French Riviera: 5 great towns to visit
The Promenade des Anglais in Nice. All photo by John O’Boyle / The Empty Nest Explorers except where noted
We have found that the South of France is not only incredibly beautiful but also very easy to visit. Most of the towns along the French Riviera are connected by train and driving between them is easy too.
The area has a reputation for catering to the rich and famous but you can have a great time even if you are neither rich nor famous.
There is a train line that runs along the coastline easily connecting towns between Marseille to Menton. Many of the towns are incredibly close, for example, Nice and Monaco are 20 minutes apart by train.
The surprising thing about driving in the French Riviera is the ease of parking. Even in ancient hill towns, there are modern parking decks.
Our favorite French Riviera towns (in no particular order)
Nice
We should start with Nice since it’s an outstanding spot for exploring the region. Aside from a great location Nice has a wide variety of attractions, hotels, and restaurants.
Staying in Nice allows you to take short train rides to Monaco, Menton, Antibes, Cannes, and Saint Tropez.
Nice Old Town at night.
We particularly enjoyed visiting La Colline du Château, the park that overlooks the beach, and the Promenade des Anglais. All the scenic photos of the Nice beach are taken from this scenic overlook.
Aside from the view, there is a very cool waterfall and a scenic view of the port on the other side of the park.
Nice’s Old Town is fun to explore with countless restaurants.
You can read our full post here: Nice, France; a great base for visiting the French Riveria
Eze
The Le Jardin Exotique in Eze, France.
Eze is a remarkable hilltop medieval village 1,400 feet above the French Mediterranean.
This is the town where we splurged on accommodations and stayed at the 5-star Hôtel Château de La Chèvre d’Or. Our Amex Platinum card benefits helped offset some of the crazy price tag.
While the cost was high the experience was once in a lifetime. You can read more about the hotel in our post: Review of Hôtel Château de La Chèvre d’Or in Eze, France
If you don’t stay overnight in Eze my number 1 tip is to arrive as early as possible. Arriving by 9 am is essential, 8 am would be even better. Later in the day the charming narrow stone streets become packed with visitors.
We have lots of tips about visiting Eze here: Eze, France; How to plan a memorable visit
If not driving be sure to take the bus from Nice and not the train. The train leaves you along the beach, 1,400 feet below the town. If you are a serious hiker you might enjoy the rugged Nietzsche Trail, if not then the bus will leave you right at the entrance to the town.
Monaco:
Perhaps no other spot embodies the luxury of the region than the Principality of Monaco. It's the second smallest country in the world and the most densely populated country in the world.
I did lots of research to plan our day trip from Nice. Unfortunately, no amount of planning can overcome the problems when a truck strikes a train overpass on the morning of your trip.
We thought the Nice train station was a bit crowded and chaotic when we arrived. We quickly found out that all train service was suspended. We even had our tickets in hand for touring the Monaco Palace.
We were disappointed but we explored some of the areas of Nice we didn’t expect to see.
Since I did all the research but couldn’t take advantage of it I’m happy to share some tips here.
The Prince's Palace of Monaco is a must-see. You can purchase a tour on their website. Every day at 11:55 am changing of the guard ceremony takes place in front of the Prince’s Palace.
Monaco at night. Photo via Envanto
Monaco’s Old Town is located close to the Palace. One of the main places to visit in the beautiful Old Town is the Monaco Cathedral where you can visit the grave of Princess Grace of Monaco (Grace Kelly).
Another attraction we planned to visit was the car collection of the Prince of Monaco. For 10 Euros you can view the nearly 100 car collection.
Perhaps the most famous building in Monaco is the Monte Carlo Casino. Even if you aren’t a high roller you can visit the casino. After 2 pm you can visit the first room, where you can gamble on slot machines for free. For 17 euros you can visit all the rooms.
Our favorite travel resources
Hotels - Booking.com. Lots of search options and information. Link
Activities - Viator. We love food tours and historical guides from Viator. Link
Airfare - FareDrop. Custom notifications of airfare sales. Link
Phone connection - Airalo. E-Sim for your phone, it’s easy and available for every country. Link
Note - This blog post contains affiliate links. This means that if we recommend a product, activity, or hotel, we might receive a small commission if you buy or book from these links. This is done at no additional cost to you. We only recommend products we have personally used or have thoroughly researched.
Saint Paul de Vence
The beautiful streets of Saint Paul de Vence.
Perhaps our favorite town in the South of France is Saint Paul de Vence.
It is the oldest medieval town and one of the busiest in the South of France. The town is larger than Eze and with many more restaurants so it absorbs the crowds well.
You can take a bus from Nice but we chose to drive and used the modern parking garage right outside the walls of the city.
There is a wide variety of reasonably priced accommodations ranging from a few hotels in the city to bed-and-breakfast-style country houses (many with pools) within walking distance of the town.
Note - This blog post contains affiliate links. This means that if we are recommending a product, activity, or hotel, we might be receiving a small commission if you buy or book from these links. This is done at no additional cost to you. We only recommend products we have personally used or have thoroughly researched.
We ate dinner on the patio of Le Tilleul and felt like we were eating in an Impressionist painting.
Our post: Visiting Saint Paul de Vence: the oldest medieval town in the South of France, will give you full details on how to plan a wonderful visit.
Antibes
The sandy beaches of Antibes.
We visited Antibes without any expectations on our drive from Saint Paul de Vence to Marseille and were pleasantly surprised.
We have walked through many markets in visits to Europe and this one is the perfect blend of a real market for locals and fun items for visitors. We visited on a Sunday and the market was vibrant.
Antibes features sandy beaches, unlike the pebble beaches in the area, a major plus.
We grabbed a sandwich and ate lunch on a bench at the harbor looking at the boats. And wow, if you are interested in boats this is the place to be. In addition to scores of regular boats, the harbor is home to many super yachts. It even features a heliport so the uber-rich can easily get to their mammoth yacht.
You can walk atop the wall of the old city to get an even better view of the harbor.
Antibes is definitely worth a few-hour visit. You can read our full post about visiting Antibes here.
You can search for a great place to stay in the French Riviera here.
I hope you have as great a time as we did in the French Riviera.
This post was researched and written by John of the Empty Nest Explorers. You can learn more about the Empty Nest Explorers here
Sunrise in Eze, France.
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