Nice and into the mountains itinerary help

You can Google for best sand beaches on the French Riviera. They exist, but not in Nice, and not in great numbers. You might find better beaches around Antibes. The Verdon Gorge (note the spelling) is about 2 1/2 hours, or more from Nice. With 5 people, you will need a van, and every driver will need an International Driver's Permit. Expect the D highways to be 2 lane.

Aix is a 2 hour drive away, and is in Provence, not the Riviera. If you are interested in exploring Provence, perhaps consider splitting your stay.

Thank you for the reply. I should’ve mentioned we are certainly open to splitting time between 2 locations. I was thinking a day trip or 2 from Nice by train to nearby towns and possibly spend 3-4 days either in Provence or somewhere mountainous that’s close enough to fly back out of Nice. Again I’m very open to other itineraries at this point. My family of three do this sort of trip easily and we’ll stay a bit longer but it gets a bit more complicated when you add my parents who want fewer days away are a bit older but very capable.

I started this planning looking at Milan into the mountains or going toward the French coast, then side tracked to looking at Lyon and Chamonix so I’m a bit all over…please keep the info coming…:)

The hill towns in the Luberon Valley are lovely. If you are traveling early to mid July you will see lots of lavender fields. We took a train from Nice, after several days on the coast, to Aix and picked up a car there at the train station. We based just outside of Gordes and spent several days driving throughout the Luberon Valley, even to Arles one day. I can give you our exact sites of exploring if interested. There is a lot in that area.

then side tracked to looking at Lyon and Chamonix so I’m a bit all over

I have no helpful input, since my research of this area starts in Barcelona, goes north and keeps growing from there, but wanted to say you're not the only one this happens to!

You have several choices to narrow down.

Sandy beaches start from Cap d'Antbes and points further west, all along the coast. (There are a few, with mostly imported sand, to the west). You can stay in one of these towns or get the train from Nice to do a sandy beach day (Juan les Pins or Cannes are the easiest, not Antibes, as the Antibes train station is further from the sandy side). Another option are more overlooked points to the west or the very busy/crowded St. Tropez/Ramatuelle. There are scenic coastal hikes all throughout the coast, but many get very hot in July.

For the lavendar fields, you may wish to hit the higher elevations, like the Valensole plateau, as they come into peak later than the Luberon. You can certainly drive from Nice to the Gorge du Verdon and then continue on through Manosque to the Valensole plateau (Moustiers Ste. Marie is a pleasant town to stay in). There is boating/kayaking in the Gorge and hikes along the rim (and the simple drive, which is relatively easy). You can also go down to the Luberon valley, with plenty of villages and markets, and there is a hillcrest trail you may enjoy.

Getting to the hill villages and the Mercantour National Park on the French-Italian border will require a car or bus next summer. The Train des Merveiles is under renovation work all year long until September. There is an Italian alternative that can be caught in Ventimiglia.

.

Thanks! That’s more great info. I should also clarify when I said beach I really should’ve said coast… I didn’t mean a sandy beach just cute coastal towns. I know the July time period will be jammed with tourists in most of the coastal towns so I just plan to come prepared. The appeal is more the scenic coastline, seafood, and I love a quaint fishing village but I don’t think we’ll probably find that. We loved the west coast of Portugal in 2023. I’m also now looking more at the Italy side… maybe flying into Milan heading to the coast and hopefully mountains maybe flying out of Nice. Still appreciating all the advice.

I'm afraid that "car", "July", "Nice" should never appear in the same sentence.

Nice is extremely crowded for parking at any time, mid summer even worse. There are reasons that locals' cars often have souvenir dings and dents from imaginative parking manoeuvres. I now make it a point to never look for parking in Nice.

Traffic there and in Villefranche-sur-Mer can make you cry.

Get the car in Provence for those places are not easily linked by train - from Cannes all the way to the Italian border the train is fast and frequent and cheap. And scenic on steroids.

I'd love to be on your trip.

If you are mainly interested in connecting up and down the coast, then Nice has your best connections. There are still smaller towns along the coast like Villefrance sur mer that fit that bill (but can be jammed in the summer, as noted), and there are strips of coastline that have nice walks like around Cap Ferrat, Cap d'Antibes and up Mont Boron to Fort Alban. Once you head west of Cannes you can find some even smaller villages but for many you need a car (or a connecting bus from the train).

Also from Cannes (or Nice or Antibes) you can catch a ferry to Ste Marguerite island, which is an island off the coast that still retains its largely undeveloped character. There is also the massif l'esterel is not yet overrun with people and includes a regional park. It is red rocky cliffs, narrow coves and a seaside peak filled with hiking trails. Similarly, up the coast, past St Tropez towards Hyeres, are the Porquerolles and the Port Cros national park. And then in western provence, near Marseille, you have Cassis and the Calanques, which have become so touristed that parts are now on a reservation system.

Note on a car, if you choose to drive, you can pick up the car after staying along the coast for a few days. The airport can be a convenient place to do that (or the train stations, with less choice and perhaps more traffic leaving). You can return it at the airport of your departure.