feels hidden despite being easy to get to, with a couple of beach clubs and very clear water.
Plage de Paloma, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Sheltered, chic and lovely for swimming, on the quiet side of the cap. Reachable on foot via the coastal path.
Plage de Passable, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Calm shallow water and a front-row view across to Villefranche. A good family choice.
Plage des Marinières, Villefranche-sur-Mer. A sandy curve right beside the train station, on a bay so sheltered the water stays gentle. One of the most convenient good beaches near Nice.
Plage de la Gravette, Antibes. A small sandy cove inside the old town walls, protected and central.
Plage de la Garoupe, Cap d'Antibes. Famously clear water on the cap, with both public sand and beach clubs.
Juan-les-Pins. Next door to Antibes, a long sandy beach with a lively, summery atmosphere.
The coves of Île Sainte-Marguerite. Off Cannes, the small wild beaches around the island are the reward for the short ferry ride. Bring everything you need, as there are few shops.
Plage des Sablettes, Menton. A sandy family beach right below the old town, with Italy in view down the coast.