I recently took a trip to the South of France for a week with my husband. Creating one itinerary for the French Riviera is no easy task. With so much to see and do, you really do have to narrow your focus or you could end up spending all of your time in the car!
With that said, you can get the link to my itinerary here if that is what you are here for.
The French Riviera is one of those iconic areas that everyone should visit at least once in their lifetime. Blessed with almost permanent sunshine, delicious cuisine, and stunning coastline, the Cote d’Azur is a seriously stylish place.
We stayed in Nice and traveled to other neighboring small French towns. To name a few – Antibes, Villefranche-Sur-Mer, Monaco, Eze, Cannes, and Cagnes-sur-Mer.
There are a lot of other smaller towns, but these are the ones you should definitely visit. We did not get a chance to visit Provence, and St Tropez this time. One week was not enough to do it all at once.
Provence and St Tropez are a little further away from Nice, compared to other towns that I mentioned above. Therefore, we decided to skip it this time and visit it on our next trip!
I was going over our photos from the trip and was thinking about my favorite town in Cote d’Azur. The town, that should be on top of your travel list, the next time you visit France.
If you ask me you should definitely not miss the little town of Villefranche-Sur-Mer.
Villefranche-sur-Mer:
Villefranche-sur-Mer is a small French town about 30 minutes from Nice. When you think of Nice, you think of sandy beaches and blue waters, but Nice only has Pebbled beaches. Yes, the water in Nice is really nice and blue, but Nice only offers pebbled beaches.
Villefranche-sur-Mer has a relatively small narrow beach with the prettiest turquoise blue water, called Plage des Marinières.
The beach has everything you would want for that perfect beach day vibe, from beach bars to delicious food. So, if you like traveling to places that feel more rural, you MUST visit Villefranche sur-Mer when visiting Nice.
We discovered the coastal town of Villefranche-sur-Mer from the train while passing along the coast between Nice and Eze.
We were instantly in love with the bright color seaside town, so we made plans to return to this beautiful town to enjoy the beach, explore the town and have lunch along the water. It turned out to be one of our favorite days from the entire trip!
We left from Cagnes-sur-Mer about 10 am and made it to this beautiful town as early as we could. We wanted to spend our day in Villefranche-sur-Mer relaxing and exploring the tiny streets.
It was lovely walking through the town, passing the cafes with lively French music, and vacationers trickling off their boats in the harbor.
Parth and I grabbed lunch at one of the prettiest restaurants along the water. After exploring the town, at about 2 pm we decided to spend the day at one of the beach bars. The beach bars in France offer umbrellas and a day bed for about 20-25 euros for an entire day. And at that price, how could we not rent one?
We were super excited to spend time in the turquoise water, relaxing on the day bed with a massage and a glass of Rosé. So we did exactly that. We ordered a bottle of rosé with some delicious cheese. Spent an entire afternoon enjoying the beautiful beach with a stunning backdrop of a town that sits along the prettiest turquoise blue water.
The beach bar was perfect. I would recommend taking your own towels though because a lot of places don’t offer complimentary towels with the day beds. You will have to rent the towels if you don’t have your own.
Villefranche-sur-Mer is everything you want to discover on a vacation- colorful, charming and relaxed, but with still enough to explore and things to do. The town has a stunning backdrop of bright colored buildings and tiny streets. If you are planning to visit the French Riviera, put this on your list!
How to get to Villefranche-Sur-Mer?
Getting to Villefranche-sur-Mer Nice is fairly easy. You can get there in just 20 minutes by bus or the train, just jump on one that’s going in the direction of Monaco and you’ll soon be in Villefranche!
Car rentals are also available but personally, we found that finding parking in the French Riviera is pretty hard. The trains, buses and uber are easily available and you do not have to deal with parking on the tiny streets.
How much time to spend in Villefranche-Sur-Mer?
One day is perfect. I would recommend reaching there early about 10 am since the beach is pretty narrow so if you want to grab a good spot, you can do that the first thing.
You will have an entire day to explore the town, have some delicious food and spend some great time at one of the beach bars. The beach bars only rent out the day beds and the umbrellas till 6 pm, so it’s better to make the most out of it by reaching early.
Things to do in Villefranche-Sur-Mer?
The beach:
The water is the prettiest and is also fairly shallow. I personally have a major fear of the sea, so if you are like me, this is perfect.
As mentioned, the beach bar is definitely worth it and you will be able to find some facilities like toilets, which is great because other than that, there are no facilities on the beach.
Food:
There is a great selection of restaurants if you walk along the Promenade des Marinières, most offer a selection of fantastic seafood.
I am a vegetarian and do not eat seafood. But I must say, I found a delicious salad with Pasta in one of the restaurants along the water.
Rent a Boat:
You can also rent a boat. Yes, your own boat. You can use the website ClickandBoat to rent boats of all models and styles along the coast.
Explore the town:
As mentioned earlier, exploring the tiny streets and the old town is a must. There is St Pierre Chapel and the St Michel Church if you are in the mood to do that.
Again, my entire South of France itinerary is linked here if you are interested.
Villefranche-sur-Mer is one of my favorite towns I have been to in Europe and it should be on top of your list too! You won’t be disappointed.
