French Riviera itinerary: 5 days by train from one base

This five-day plan treats Nice as the base and the coast railway as your transport. It works as a first trip to the Côte d'Azur, and the days are in an order that keeps you from backtracking. Each day has one anchor and one optional extra, so you can drop a stop when the weather or your energy changes.

You do not need a car. If you are weighing it up, our guide on train or car on the Riviera compares the two. For where to sleep, see where to stay on the Côte d'Azur, which fits this plan with a base in Nice. The Riviera is also a good first stop on a longer trip through France.

Day 1 is Nice, day 2 is Monaco and Èze, day 3 is Antibes and Cannes, day 4 is Menton and the Italian side, and day 5 is open for Grasse or a beach day. All of it is on or near the coast railway, so you can leave the hotel without luggage and be back for dinner.

Two rules keep the plan smooth. First, start early on Monaco and Cannes days, because the trains and the old towns fill by late morning in July and August. Second, check the weather the evening before: if the forecast is poor, swap the beach day for a museum or a market. Check the opening days of any museum or garden you plan to visit, since many close one day a week.

Spend your first day in Nice. Start in the old town, with its narrow lanes and the Cours Saleya market, which runs on mornings and is a good place for coffee and a first look at local produce. Walk up through the old town to the castle hill for views over the bay, then come down toward the port.

In the afternoon, take the seafront promenade and spend an hour on the beach, which is pebbles, not sand. Public stretches are free, and private clubs rent loungers. Eat dinner in the old town or near the port, and go to bed early, because day 2 starts with a train. Our Nice travel guide covers the market, the tram and the neighborhoods in more detail.

If you arrive from the airport on day 1, take tram line T2, which the airport says reaches the center in under 30 minutes. If you land as a non-EU traveler on your first entry to the Schengen area, allow time for the Entry/Exit System at the border; see how EES works.

Go east. Take a morning train to Monaco, which takes about 20–25 minutes from Nice. Walk up to the old town on the Rock, see the palace square, and come down to the harbor and the casino square. Monaco is small and steep, and you can cover it in half a day.

In the afternoon, return by train to Èze-sur-Mer, or take a bus from Nice up to the village of Èze, which sits on a cliff about 30 minutes from the city. The lanes are narrow and the garden at the top has sea views. Read the Èze travel guide for how to get there, and whether to hike the steep path or take the bus. If you are fit and the weather is cool, hike up; otherwise take the bus and save your legs.

For most independent travelers, the train and bus are cheaper and more flexible. A tour is worth considering if you have limited time or do not want to plan the connections.

Go west. Take a morning train to Antibes, about 20–30 minutes from Nice. Walk the old town, visit the covered market, and follow the ramparts along the sea. Allow time for a swim, because the beaches near Antibes and Juan-les-Pins are sandy, which makes a nice change from Nice. See the Antibes travel guide for the market and the old town.

In the afternoon, continue to Cannes, a short train ride along the coast. Walk the Croisette, climb to the old Suquet quarter for the view, and take a harbor boat to the Lérins islands if you have time. Our Cannes travel guide explains the islands and the festival season. Return to Nice in the evening, and check the last train times before you plan a late dinner.

If you prefer one base on this side of the coast, spend two nights in Antibes or Cannes instead; see our where to stay guide for how the bases compare.

Go east again, this time farther. Take a morning train to Menton, which is about 35 minutes from Nice. The town is known for its lemons, its painted old town and its gardens in the hills. Walk the seafront, climb through the old town, and visit one garden. Our Menton travel guide lists the gardens and the lemon festival season.

If you want to go to Italy, the train continues across the border to Ventimiglia, which is a short ride away and has a street market on certain days. Carry your passport, as temporary checks can happen, and check the market day before you plan around it. For Americans and other non-EU visitors, time in Italy counts toward your 90 days in the Schengen area; our Schengen 90/180 rule guide explains how.

Return to Nice for dinner. This is the longest day on the coast, so keep it light and do not add a second town.

Use the last day to match your mood. For a change of pace, take the train to Cannes and a regional train on to Grasse, the perfume town above the coast, about an hour from Nice by bus or train. Visit the perfume museum or book a workshop. The Grasse travel guide covers the workshops and the harvest seasons.

For a beach day, take the train to Villefranche-sur-Mer, which has a small beach on a deep bay and is about 10 minutes from Nice. For a slow day, walk the promenade, visit a museum and spend the afternoon in a cafe in the old town.

If you want a longer day and have a car, the Verdon canyon is about 2–2.5 hours from Nice; read our Gorges du Verdon travel guide before you commit, since it needs a full day and a rental.

The plan survives a wet day if you know what to swap. On day 1, keep the old-town lanes and the market for the morning and add a museum in the afternoon. On day 2, Monaco works in drizzle, since the old town and the palace square are short walks, but skip the cliff path to Èze and the garden. On day 3, swap the Lérins boat for a museum in Antibes or the covered market, and keep Cannes for a short walk. Day 4 is the least weather-proof, because gardens are the point of Menton, so move it to a dry day and use the wet one for Nice or Grasse.

Check the forecast the evening before, and keep the flexible day 5 as a buffer. If two days are wet in a row, drop the day trip that depends on views most.

With three days, keep Nice, one eastern day and one western day. Take Monaco and Èze in the east, and Antibes in the west, and skip Cannes, Menton and Grasse. With seven days, add a night in a second base, such as Antibes or Menton, to avoid the long train home after a late dinner, and give Grasse and a beach day a day each. A week also lets you do one inland day by car; our page on train or car on the Riviera shows how to rent only for that day.

Drop Cannes if you are short on time and have no wish to see a seafront; Antibes gives you the sand and the old town, and Cannes adds mostly a promenade. Drop Menton if you are not interested in gardens or the Italian side. Drop the second museum in any town: one museum a day is enough on a trip built around trains and walking. Do not combine Monaco and Menton on the same day, since the trains are frequent but the old towns reward a slow pace.

The first mistake is changing base during a five-day trip. A single base in Nice costs less in time than two moves. The second is starting the Monaco day at 11am in summer, when the trains and the Rock are full. The third is booking a dinner far from the station on a day when you plan a late return. The fourth is forgetting the Entry/Exit System queue on day 1 if you land from outside the EU, and booking a tight first-day plan. The fifth is buying tickets for each day on the day without checking the last train back.

Regional trains and buses take cash or cards, and most visitors buy tickets at the station or from a machine. For the TGV to Nice from Paris or other French cities, book early for summer weekends and school holidays, and compare a rail pass against point-to-point tickets; our Eurail pass guide explains when a pass pays. See our transport guide for the wider picture.

For a trip with this many tickets and timetables, keep your phone connected. A data plan or eSIM means you can check train times and show a ticket at the gate; see our connectivity guide. Pickpockets work crowded trains and beaches, so keep bags closed, and consider cover from our insurance guide for theft and cancellations.

Add the tourist tax to your budget: hotels charge it per person per night, and rates differ between towns. Our note on tourist taxes in Europe explains how it works.