UNDERSTAND THE BASE
The Riviera, town by town. Trade-offs included.
We have a favourite first base. Nice. There, we said it.
But sand, silence, palace life or a slower coast can change the answer. Choose the holiday first. Then the town. Then, finally, the pool photos.
Base = the town you’ll sleep in each night. Choose the town before the hotel.
HOW THE BASES DIFFER
Same coast. Different trip.
The prettiest place is not automatically the best base. Annoying, we know. Pick the place that makes your actual holiday easier. Beauty can sulk for five minutes.
Nice
Best first base. Not sacred. Just annoyingly useful, with trains, restaurants, culture and a real city after dinner.
Villefranche & Cap-Ferrat
Best for beauty. Beauty wins. Logistics grumble a little. That can be a very good trade.
Antibes
Best balance. Old town, sand and useful trains. Very little need to perform.
Cannes
Best for polish. Another confession. Compact, sandy and very serious about the hotel being part of the holiday.
Monaco
Best for spectacle. Easy day trip, expensive base. We would not make it the default unless Monaco itself is the point.
Menton
Best for a slower east. Softer, quieter and the perfect counterpoint to Monaco.
Worth leaving the main line for
Four detours that change the trip.
Not every good Riviera day starts with a seaside stop. These four earn the extra logistics when the mood is right.
Èze
Best for the panorama. Small, steep and spectacular. Timing matters almost as much as the view.
Saint-Paul-de-Vence
Best for art inland. Ramparts, galleries and Fondation Maeght make it more than a pretty-village stop.
Saint-Tropez
Only if you really want it. A full-day expedition from Nice.
Grasse
Best for perfume. Make your own fragrance in the town that taught the trade. A day trip, not a base.
If you are still hesitating
Start with the decisions that remove options.
Still hesitating? Fine. But do not open twelve more tabs. We have done enough of that for everybody.
Nice or Cannes?
City versus polish, pebbles versus sand, central base versus western bias.
Compare → 02Riviera or Amalfi?
Rail versus ferries, art versus cliffs, easy improvisation versus a very specific postcard.
Compare →03Without a car?
Often the easier first trip. The train does more work than the brochure admits.
Open Plan → 04Five days?
One Nice base, four distinct Riviera moods and no luggage choreography.
Open the plan →