Itinerary help-French riviera 6 days

Personally, that is too many day trips. Villefrance is good for an afternoon at least so that day trip makes sense.

Monaco IMO is an all day thing or it's not really worth doing. There are a bunch of things to do and see.

French Rivera has the bluest water I have ever seen. It is worth to spend a day on the beach at a club. I did not think I would enjoy it as much as I did.

Do you have Colline du Chateau on your list? If not you should.

Hi Helen,

This is a very busy itinerary.
Day 1 is ok
Day 2 : it s going to be a very busy day. Stay at Villefranche in the afternoon, enjoying the environment, hiking and being at the beach.
Day 3 : all markets in France are in the morning. Cours Saleya is nice but you also have a very nice one in Antibes I d recommend you to go because, besides, while visiting it you can hang around the nearby streets and walk on the wall gazing at the sea / the harbor and the mountains at the distance. It s really worth it. The train station is not too far and you have many buses from Nice. Change your plans for this day!
Day 4 : stay the whole day in monaco
Day 5: St Paul is beautiful but you can avoid Cagnes unless you want to visit the Renoir museum. That’s the only thing to see there. While in St Paul, you can go to the other surrounding villages like Vence, Grasse, etc..
Day 6 : I haven’t found Ventimiglia a fantastic place to go. Menton is nice and small. You won’t need to stay very long. From there you can take the train and visit Cannes in the afternoon

I went to the French Riviera last May for 6 nights/5 days. I wanted a relaxing/leisurely vacation and only did 2 day trips.

I stayed in Villefranche-sur-mer the entire time and I had a room with a balcony overlooking the sea. I went to the beach (water was still chilly) a few times but also spent a lot of time just sitting on the balcony and watching the boats. To me, this was the best part of my trip.

Jean Cap Ferrat was an entire day for me. I walked to it from Villefranche-sur-mer. I didn't visit the Villa there though. I walked the path along the sea. Beaulieu-sur-mer is on the way to Jean Cap Ferrat and I enjoyed looking at shops there, such as a huge grocery store with all sorts of wonderful products and a home goods store that had wonderful Provence linens and towels.

Monaco is definitely an entire day. I walked to the casino from the train and then to the Aquarium.

Nice was a bit underwhelming for me. It's a big city, which I didn't enjoy as much as the smaller villages along the Riviera. I did visit the Marc Chagall museum (not big, was in and out in under an hour) and walked along the promenade. The old city was okay but I've seen lots of old cities in other countries so I wasn't impressed. It was a rainy day so that probably affected the experience.

I didn't go to St Paul de Vence or any of the other places on your list.

We landed in Nice and stored our luggage at Bagguys. Then spent that morning and afternoon exploring Nice, including the Cours Saleya. It was a good way to keep moving and fight that first day jet lag. We stayed in Villefrenche sur mer for 3 nights, so we had that wonderful village to return to every afternoon after day trips. So we didn’t have to set aside a separate day for VSM. You can easily enjoy the waterfron there without the crowds of Nice. On the first day we took the train to Menton for the morning. The took an Uber to Eze le Village for the afternoon. After reading comments on Monaco, we chose to skip that entirely. The next morning we went to Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild and would have explored Saint Jean Cap Ferrat and Beaulieu sur mer, but chose to return to VSM, wait out a rain shower, and go to the beach there.
I agree with others, you are moving around a lot with a choppy itinerary. The 3 days I’ve listed above would still give you time to explore inland to St Paul de Vence, or even move to Antibes for 3 nights and explore that direction.

I assume you are relying on public transit.

Day 2 is no problem. If you decide to lunch in Eze, make a reservation in advance. VSM is pretty small and there are few small sights like the Cocteau chapel, the Citadel and Rue Obscure. The beach is quite popular. If you are walkers, there is a walk up Mont Boron to Fort Alban (near Elton John's villa, nearby at the entrance to the area you can catch a bus down to Nice or walk down the other side). You can also walk around around Cap Ferrat. There is also a steep walk down from Eze but good shoes are required and it is much more of an effort.

Day 3 you can hit the market early. Just be aware on Monday it changes to a brocante/antique market. The Villa Ephrussi is beautiful, as are the gardens. Some people also choose to walk around the peninsula (per above) or spend time in St Jean. It is also easy to hit the Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu-sur-Mer as the bus does a little loop in center of the town (and then people sometimes take the train back).

Day 4. You can hit Monaco rather quickly or if you are into gardens and aquariums, or a formal meal, you can spend a day. It is pretty easy to spend a half day there and continue on to Menton (or vice versa). Alternatively, you can go to Mala Plage, which is one of the priciest private beaches on this section of the Cote d'Azur. There actually is a nice village at Roquebrune but the high village is separated from the lower train station by a distance/climb (as such, it gets less tourist traffic ).
Day 5: in Cagnes-sur-Mer, there is a second part, called Haut de Cagnes. There is a shuttle bus up to the perched village and castle. If you are coming from Nice, you probably know there is a transfer to the bus to St. Paul de Vence, You can visit the Fondation Maeght in SPdV and/or continue on to Vence (Matisse Chapel, nice old town). There are some regional buses beyond this point but the frequency and ease drops dramatically. By car, it is easy to continue on to Tourettes-sur-Loup and Gourdon, two beautiful villages. (BTW, Grasse is even further away)
Day 6: Ventimiglia is most popular and best on market days (Friday). It is a bit grittier than the other towns along the Italian Riviera. Dolceacqua is a beautiful stone village, however. You can take a bus or taxi/uber there from Ventimiglia or if you have a car, continue on to Apricale. You can also go further into italy, to places like Bordighera.

Unless you spend time on a beach or have a great desire to get a pic on the faux red carpet in front of the festival area, Cannes has less unique things to offer, with the exception of the ferries that leave the town. Cannes and Antibes can be easily combined together , even on a single return train ticket.

But it also comes down to what are you interested to see? It seems that museums and beaches are low on your priority, and that towns and architecture are your focus?