The French Riviera Road Trip: A 10-Day Itinerary from Nice to Saint-Tropez
The French Riviera is best explored by car or train, where you can spot when you want (or most of the time) and get the best views of the coastline. After, spending 7 summers of holidaying in Sainte Maxime, I finally have the ultimate ten-day route I'd hand to a friend visiting the coast for the first time. You'll want a car (small — the villages weren't built for anything wider than a Fiat 500) and a loose plan. Ten days gives you two proper bases, a handful of day trips and enough long lunches to actually feel like you've been on holiday. Below is the diary version, day by day, with everywhere I ate, swam and pulled over for a photo.
Before you go: the shape of the trip
Ten days, two bases, one hire car. Fly into Nice, out of Nice (or Marseille if you're tagging on the extra loop at the end). You'll spend the first half of the trip on the eastern Riviera around Nice - the pastel villages, the corniches, the border with Italy - and the second half further west, on the peninsula between Sainte-Maxime and Saint-Tropez, where the days are slow and the beach clubs take over.
The rough shape:
- Days 1–2: Nice (base)
- Day 3: Eze + Monaco day trip
- Day 4: Menton day trip
- Day 5: Drive Nice → Antibes (overnight)
- Day 6: Antibes & Cap d'Antibes
- Day 7: Drive Antibes → Sainte-Maxime, via Tourtour
- Days 8–10: Sainte-Maxime, Saint-Tropez & Pampelonne (base)
- Extras: Gassin sunset; Marseille as a two-night add-on
Pick up the hire car at Nice airport on arrival — parking in central Nice is a nightmare, so if you're happy on foot for the first two days you can delay collection until day 3.
Days 1–2: Nice
Nice is where the trip should start. I'd give it two full days: one for the beach and the Promenade, one for the Old Town, the Flower Market and a slow morning at a café.
Eat & drink:
- Bocca Nissa — the best dinner we had on the whole trip. Rooftop tapas, unreal value for the location.
- La Maison de Céline — serving the most decadent pastries & sweet treats.
- Goji Goji & Josephine's — the two coffee stops I keep going back to.
- Vibes — perfect for pre-dinner drinks.
Do:
- Walk the full length of the Promenade des Anglais at sunrise (or after dinner — cooler, quieter, prettier).
- Nice Old Town + the Cours Saleya flower and produce market.
- Aperitif and people-watch in Place Masséna.
You can see my full Nice day here.
Day 3: Eze & Monaco
Pick up the car and drive the Moyenne Corniche east — it's about 25 minutes to Eze and another 15 on to Monaco.
Eze — go straight to the Jardin Exotique at the top of the village. It's a switchback climb through a medieval labyrinth of stone alleys, and the panoramic view at the peak — cliffs falling 429m straight into the Mediterranean, Cap Ferrat curling below — is the one people photograph on postcards. Grab a coffee at Château Eza on the way down.
Monaco — Do the Casino Square, the harbour, the changing of the guard at the Palace at 11:55am if you time it right, and lunch in Monaco-Ville, the old town on the rock. It's a strange, very shiny place, but going for the day rather than staying is the right call.
Drive back to Nice for dinner.
Day 4: Menton
Half an hour further east than Monaco, right on the Italian border. Menton is my quiet favourite of the eastern Riviera: pastel houses tumbling down to the sea, quieter beaches than anywhere between here and Cannes, and — if you go in February — a mildly deranged Lemon Festival that takes over the whole town.
Even outside festival season, the old town is a slow, sun-warmed loop: climb up to the Basilique Saint-Michel Archange, wander back down through the ochre alleys, and eat a proper Italian pizza on the seafront.
Take the train from Nice-Ville — about €5 each way, roughly 35 minutes, and it means no parking headache. Coming back you can hop off at Villefranche-sur-Mer for a swim if you have the energy.
Day 5: Nice → Antibes (25km, ~30 mins)
A short drive west along the A8. Check in, drop the bags, and spend the afternoon on the ramparts of the Old Town looking out over one of the largest superyacht marinas on the coast.
Day 6: Antibes & Cap d'Antibes
This was my favourite full day of the trip. Everyone tells you to prioritise Cannes, Monaco and Nice — I'd genuinely put Antibes above all three.
Morning: the Provençal market in the covered halles (every morning September–May), then coffee at Nomads or Good Mate. Wander to Antibes Cathedral and along the ramparts to spot the superyachts from Plage de la Gravette.
Afternoon: drive 10 minutes to Cap d'Antibes for the Sentier du Littoral — a 5km coastal path that hugs the cape past millionaire villas, secret coves and pines leaning over the water. Swim at Plage de la Garoupe at the end. This is the prettiest walk on the Riviera and almost nobody outside of France seems to know about it.
See my full Antibes day here.
Day 7: Antibes → Sainte-Maxime, via Tourtour
The drive that people skip. On the map it's a 90-minute hop from Antibes to Sainte-Maxime straight along the coast. Don't do that. Turn inland instead and add Tourtour — the medieval hilltop village they call the Village dans le Ciel — as a long lunch stop. It'll add roughly two hours to the drive and it's the best two hours you'll spend all week.
The 360° views from Tourtour's peak stretch across all of high Provence — the Var department, the vineyards, sometimes clear across to the Alps on a good day. Wander the stone alleys, sit under a wisteria at one of the two village squares, order a long lunch. Read my full Tourtour guide for exactly what to do.
Roll back down through the vineyards to Sainte-Maxime in time for a swim at your hotel and dinner at Les P'tits Galets — toes literally in the sand and great cocktails.
