Top places to see in the French Riviera
These are my recommended places to see when you visit the French Riviera. Traveling there is super easy by train, though it might be stressful at first. I would recommend 5-7 days here, however it’s doable to see in 3-4 days.
Nice
Nice was pleasantly surprising in my eyes. I pictured it to be more modernized than other areas of France I’ve been, but it actually was very charming and still old feeling. Especially Old Town. I was hesitant about the rocky beaches, however I found them to be quite nice. Mainly, because you don’t have to worry about being all sandy when you get out of the water. I definitely recommend bringing water shoes though, if you plan to get into the water. I looked quite funny saying owe multiple times getting in and out of the water. The other thing that I really loved about the beach in Nice was they have these blue chairs set up all along the paved pathway and the distance is perfect where you can put your feet up on the railing in front of you and sit and relax (shown in picture 2). This ended up being our favorite thing we did each night after sightseeing is going here and watching the sky change colors and the private jets fly in. We found Nice to be a great home base. It’s in the middle for either way you want to go to see other areas of the French Riviera. It’s a 10 min train ride to Villefranche-sur-Mer, 25 min train ride to Monaco, and a 40 min train ride to Menton. Or going the opposite way it’s a 20 min train ride to Antibes and a 35 min train ride to Cannes.
2. Villefranche-sur-Mer
This is a small town, but quite beautiful and had one of my favorite beaches. There isn’t much shops or places to eat here, which might be good to know ahead of time. The first picture shows what the small town looks like and this is the best place to get a picture with the colorful buildings. You walk down from the train stop, then the opposite way of the beach and walk past the few restaurants they have towards where the boats doc and you will see this spot I am sitting. Then you can walk over to the beach, the 2nd picture shows what the beach looks like walking up to it and if you look close you will see a rock in the water and that is the rock I am standing on for the 3rd picture, which makes for a lovely photo. Of course, safety first though and only climb on it and you are confident doing so.
3. Monaco
I will say yes, Monaco is small with it being its own country, however I was a little overwhelmed with it being bigger than I pictured. The way it’s laid out, isn’t super easy to walk around and see everything in a day. Since it’s only a 25-30 min train ride from Nice, I would give yourself two separate days here, especially if you want to also check out the beach. If not, it is doable to see everything in a day if you wanted to. The best place to take a picture with the Monaco iconic view with the buildings and boats in it, is called Vue Panoramique sur Fontvieille. If you put that in your google maps it will lead you to the viewpoint you see in my first picture. The second picture is on my way walking to Old Town. On your way to the viewpoint, you will pass the Prince’s Palace right before you get to Old Town. Also, something to note is if you want to go to Monte Carlo there is a dress code for most of the areas inside it and be sure to check the hours before going.
4. Menton
My favorite! I loved this town so much I made a blog post just about it called Top 6 Instagram Spots in Menton. Menton is about a 45 min train ride from Nice, but so worth it! This town has lemons everywhere and I loved it! As you can see in my last picture here - that was walking through Old Town. To get a picture with the beautiful colored buildings and water in it, you will put Quai Imperatrice Eugenie in your gps. To get to the famous yellow switch back stairs spot, you will put Rampe Saint-Michel in your gps. This town is a must see!
5. Cannes
I was hesitant on going to Cannes, because I’m not into the whole film festival thing and didn’t know if it would be worth it to go if I didn’t care to see that. However it pleasantly surprised me. I thought the town was very beautiful and had lots of charm. The first picture was taken on my way walking to the beach shown in the second picture. The beach is called Plage du Midi. This was a nice change from the rocky beaches, it was more of a sandy beach. If you don’t have a lot you want to see in Cannes it’s easy to see Antibes also in the same day.
6. Antibes
Antibes was nice to see, but it wasn’t my favorite. I think part of this though was it was rainy and we had got a late start to our day, so we didn’t have much time there. When we got to this beach, Plage de la Gravette, the sun had finally came out. It was a sandy beach with rocks and there were others swimming, however it did look a little dirty. If you have more time here I would recommend going to billionaires bay, which we didn’t get to. Other than that, the town itself is pretty small and you could do Antibes and Cannes in the same day.
Recap:
You could see all of the spots I mentioned in 3.5 days if needed. However I would recommend having a home base like Nice and doing train day drips to see the other towns and spending more like 5-7 days. My two top favorites were Menton and Villefranche-sur-Mer.