# Antibes, the Cap and the Picasso Museum — The South of France
> A walled town on the sea with the best market on the coast, a castle Picasso turned into a studio, and a pine cape of legendary villas. Antibes, on the Côte d’Azur.

*Source : https://the-south-of-france.com/en/french-riviera/antibes-picasso/*

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By **The Editors** — _Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes_

Spring 20268 min read Share LinkMail

Antibes keeps its sea walls and its old town intact between Nice and Cannes, a tangle of warm lanes inside the ramparts with the Mediterranean breaking just beyond them. Off its harbour ride some of the largest yachts in the world; inside its market the same town sells tomatoes and olive oil as it always has.

## I. The ramparts and the market

Walk the sea ramparts for the view back to the snow line of the Alps, then drop into the **Marché Provençal** on the Cours Masséna — a covered hall of flowers, cheeses and the local **socca** every morning. Beyond the old town the **Port Vauban** is the largest marina in Europe, the **Fort Carré** guarding it from its spit.

“A town small enough to keep its market, large enough to harbour the world’s yachts.”

From the notebook

![A covered Provençal market of flowers and produce](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1567720512899-3a71832bd46c?fm=jpg&q=74&w=1400&auto=format&fit=crop)

The Marché Provençal — the old town’s kitchen, under one long roof.

## II. The castle Picasso kept

On the ramparts, the **Château Grimaldi** became the **Musée Picasso** after the painter worked here through the autumn of 1946 and left much of what he made to the town. The light, the sea below the windows and the joy of that post-war season are all in the rooms — one of the most personal museums on the coast.

![A pine-covered cape reaching into a blue sea](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1582497475588-49b76871cf42?fm=jpg&q=76&w=2400&auto=format&fit=crop)

The Cap d’Antibes — pines, villas and the coast path around the point.

## III. The Cap and Juan-les-Pins

South of the town the **Cap d’Antibes** is a wooded headland of grand villas and the legendary **Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc**; a coast path, the _sentier du littoral_, rounds it past coves and rocks. On the western side, **Juan-les-Pins** keeps its pines and its summer jazz festival, where the giants of the music once played under the trees.

The Practical Carnet · Carnet pratique

### Plan the _visit_

Getting there

On the coastal train between Nice and Cannes, about 15 min from Nice; the old town is a walk from the station.

When to go

Spring and autumn; the market is at its best mid-morning, the Cap path best at dawn.

Where to stay

**Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc** on the point, or a small hotel inside the ramparts.

Read next

[Èze, the village in the air](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/french-riviera/eze-village/)

E

About the Author · L’auteur

#### Élise Marchand

Travel Editor — based in Marseille

Élise has been driving the back roads of the Midi for the journal since its first issue. She pays for her own rooms and her own lunches — and only writes about the places she would return to.

[More by Élise Marchand — voir ses articles](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/journal/)

Continue reading · À lire ensuite

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