From sight-seeing, to food activities, from walks or hikes to swimming or boating, you won't run out of ideas of things to do.
There are obviously a lot of things you can do on the French Riviera, and Villefranche is a perfect location from which to access them all. Following is a list of some of the activities we recommend. We provide some additional information about these in the custom guidebooks you’ll find in each of our apartments.
To access most of these activities, you can either walk, take the train or the bus. Rarely do you need a car. There are a few adventures where a car is preferred, but for the most part public transport or walking will do just fine, plus there is always a taxi, Uber, or rental bikes you may want to consider.
Overview of Some Towns & Villages of the French Riviera You will love visiting the neighboring towns and villages surrounding Villefranche. Right at your doorstep from a Riviera Experience apartment is the wonderful city of Nice, just to the west of Villefranche not even 3 kilometers away. Nice is like a big village. It is easy to get to know...
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There are so many wonderful food and wine activities to do while visiting Villefranche sur Mer. Following are a few of our favorites. All of our Riviera Experience apartments are equipped with kitchens and eating areas designed for enjoying beautiful food purchased in markets and specialty shops, or recreating one of the recipes you learn in a cooking class, or...
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Overview of Various Hikes & Walks from Villefranche There are a great many wonderful walks and hikes you can take in our area, all right from your apartment’s doorstep. You can do all of them with a good sneaker or even a comfortable sandal. Some are more strenuous than others and would be more enjoyable with a sturdy sneaker (trainer)...
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A Morning or Afternoon Ritual to Consider We highly recommend waking up and doing a morning swim, season permitting of course; in the winter we do a walk to St. Jean Cap Ferrat along the coastal path and love watching the sun rise out of the sea. You will not believe how good the sea makes you feel and just...
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About Private Beach Clubs We highly recommend experiencing a visit to a private beach club, even if you think you don’t enjoy the beach that much. Give it a try. You probably won’t do just one day, as they are that enjoyable. Swimming in the Mediterranean is absolutely sublime, not to mention easy and relaxing. You will never swim in...
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Overview of Some Museums On the French Riviera Apparently Nice has the second largest number of museums in France after Paris. We have not visited most of them but many of our clients have and they really enjoy them. Here is a selection of some of them. In Villefranche we have a lovely museum of our most famous artist, the...
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Some Pointers for Cycling Around Villefranche If you enjoy riding bikes, this is a cyclist’s heaven, apparently. We don’t really ride bikes but my brother who is an avid cycler says this place is fabulous for riding. He likes to climb! There are several places in Nice and one shop in Beaulieu where you can rent really good quality road...
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Overview of Some Tour Options Inspiring Cote d’Azur Inspiring Cote d’Azur is a local tour agency based in Villefranche. It is owned by Sandra Ottaviani who speaks excellent English and offers superb tours in her very comfortable Volvo SUV (can hold up to 6 people). We have taken all of them and every time I’ve learned so much. I thought...
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Overview of the Most Famous Perfume Houses The town of Grasse is world-famous for making perfume. Fragrances of rose, jasmine, violet, mimosa and lavender waft on the breezes around this area. Flowers for the essences that produce the perfumes are still grown today in the fields around Grasse. A dear friend lives next door to some of the jasmine fields...
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Institut Français Located on the hillside of Villefranche for over 60 years is the world-acclaimed French language institute called Institut de Français (institutdefrancais.com). It offers a month-long, intensive program of conversational French study. As an immersion program, it’s focused on conversation as well as grammar drills but always with an emphasis on getting you to speak. Even with very limited...
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