Need some inspo planning your next family vacation to the French Rivera? Here’s our 4 day South of France itinerary, which was part of a larger 2.5 week Europe itinerary.
If you plan to visit the South of France in September, be prepared to possibly forgo some beach days. We went during shoulder season in late September, when it was less crowded and the weather is still warm with occasional light rain.
We went on a 4 day road trip with our toddler (technically 3 full days considering 2 half days were traveling). We flew in from Paris and this was our first stop before heading to Greece (which had plenty of sunny beach days).
Which French Riviera cities to visit
If you only have a short 3-4 days in the South of France, we recommend visiting the following cities:
- Nice
- Monaco
- Menton
- French-Italy Border
- Antibes
- Cannes
- Saint Tropez
Where to start your road trip
Start your road trip in Nice as it’s located near the Nice Cote d’Azur Airport and centrally located for day trips. It also has affordable lodging options compared to other parts of Southern France.
We stayed 2 nights in Nice and 2 nights in Cannes. Although we planned to drive as far down as St. Tropez, we decided not to stay there as it was 1.5 to 2 hours away from the airport, whereas Cannes was only 30 minutes from the Nice airport.
Where to stay
The first 2 nights, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Nice – Palais de la Méditerranée, a luxury 5 star hotel in Nice. We used points to stay here for free.
It is only 10-15 min from the Nice Cote d’Azur Airport and centrally located in the historic Promenade des Anglais right across the Gatorade blue waters of Blue Beach. There are plenty of restaurants nearby and the Nice old town city center is only a 15 minute walk.
You can read a review of our stay at the Hyatt Regency Nice – Palais de la Méditerranée here.
The following 2 nights, we stayed at the Duplex Forville Apartment, a stylish Airbnb located right in the heart of Cannes. You can read a review of our stay here.
Our South of France Itinerary
Day 1 Nice (travel day)
We flew into Nice from Paris at 5:30pm, so only had time for dinner plans.
🚘Car Rental
Rent a car to explore the French Riviera. You can book through any car rental at the airport but we opted for OuiCar, a peer-to-peer car rental service, which is France’s equivalent of Turo in the US. The owner met us at the airport to drop off the car.
🏨Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Mediterranee
We checked in around 7pm to drop off our luggages and freshen up for dinner.
🥘Dinner: Le Plongeior or La Favola
Le Plongeior is an iconic restaurant perched atop a rock pillar hovering over the sea. Try to secure reservations here for a magical sunset dinner. There are mixed reviews whether the food is good or not, but it seems everyone can agree it has a beautiful view. We were not able to get reservations here so opted for La Favola, which had raving reviews for its food.
La Favola is a highly reviewed Italian restaurant located in Old Town Nice which does not accept reservations. We walked 15 minutes to dinner and arrived around 8pm. There was a 30-40 minute line but it was well worth the wait. The restaurant is in a lively main square with some street performers, which kept Lennon entertained
🍨Fennocchio
End the night at Fennocchio, a popular ice cream stand in Old Town Nice.
We walk around Old Town Nice and back to our hotel. There was a lot going on in the streets and restaurants along the strip was all open late. Lennon had fun scooting through Old Town and down the coast of the Promenade des Anglais back to our hotel.
Day 2 Nice, Monaco, Menton, France-Italy Border
The first full day, we had plans to visit Monaco, Menton and the France-Italy border .
💐Marche Aux Fleurs Cours Saleya
We started our day at 9am with a walk back over to Old Town to catch the long-running outdoor market, full of fresh flowers, fruits and local food products.
We recommend you start your day earlier if you plan to have lunch in Menton as most restaurants close at 2pm.
🥞 Marinette Kitchen
Have breakfast at this shabby-chic spot hidden in the charming alleys of Old Town Nice. We recommend you sit upstairs overlooking the rooftop for a quaint Parisian vibe. There are more sweet than savory breakfast options here.
After breakfast it’s time to start your South of France road trip northbound.
🏞️ Monaco
First stop is Monte Carlo in Monaco – 30 minutes from Nice. Explore the small town of the rich and famous filled with luxury yachts and fancy cars. Visit the grand casino and do some shopping nearby.
🛍️For Goyard lovers, there is a store right near the casino that is not as busy as the one in Paris.
🏞️Menton
Next stop is the cute town of Menton – 25 minutes from Monaco. Try to arrive before 1pm if you want to explore the shops or have lunch. By the time we arrived, it was already close to 2pm, which meant most places were closing for their 4-5 hour “siesta.”
🏖️ Les Sablettes Beach
If the weather permits, take a swim at Les Sablettes beach, which has a beautiful view of old town and the Italian coast. It was raining when we arrived so we did not get a chance to swim.
🗺️France-Italy Border
The France-Italy border is only 10 minutes from Menton! You can say you’ve crossed the border and have been at two places at once! There are no border controls and you can come and go as you please.
This was not on our initial itinerary as we were planning on spending the day in Menton but glad we decided to spontaneously do this.
🍝Amadora Ventimiglia
Because we couldn’t make lunch in Menton, we had lunch at this local seaside restaurant in Ventimiglia, Italy, just 15 minutes from the border.
We had made reservations in advance at Bocca Nissa for 7pm so had to rush back to Nice for dinner which wasn’t ideal given we just had lunch.
