Why Honeymoon on the French Riviera
The color of the water is the first reason. On a clear day the sea under the cliffs at Cap Ferrat or Cap d'Antibes is a shade of blue that photos never quite capture.
The second is variety within a small area. In a single day you can swim at a beach club in the morning, eat lunch in an old port, see a Picasso collection in a castle by the sea and watch the sunset from a hilltop village. Artists from Matisse to Chagall settled here. Their museums are scattered along the coast.
Third, it suits couples who like a touch of glamour without needing it every night. Book one splurge dinner at a grand hotel, then spend other evenings eating socca and pizza from a wood oven in Nice's old town. Monaco is 20 minutes by train if you want to peek at the casino and superyachts.
When to Go
June and September are the best honeymoon months. The sea is warm enough for long swims, every hotel and beach club is open and the crowds are manageable.
July is lively and hot. August is the busiest month by far, with French and Italian families filling beaches and traffic jamming the coast roads. Prices peak then too.
May and early October are pleasant for walking and sightseeing, though the water is cool for most Americans. May is also when the Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix fill hotels and push up rates, so check those dates.
From November to March, many beach clubs and seasonal hotels close. The weather is mild and often sunny. Menton's lemon festival in February is a cheerful outing, but it isn't a beach trip.
Where to Stay
- Nice: the most practical base, with the airport close, the train station central and a huge choice of restaurants. Stay near the old town or the Promenade des Anglais. The Hotel Negresco is the grand old dame on the seafront.
- Antibes and Juan-les-Pins: a walled old town, a yacht harbor and sandy beaches. Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc on Cap d'Antibes is one of the most famous hotels on the coast; Hôtel Belles Rives sits right on the water in Juan-les-Pins.
- Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat: a quiet, wealthy peninsula of villas and coves. The Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, run by Four Seasons, has gardens down to the sea.
- Èze: Château de la Chèvre d'Or occupies a cluster of stone buildings at the top of the village, with terraces hanging over the coast.
- Saint-Paul-de-Vence: inland and artsy, home to La Colombe d'Or, with art on the dining room walls.
Romantic Things to Do
Walk the coastal path around Cap Ferrat, roughly two hours with spots to swim off the rocks. Afterward visit the pink Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild and its nine themed gardens.
Take the train to Èze-sur-Mer and hike the steep Nietzsche Path up to Èze village, about an hour. Reward yourselves with a drink on a terrace, then take the bus down.
In Nice, browse the flower and food market on Cours Saleya, climb Castle Hill for the view over the bay and eat dinner in the old town lanes.
In Antibes, see the Picasso Museum in the Château Grimaldi, then swim at a small beach on the Cap. From Cannes, a short ferry reaches the Lérins Islands, where pine forests and clear coves make a peaceful day away from the crowds.
For a splurge, charter a boat for a half day along the capes.
Getting There and Around
Nice Côte d'Azur Airport is the gateway. In summer it has nonstops from Newark, JFK, Washington Dulles and Boston; the rest of the year you'll connect through Paris or another European hub. The TGV from Paris takes about six hours, so most people fly.
The regional TER train runs along the coast from Cannes through Antibes, Nice, Villefranche, Èze-sur-Mer, Monaco and Menton. Trains are frequent and cheap. You also avoid the summer traffic and parking. Local buses fill the gaps, including the climb to Èze village and Saint-Paul-de-Vence.
You don't need a car on the coast. If you're coming from Provence, drop your rental at Nice Airport. A car is handy only for inland villages and the perched towns behind Grasse.
Taxis are expensive here; ride-hailing apps work in Nice and Cannes.
Food and Drink
Niçoise cooking is its own cuisine, closer to Liguria than Paris. Try socca, a crisp chickpea pancake cooked in a wood oven; pissaladière, an onion and anchovy tart; and the real salade niçoise, which locals make without cooked vegetables. Stuffed zucchini flowers and petits farcis appear in summer.
Seafood is best in the small ports. Villefranche and Antibes have harbor restaurants where you can watch boats come in.
The local rosé from Provence and the tiny Bellet vineyards above Nice is the drink of choice. A beach club lunch with a bottle of rosé is a classic Riviera afternoon; book the better clubs ahead in July and August.
For a special night, the coast has several Michelin-starred restaurants inside its grand hotels. Book weeks in advance in summer and ask for a terrace table at sunset.
Honeymoon Tips
Nice's beaches are pebbles, not sand. Bring water shoes or book a private beach club with loungers and mattresses. Juan-les-Pins and parts of Cannes have sand.
Use the train for day trips. Coastal roads in summer can take an hour to cover a few miles.
Book dinner in Monaco or at grand hotel restaurants well ahead and dress smartly; some do not admit shorts.
The climb to Èze is steep. Wear real shoes and carry water, especially in July.
Keep phones and bags close on packed summer trains and along the Promenade des Anglais, where pickpockets work the crowds.
If you're celebrating, a sunset drink at a hotel terrace on Cap d'Antibes or in Èze costs far less than dinner and gives you the same view.
