Côte d'Azur Towns  This area has a strange diversity with the coast lined with large resort towns such as Monaco, Nice or Cannes, that have been heavily developed, contrasting remarkably with smaller towns and villages in the hinterland that reflect much better the real Provencial traditions.  Although some of the inland towns are in beautiful settings, there's not so much to do there, so for this reason we focus on the main towns along the coast, plus a few isolated inland treats.

Monaco

Location: On the Mediterranean coast, east of Nice, close to the Italian border.
General Info: Tourist office website.
Description: Covering just one square mile Monaco is an ancient principality known throughout the world for the Monte Carlo rally, its Casino and its spectacularly set harbour.
Our recommendations:  Monaco has some fantastic gardens: The exotic gardens on the western border with Cap d`Ail are well worth a visit, whilst the Japanese gardens on the Avenue Princesse-Grâce are an absolute delight.
For the children: The kids aren’t forgotten here – there is the obligatory tourist train departing from the Oceanographic Museum every half hour, whilst there are some splendid boat trips departing from the Quai des Etats-Unis (Port d’Hercule) where you can see the sealife through the glass bottomed boats.

             - Biot
             - Cannes
             - Entrevaux
             - Grasse
             - Monaco
             - Nice
             - Port Grimaud
             - St Tropez

It's a long time since we visited the Côte d'Azur with the children and they don't remember much about it.  So we can't offer a list of their favourites here.  If you would like to propose some, please send us your feedback.