The pros and cons of dinner reservations is that it’s great to secure your table for popular places so you don’t have to wait in line, but the downside is it can make it hard to be spontaneous with your travel plans.
🥘 Bocca Nissa
Make sunset dinner reservations to eat at the rooftop deck of Bocca Nissa, a popular Mediterranean tapas restaurant. With the rain we ended up eating inside. Just a risk we knew we’d take traveling in late September. Nonetheless the food was delicious.
🏊♂️Late Night Swim
The Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée has an amazing indoor/outdoor heated pool so we took a late swim after dinner for our last night here.
🍔McDonald’s
We heard that French McDonald’s was much better than back home in the States. There was one right by our hotel, so we gave it a try.
If you have a toddler, you know they won’t always eat when you will. Lennon didn’t really eat dinner so was hungry after the swim.
There were self-ordering kiosks and the space was huge. We ordered Lennon the kid’s meals and you can taste the difference – the nuggets tasted like real chicken and the fries tasted like real potatoes.
Day 3 Antibes, Cannes
We had an even later start the next day at 10am (jetlag) with plans to go southbound visiting Antibes & end up at our Airbnb in Cannes.
🍳Clay restaurant
Have breakfast at Clay restaurant in Old Town Nice. It’s a popular spot so had a 20 minute wait. There are both sweet and savory breakfast options here.
After brunch, we checked out of our hotel and headed southbound of the French Riviera.
🏞️Antibes
Explore the old town of Antibes overlooking a marina filled with quaint shops and luxury yachts. It was a 40 minute drive from Nice. Shop for some local snacks and souvenirs.
☕️NOMADS coffee
Have some coffee at Nomads, a specialty coffee shop located in Antibes. It’s apparently one of the few places that serve iced coffee in the area.
🥗Bistro Chez Jules
For lunch, check out this cute bistro with a nostalgic French farm to table Provence vibe. This was on our itinerary, but we didn’t get a chance eat here as we arrived when they were closing for their siesta around 2pm. (Our second time making this mistake and forgetting about the French siestas!)
🏨 Airbnb – Cannes
We checked into our Airbnb at 4pm and relaxed the rest of the evening with some baguettes, charcuterie, snacks, wine & limoncello we bought in Antibes.
🥘 Chai Dee
If you’re craving authentic Thai food in Cannes, Chai Dee is the spot. Owned by a French husband and Thai wife.
It was only a 5 minute walk from our Airbnb. We had a late 10pm pm dinner and the town was still so lively. Lennon loved scooting around in his little scooter around Old Town.
Day 4 Saint Tropez
We had an 8am early start since we had 10am brunch reservations in Saint Tropez.
💐Forville Market
But first, we had to check out the large and lively Forville Market for some local food and produce. It was conveniently located right at the bottom steps of our Airbnb˘
🏞️Saint Tropez
Then we were southbound down the French Riviera to explore the upscale coastal town of Saint Tropez. It was a 1.5 to 2 hour drive from Cannes.
🥐Dior Des Lices
Make advance reservations at the Dior Des Lices Café. Have brunch in their beautiful courtyard garden adorned with Dior decor everywhere down to the pastry. Take some photos and check out the Dior boutique right up the stairs. You can read more here.
🛍️ Shopping
Check out the designer boutiques lining the streets.
🏖️LouLou Ramatuelle or Gigi Ramatuelle
After brunch and shopping, enjoy a beach day at one of these posh private beach and restaurant spots. Sunbed rentals can get pretty pricey (starting at EUR 75 in low, shoulder season).
🏖️Plage de Pampelonne
A budget-friendly alternative is to not rent a sunbed and just bring your own beach towel and hang out on the same public beach. Which is what we did since the weather was chilly and the water was too cold for Lennon to swim in. He played in the sand for a solid hour before we walked over to Tono for lunch.
🥗Tono Pampelonne
Tono is a great and affordable option right by the beach for a light lunch and drinks.
After a nice day in Saint Tropez, drive back to Cannes to explore everything it has to offer.
🏖️Croisette Beach
We continued our beach day at the sandy Croisette Beach, which was warmer.
🛍️ Shopping
Stroll along the Promenade de la Croisette and do some shopping at the famous shopping district Rue d’Antibes.
🍝Tredici
Have dinner at Tredici, a deliciously authentic Italian restaurant, located in the vibrant Suquet neighborhood of Cannes
🍨Niva
End the night with admittedly the best and most authentic Italian gelato in town at Niva.
Day 5 (travel day)
We had to catch a flight to Greece today, so only had time to grab a quick pastry.
🥐 Tarte Tropezienne
If you didn’t get a chance to try the popular dessert in Saint Tropez made famous by Brigitte Bardot, you can still try it in Cannes. Tarte Tropézienne, known as “La Tarte de Saint-Tropez” is a brioche filled with thick pastry cream and buttercream – almost like a cream puff.
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We had a lovely time exploring the French Riviera and highly recommend it. If you have the opportunity, we suggest a longer trip to see more of the beautiful beaches and towns.
Despite the short time we were there, we still left the itinerary very loose. We had 2 to 3 points of interest each day, so we didn’t feel rushed, especially with a tired toddler.
Also take into consideration that parking can be difficult – it was for us and we went during shoulder season.
We were off to Greece next which had better beach weather, so we didn’t feel too bad we missed out during our stay here.
