Holiday Home The French Riviera

Sunny Family Holiday at The French Riviera

The French Riviera, a region famous for its endless days of sunshine, is a relaxing and beautiful place for your family to spend their holiday.

Even during the off-season, the southern coast of France is guaranteed to please. It boasts gorgeous beaches, mountain landscapes, and towns with historical and architectural attractions. 

Nice is a classic destination for families. The historic Old Town features quaint, colorful buildings and a flower market. Castle Hill has ruins to explore and provides panoramic vistas of the town and sea. This is also an ideal spot to pause for a family picnic.

Another excellent site for walking and hiking is the Parc du Mont Boron. When your children get hot and tired, you can head to the Promenade du Paillon, a large park with water jets and imaginative play areas. For art lovers, the Chagall and Matisse museums are full of magnificent works. 

While you are in the vicinity of Nice, you can visit the small town of Èze. One of the most popular attractions here is the Jardin Botanique d’Èze, a botanical garden in an old medieval fortress. Children will be enthralled by the unique location of this garden. From here, your family can travel eastward up the coast to Monaco, which features quieter beaches and a stunning cathedral. A fantastic attraction for kids is the Oceanographic Museum, where they can pet sharks and climb a whale skeleton. 

If you fancy an even quieter vacation, the town of Menton is beautiful and full of old-world ambiance. With 300 days of sunshine per year, Menton always pleases its visitors. If you visit during February, you can witness the annual Lemon Festival with gigantic floats constructed out of citrus fruit. As you return to the southwest, you should drive through Grasse, which is famous for its fields of lavender and perfume-making.

At the tip of the country, Cannes features the Château de la Napoule, a medieval fortress with kid-friendly activities. You can also book a ferry ride to the island of Sainte Marguerite or have hours of fun at the Aqualand Waterpark. 

If you are weary of beaches and towns, you can drive just an hour north of your holiday home at the French Riviera to the Alpes-Maritimes highlands and foothills. This area has many natural wonders and national parks to explore. The Vésubie Valley is the gateway to the Mercantour National Park. In its largest mountain village, Saint-Martin-Vésubie, your family can try a variety of activities from white-water rafting to fishing. You can also visit the Wolf Park to see wolves in their natural habitat.

For kids who love archeology, the Vallée des Merveilles holds over 30,000 open air Bronze-age petroglyphs. Other stunning locations include the Vallée de la Tinée, known for its spectacular mountain lakes, and Bois de Sestrières, a massive forest of larch trees.