Riviera itinerary

Note that Roquebrune in the village on the hillside driving down from La Turbie and the autoroute. Cap Martin is at sea level and has the hike around it. The two are administratively joined as one town into RBCM. You can see Monaco from Roquebrune village, a stone's throw away.

Meanwhile, Eze is on your way back to Nice. If you take the middle corniche, you'll drive right to it.

It's been 15 years but my week using only the local bus/train/and a couple Viatours while based entirely in Villefranche was incredible- this was in August, rather than late spring. I used the RS guidebook extensively and while the hand- drawn maps can sometimes make distances look much shorter than the reality (!?) in this case it is true- a highlight was walking the seaside cliff path from Villefranche to Monaco, often passed by glamorous joggers and then the first glimpse of the yachts and harbor. The botanical gardens were gorgeous, the museum interesting and then we played a 5 euro gambling machine off the lobby just to be able to go inside. Sitting on a bench watching the limos come and go- it was all fantastic and easily filled 1/2 day.
You don't mention seeing Chagall or Matisse? That was of importance to me.
Perfume?
And the Rothschild gardens - a short bus from Villefranche- outdoor lunch and more yachts :)
The promenade in Nice ( bus from Villefranche) was fun, for the "been there" experience and the people watching and a bit of time on the (very rocky) beach, but personally about an hour was plenty.
Lucky you! Safe travels!

I love Antibes as a base but a day trip - I'd probably pick Grasse for perfume or if you like art museums Chagall. The Picasso museum in Antibes was pretty boring I thought in comparison. I'm "eh" on Eze... St Paul de Vence might be my choice. I think you can do mist of the sightseeing IN Nice in one long morning unless you love to people watch. I'd probably hit Menton if you are trying to fill a day BUT I'd pick Grasse over Menton. If you are wine drinkers there are some nice places to grab a tour and have lunch too. Or take a food tour in Nice

Seems to be a busy time in the area! The Monaco Grand Prix, Cannes Film festival... maybe more people around? We arrive in Villefranche a couple days later you but miss those events. My husband really wanted to see the Grand Prix :(. I am making reservations for restaurants now, even though it seems early.

Thanks everyone for the replies. Modern art isn’t our thing, so the museums in the Riviera don’t call us.

Bets, good idea about seeing Eze on the way back to Nice. Thank you.

Karen, thanks for giving me some ideas for things to do in Monaco. It will probably be mostly people watching and maybe a quick trip into the Casino just to lay eyes on it.

Donna, we don’t have any interest in perfumes, but is there anything else about Grasse that you loved? I would love to hear why you prefer St Paul over Eze. Not sure how many hill villages we need to see.

Jef: I read that tickets to the Grand prix are 10,000 euros each, so perhaps that will make your hubby feel better about missing it 😊

Bxrlover, thanks for that reality check!

A few comments...

The main Russian Cathedral (the real nice one) is in Nice, just to the northwest of the train station.

The walk around Cap Ferrat is nice, as is the Villa Ephrussi (Kerylos is interesting too, but the gardens and grounds are better at the Rothchilds). You should have time to go to Eze, unless you want to have lunch or a stay for an apero. La Turbie is not far away, and it is very compact as well. Great views from either place. There is a perfume "factory" there as well.

I'd recommend hitting the market in either Nice or Antibes. In Nice, a lunch on the beach (make a reservation, like at le Galet) or at Le Plongeoir on a beautiful day will be highly memorable. In Nice, there are some non-modern art museums as well, including the Museee Massena, in an old mansion. The 2nd floor has a permanent exhibit on Napoleon.

If you are not interested in perfume I would skip Grasse. The loop from St. Paul de Vence to Tourettes-sur-Loup and then on to Gourdon (a perched village) is quite nice. In fact, i'd consider just doing this on Tuesday and then dropping the car off in Nice.

You can get to Monaco, Menton and Antibes easily by train or bus. The only limitation is that late night returns from Monaco are easier by car.. Since you will have already seen the views from the various corniches, taking the train will be efficient and fast, with less parking aggravation.

Haut de Cagnes would not be my first choice, unless there is something specific you are looking for there.

What are your specific interests? I noticed a lot of walks and the interest in ruins and older buildings. I can make more specific, off the normal path suggestions.

Thanks for all the information Gooster.

