Home / Destinations / French Riviera

French Riviera

What is French Riviera?

France is known mostly for debatably the most romantic city in the world - Paris. So much so that France and Paris are often used interchangeably by many new travelers. France, however, is not just about that! The country is also famous for its beaches and is a playground for the rich and the famous. The French Riviera is about that.

The Mediterranean coastline in the south-east of France is publically known as the French Riviera. Also known as the Côte d'Azur in French - literally translated as "Azure Coast." It is also known for Eze and Gourdon's perched villages, Grasse's perfumeries, and the glass blowers of Biot, the potters in Vallauris.

The Basics

Country	France (Europe)
Currency	Euros (EUR)
Language	The official language is French. Most French also speaks English.
Best Time to visit	If you like intense heat, southern France is sizzling hot in June, July, and August. Spring (March-May) and autumn (September-October) are decidedly quieter; prices are also considerably lower.
Visa	France is a part of the Schengen Visa Scheme.

Stay Safe

Criminals prefer to pick on tourists because the tourists are usually relaxed and not expecting anything. Avoiding being a victim is generally as simple paying attention to what you are doing, locking your car while you are in it and not flaunting your valuables. This can take the fun out of the holiday but on balance it is probably even less fun to be a crime-victim! So stay safe and enjoy the views.

Cities in the French Riviera

Beaulieu sur Mer Biot Bormes les Mimosas Cagnes-sur-Mer	Hyères Juan les Pins La Londe-les-Maures Mandelieu La-NNapoule	Sanary sur Mer St Laurent du Var Toulon Villefranche-sur-Mer	Golfe-Juan Juan-les-Pins Villeneuve-Loubet Cagnes-sur-Mer
Cap d'Ail Fréjus Golfe Juan Haut de Cagnes	Menton Roquebrune Cap Martin Saint Jean Cap Ferrat Sainte Maxime	Beausoleil Roquebrune-Cap-Martin Menton Cap d'Ail	Six-Fours-les-Plages La Seyne-sur-Mer Mandelieu-la-Napoule the Îles de Lérins

Cities you’ll want to visit in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur include

Nice
Cannes
Saint-Tropez
Antibes
Èze
Monaco (including Monte-Carlo)
Grasse
St. Raphael
Toulon
Marseille

Events and Festivals

Monaco:

Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo in January
International Circus Festival in January / February
Monte-Carlo Masters, April–May
Formula One Grand Prix race, May

Nice:

Carnival, February
Jazz Festival, July

Menton:

Lemon Festival, February

Grasse:

Rose Festival, May
Jasmine Festival, August

Cannes:

Cannes Film Festival in May
Cannes Film Market, May

Toulon:

Toulon Tournament, Tall Ships' Race

Arriving to the French Riviera

The Riviera is well served with roads, railways and Nice Airport is one of the busiest in France.

The Mainentry port to the region is through Nice.

BY AIR:

Nice’s Côte d'Azur Airport, is France's third-busiest airport and very well connected to major cities across the world.

PRO TIP: While planning a France itinerary, one can start from Paris and fly out from Nice Or vice versa.

Getting to the French Riviera

The Riviera is well served by flights to Nice airport, one of the busiest in France. Nice airport lies between Nice and Cagnes sur Mer, and is well linked to Riviera resorts by bus and coach services. It is also linked to Monaco by helicopter services. There are also a few low-cost flights serving the airport at Toulon.

BY TRAIN:

The whole of the Riviera coast is well served by train, the main Marseilles- Ventimiglia railway running close to the shore for much of the way between Toulon and the Italian border. There are direct TGV services from Paris, Brussels, LIlle, Strasbourg and other cities. Click here for train times and tickets.

Also connected via High-speed trains serve the coastal region and inland to Grasse, with the TGV Sud-Est service reaching Nice-Ville station in five and a half hours from Paris. Major towns such as Cannes and Nice are also served by express trains from Paris as well as (for Nice) trains from Genoa and other places in Italy. Due to competition from the European Discount Airlines such as Easyjet, SNCF (the French Railways) often offer very cheap fares from northern France

BY ROAD:

If you are travelling by car then you should probably arrive using the A8 motorway from Aix-en-Provence or from Italy. The French department name for this region is Alpes Maritimes and the back country is extremely hilly. Driving from Geneva, Avignon or Turin as the crow flies is extremely scenic - however it is also mountainous, slow and not for those who suffer from car-sickness.

Get Around

The Riviera has an adequate bus and train service. Most towns and villages also have taxis.

BY CAR:

The Riviera region has one of the worst accident records in France and every local has his or her favourite story about a mad driver. At vacation times the driving situation is exacerbated by the hordes of tourists from different countries who have completely different driving styles.

BY TRAIN:

There is one main line from Italy via Monaco/Nice/Cannes and then off towards Marseille, but not St. Tropez because there is no train to it.

In addition to the mainline there are two scenic branch lines - from Nice to Cuneo and Nice to Digne. In 2005 the branch line from Cannes to Grasse has reopened.

BY BUS:

There is no unified bus network. Rather there is a mixture of routes and information can be hard to come by on the internet.

French Riviera Pass

The French Riviera Pass is the « city card » proposed by the Nice Côte d’Azur Convention and Visitors Bureau. It provides free access to the most important sites in Nice and on the Côte d'Azur and helps you make big savings on your holiday budget!

Discover Nice and the Côte d'Azur with a single card.

Available in 24Hr, 48Hr and 72Hr options

For More information, visit - https://en.frenchrivierapass.com/faq

Eat

Cafés, bars and restaurants are available to meet almost all price-points and most tastes, however the vast majority of eateries serve food local to the area - that is to say Provençal cuisine with influences from Italy. Pizza restaurants are ubiquitous here but the pizza is not at all the typical American style as pizzas normally have a very thin base. Many pizzas are served with a few olives on top unless you explicitly request their absence and it is normal to add a spicy olive oil based dressing - "sauce pimente" - before eating.

Asian cuisine - Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese etc. is available but is not common outside the main seaside towns and it can be very hard to get the ingredients yourself although there are specialty stores in Cannes and Nice. Many Asian restaurants offer a multitude of Asian cuisines (e.g. Thai/Chinese/Vietnamese) and the food is rarely spicy unless you specifically request it to be so.

Bouillabaisse and Salade Niçoise are perhaps the best known local specialities although there are others such as Socca. The mountainous back country makes a number of (mostly goat or sheep) cheeses which are usually available in local supermarkets as well as at market stalls. The Riviera has a number of olive oil mills and a lot of olive trees.

Most supermarkets are open Monday-Saturday from approx 9am-8pm and, particularly in the summer, some are also open on Sunday mornings. Most towns have markets which typically operate in the morning and early afternoon of a particular day or days to sell fresh produce. Most towns and villages also have a number of bakeries which generally open from around 6 or 7am every morning as well as butchers, fish-mongers and so on.

Drink

The region makes many wines with Cassis and Bandol being probably the best known. The major wine areas are east of St. Raphael and wine tasting makes a pleasant change from other activities. You can taste the excellent vin de Bellet on Nice hills.

Take a Quiz

Can't finish the course?