How to go
The railway runs along the shore, and for most of these it is faster, cheaper and far more scenic than driving. The corniche roads are beautiful and slow; the coast road in summer is slow without being beautiful.
Èze
A medieval village welded to the top of a rock above the sea, with a botanical garden in the ruins of its castle at the summit. It is genuinely steep, and the village at the top is a different place from Èze-sur-Mer down at the shore.
Villefranche-sur-Mer
The next bay east, a deep natural harbour ringed with ochre houses, with a citadel and a old town of stepped lanes. The closest thing to Nice's old town without Nice's crowds.
Antibes
West along the coast: ramparts straight out of the sea, a covered provençal market, and the best-preserved old town on this stretch of shore.
Menton
The last town before Italy, and it feels it — steeply stacked pastel facades, a baroque church above the old port, and gardens that grow things the rest of France cannot.
And the one everybody asks about
Monaco is twenty minutes along the coast by train and is the day trip most visitors have already decided on before they arrive. It is a different country, a different set of rules, and genuinely worth the ride for the old town on the rock and the harbour.
This site does not carry gambling or casino recommendations.
The practical side of the day is the part nobody tells you: a network of free public lifts and escalators cuts straight up through the cliff, which is the single most useful thing to know there. Getting around Monaco covers where they are.
Further afield
Paris is a journey of its own from the Riviera, by high-speed train or a short flight, and far too long for a day. The capital's own visitor guide is My Paris Travel.
Lyon is the other long journey worth knowing about. The fastest direct trains take a little under four hours and many services change at Marseille, so it is a stay rather than a day out; the old town, the traboules and the Roman theatres are covered in the Lyon guide.
Booking a day out
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The coast train handles most of these on its own. A driver is worth it for the hill villages and for anything that involves getting back after dark.