I have planned the bejeezus out of our time up until the Cote d’Azur, so am trying to leave more room at the end here to just see what we feel like doing on any given day. Ville Ephrussi looks interesting, so we may do that for the gardens. We will have come from Provence, so markets should have been covered (not super into that to be honest).

Re: beachfront dining, we are staying at the Beau Rivage, which has a restaurant along the beach. Have you any idea if it’s comparable to le Galet or le Plongeoir? I hadn’t budgeted time for that, so thanks for the suggestion.

As for museums, we will have been in Paris before Provence and a little goes a long way for my husband. The Orsay will have to do this time around.

I had originally planned to drive the loop you suggested and we may still if there is time after Antibes. Fodors guidebook describes Haut de Cagnes as a charming, Eze like village (“steeply cobbled Old Town, tiny piazzas, winding streets that change to stairways, hobbit houses”) and the view from the Chapelle Notre Dame de la Protection is supposed to be very good.

In terms of our interests, we are active, outdoorsy types, which is why you see so many walks. Verdun Gorge would be my ultimate, but can’t see fitting it in this time around. Limitations are that we don’t like lying on a beach, my husband doesn’t drink and isn’t a foodie at all so wine and food based things are out. Off the beaten path things tend to be our preference. Appreciate any suggestions.

To answer we are active, outdoorsy types, which is why you see so many walks. Verdun Gorge would be my ultimate, but can’t see fitting it in this time around. Limitations are that we don’t like lying on a beach, my husband doesn’t drink and isn’t a foodie at all so wine and food based things are out. Off the beaten path things tend to be our preference. Appreciate any suggestions.

You might want to go up to Tende and the Mercantour if it is accessible. This is a mountainous setting from which people take off to the back country. It has probably evolved by now, but when I was there, you could visit a museum about the Mercantour National Park and there were two restaurants and some basic hotels, along with the local church and other buidlings. The atmosphere is outdoorsy.

To go into the back country, you have to arrange a guide with a 4x4 in advance, have good shoes, poles, etc. There are thousands of neolithic rock paintings and engravings people go to see. It can be done only a few months a year.

Tende is accessible by train. In fact, a touristic train made the scenic round trip from Nice to Tende daily during the summer, but you'd have to research to see if the touristic train is running again. I think it might be.

@bxrlover

Have you any idea if it’s comparable to le Galet or le Plongeoir?
The beach resto and club at the Beau Rivage are very good -- I've dined there before. Le Galet may be slightly better but that one will work just fine. Le Plongeor is different experience -- an old diving platform set out in the water with a great view. Just do one -- you have to do lunch.

I questioned the Hauts de Cagnes as the drive to that portion is just a bit of a hassle, following the coastal route and getting through lower Cagnes-sur-Mer. It is a stone hill top village but it is quite surrounding by build-out, unlike Eze (above the sea) and Gourdon (above the Gorge du Loup -- there is also hiking in the area including the plateau above, where later in the summer the trails are spotted with cluster of wild lavender).

I too recommend the Mercantour NP. You can take the train to Tende (it technically runs all the time but the narrated version is just once in the morning -- it reopened last year after Storm Alex in Oct 2020), the narrated version is only once a day in the AM. You can also drive up to the towns via D6204, which still has many delays and diversions other certain roads may still be damaged. The small museum in Tende is quite good (it explains the history of the prehistoric rock carvings and has examples extracted) and recently renovated and there are a few trails directly from town. The most famous include the Vallee des Merveilles (Valley of Wonders). However, I think the shuttle bus from Tende to Casterino is still out of service due to damage from the storm. This was one of the main routes to get to to a key jumping off point for trails. Certain trails are still down, unfortunately, but there is still much to see (see the map at the link).

In Nice, you should aslo see Place Garibaldi, it's nice too. If you have time, visit Cimiez. It's a neighborhood that too many people forget.
When you have the ice cream Place Rossetti, please don't go to Fennochio, it's the tourist trap. In that area, the best gelato is at Azurro in my opinion.

The idea of visiting Grasses is not really for the perfume but rather the history of perfume and how important it is to France. We are not perfume or museum people but I do love to learn and it's a nice break for us from cycling and hiking. Otherwise I would not visit Grasse really. Eze is just a viewpoint (IMHO)