# The Riviera in Three Days — The South of France
> Nice, the perched villages and Cap Ferrat in seventy-two hours. A measured route along the Côte d’Azur, by old town, corniche and the sea.

*Source : https://the-south-of-france.com/en/french-riviera/riviera-in-three-days/*

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By **The Editors** — _Nice to Menton_

Spring 20268 min read Share LinkMail

The Riviera rewards restraint. Three days is enough for one city, two perched villages and a cape — provided you do not try to drive the whole coast in an afternoon. Base yourself in Nice, leave the car for the corniches, and take the rest on foot.

## I. Day one — Nice

Spend the morning in the old town and the **Cours Saleya** market, the afternoon up at **Cimiez** with the Matisse museum and the Roman ruins. Walk the Promenade des Anglais at the blue hour, when the pebble beach goes quiet and the bay turns the colour the city is named for.

“The Riviera is best taken in small mouthfuls — one town, one terrace, one sea at a time.”

From the notebook

![A perched village above the Riviera coast](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1582497475588-49b76871cf42?fm=jpg&q=74&w=1400&auto=format&fit=crop)

Èze, on the Moyenne Corniche — the lanes climb, and the sea drops away below.

## II. Days two and three — the villages and the cape

Take the Moyenne Corniche to **Èze**, then inland to **Saint-Paul-de-Vence** and the **Fondation Maeght**. Give the last day to **Cap Ferrat** and the **Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild**, or push east to **Menton** and the Italian border for lunch over the bay.

The Practical Carnet · Carnet pratique

### Plan the _route_

When to go

May–June and September. Avoid the festival weeks of late May unless that is why you came.

Getting around

Train along the coast (Nice–Menton); car for the corniches and perched villages.

Base yourself

In **Nice** for the city, or a perched village for the quiet — not both in three days.

Read next

[The Riviera table, from Nice to Menton](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/the-table/riviera-table-guide/)

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

### More from the _South_

[

![A village on the Riviera](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1567720512899-3a71832bd46c?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

Côte d’Azur

#### The Riviera table, from Nice to Menton

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/french-riviera/)[

![A terrace table over the sea](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1607001516094-d2568b288f1f?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

The Table

#### Six tables worth the detour this spring

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/the-table/)[

![A hotel on the Côte d’Azur](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1503696967350-ad1874122058?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

Stays

#### Where to stay on the Côte d’Azur

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/stays/)