Nice, Monaco & the Cote d’Azur
Day 1 FLY TO NICE Transfer to four-star hotel for seven nights. Dinner is included for two nights in local restaurants.
Day 2 NICE & VILLA EPHRUSSI Guided tour of Nice: visit the legendary flower market and its stalls laden with Provençal delicacies; the Place Massena in the heart of old Nice, lined by Venetian-style arches; the region’s finest gardens and art collection at the extraordinary Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild.
Day 3 MONACO Our guided tour tells the story of its princely family, the Grimaldis, and the key features of its unrivalled Grand Prix circuit. Visit Monte Carlo with a drive around the dazzling marina. Tour the old town, Monaco Ville, a rocky promontory dominated by the magnificent Renaissance-style Prince’s Palace. Leave Monaco via Moyenne Corniche and call at the village of Eze.
Day 4 FREE DAY Why not visit a museum, explore the flower market or stroll along the Promenade des Anglais?
Day 5 GORGES DU LOUP & GRASSE Head inland to delightful Vence, a fortified hilltop settlement with astonishing views of the surrounding countryside. Explore the spectacular mountain scenery of the Gorges du Loup, full of cascading rivers, stunning waterfalls and rapids twisting from a mountain plateau to the plains below. Later, visit Grasse, the Perfume Capital of the World and the historic Fragonard perfumery.
Day 6 ANTIBES & ST PAUL DE VENCE Visit Antibes, the former Greek Antipolis, inside the ancient walls of the Old Town, where Graham Greene once visited. Take in St Paul de Vence, a fortified medieval hilltop village, where Chagall is buried. Beyond the village is the Maeght Foundation, displaying modern art by Miro, Chagall and Lege.
Day 7 MENTON Nestled between the sea and the Alpes Maritimes, Menton’s delightful rambling cobbled lanes and alleys grew around a 13th Century Genoese castle before being ruled by Monaco for nearly 500 years. Famed for many superb gardens and parks, French artist Jean Cocteau dubbed it the ‘Pearl of France’.
Day 8 RETURN FLIGHT Transfer to the airport for your return flight.