Days 8–10: Sainte-Maxime, Saint-Tropez & Pampelonne
Sainte-Maxime is where I always base for this end of the coast. It's quieter, cheaper and prettier than Saint-Tropez itself, and there's a small passenger ferry (Les Bateaux Verts) that runs directly across the gulf into Saint-Tropez port in 15 minutes — you skip the traffic, the parking and the drama of driving in.
Day 8 — Saint-Tropez. Take the morning ferry over. Coffee at Saddle or Roll's Cafe, a pastry at Cédric Grolet (unmissable), and then climb up to the Citadelle for the view over the Gulf. Wander the Old Town — it's genuinely still charming outside the port. Lunch at Maison Parpellé, a quick swim at Plage de la Ponche, and if it's a Tuesday or Saturday the Place des Lices market is worth timing your trip around. Full day itinerary here.
Day 9 — Pampelonne beach club day. The whole reason you're here. Book SALTO — my favourite on the whole beach — for a day bed and lunch. It's the retro-parasol, laid-back, Italian-Korean menu, burnt-pineapple-spritz version of Pampelonne. If you want the flashier scene, swap it for Nikki Beach or Club 55. Full breakdown of the beach clubs by vibe is in my day trips guide.
Day 10 — the slow one. A rosé morning at Château Minuty in Ramatuelle (walk-ins for small groups, tastings from €5), lunch at Couleurs Jardin in La Croix-Valmer, and sunset at Gassin — the tiny hilltop village with what I think is the best panoramic view of the whole Gulf of Saint-Tropez. Drive back to Sainte-Maxime for a final dinner at Le Jardin or Cafe Le Sud.
The optional add-on: Marseille (2 nights)
If you have another couple of days, drive west from Sainte-Maxime to Marseille — roughly 2.5 hours along the A8. Base yourself in Le Panier (the Old Town), do a boat out to the Calanques National Park for the day — the turquoise fjord-like inlets are the closest thing France has to the Amalfi Coast — and eat bouillabaisse at least once. Fly home from Marseille-Provence airport instead of doubling back to Nice.
How I'd tweak it
If you like cities more than villages: add a night in Cannes between Antibes and Sainte-Maxime, and use the extra day to take the ferry to Île Sainte-Marguerite.
If you like the quiet inland Provence side: add a second night near Tourtour and slow it right down — the Var department has more medieval villages than you can properly see in a week.
If you're going in July or August: book everything — beach clubs, restaurants, the Sainte-Maxime ferry — at least a month ahead. And factor in an extra 30 minutes on every drive; the coast road bottlenecks brutally in high season.
If you have kids: swap Monaco for a full Villefranche-sur-Mer day (calmer beach, easier parking), and pick a hotel with a pool in Sainte-Maxime rather than the pebble beach of Nice.
What you need to know before you go
- Length
- 10 days (1.5 weeks) — expandable to 12 with the Marseille add-on
- Bases
- Nice (nights 1–4), Antibes (nights 5–6), Sainte-Maxime (nights 7–10)
- Best time to go
- Late May–June or September–early October
- Getting around
- Hire car essential from day 3 onwards; trains between Nice / Villefranche / Monaco / Menton
- Flights
- In & out of Nice, or into Nice and out of Marseille if adding the western extension
- Rough budget
- £1,800–£3,500pp for 10 days, mid-range; add ~£150/day for beach club days
Frequently asked
How many days do you need for a French Riviera road trip?
Ten days is the sweet spot — enough to base in both Nice and Sainte-Maxime, cover the eastern day trips (Eze, Monaco, Menton), spend a full day on Cap d'Antibes, and still have proper Pampelonne beach club time in Saint-Tropez.
Do you need a car on the French Riviera?
For Nice, Menton, Monaco and Antibes you can get by on the coastal train. From Antibes onwards — Tourtour, Sainte-Maxime, Saint-Tropez, Gassin, Ramatuelle, the vineyards — you absolutely need a car. Pick up at Nice airport or delay until day 3.
Is it better to stay in Saint-Tropez or Sainte-Maxime?
Sainte-Maxime, every time. It's calmer, better value and the 15-minute Les Bateaux Verts ferry drops you straight in Saint-Tropez port — you get all the Saint-Tropez days without any of the traffic, parking or high-season chaos.
What is the best month for a French Riviera road trip?
Late May to mid-June, or all of September. The beach clubs are open, the sea is warm, the crowds are thinner and you're not paying August prices. Avoid the last two weeks of August unless you love queues.
Can you do this itinerary without a car?
You can adapt the first half — Nice, Eze/Monaco (bus 82), Menton and Antibes are all reachable by public transport. The Sainte-Maxime / Saint-Tropez / Tourtour half of the trip really needs a car; without one, base in Nice the whole time and swap those days for more eastern-Riviera exploring.
My full French Riviera toolkit
- The 5 best day trips in the South of France — the shorter round-up if you only have a week — Antibes, Pampelonne, Tourtour, Saint-Tropez and Nice.
- SALTO Beach Club, Pampelonne — the beach club I book every time on the Saint-Tropez side of the trip.
- Tourtour: the village in the sky — the full guide to the medieval hilltop village on the drive from Antibes to Sainte-Maxime.
- Where to eat, drink & explore in France — the full local map of restaurants, coffee spots, beach clubs and activities I'd send a friend to.
- Follow me on TikTok — where I share the full French Riviera trip in short-form video — beach clubs, drives and day trips.
