Visit the French Riviera

From Menton to Saint-Tropez:

Cliffs diving into the sea, turquoise blue water, sunny creeks and glorious beaches, small fishing ports, belle- époque palaces, hilltop villages, backdrop of snow-capped mountains, … - the Riviera's striking scenery.

With your personal tour guide Boba discover all the charms and the secrets of the French Riviera (la Côte d'Azur) and appreciate how passion can make the difference between a good experience and a meaningful one. Sightseeing tours, scenic tours, cultural tours, subject focused tours (art and museums, architecture, history and cultural heritage, etc.), walking tours, gourmet wine tours, food tasting tours, …for groups or individuals, Your Guide Boba designs tailor-made tours only for you (with a personally customized itinerary) or "à la carte" tours. Here is a short guide to some of the most emblematic and quintessential places on the glorious French Riviera:

Nice – Capital of the French Riviera: historic with its Roman remains at Cimiez; cultural with its museums (Matisse,Chagall,…); a carefree seaside resort with its Promenade des Anglais along its Baie des Anges (The Bay of Angels); elegant with its palaces (Le Negresco, La Regina) and its lavish facades belle-époque (le Palais de la Méditerranée); romantic on its Castle Hill (Colline du Château); marvelously Italian and baroque in its Vieille Ville (Old Town) with its mouthwateringly colourful market Cours Saleya.
Be sure not to miss out on anything in Nice and benefit from Your Guide Boba's detailed explanations about history, art, architecture, culture and gastronomy.

Principality of Monaco : Monaco and Monte Carlo - the places that everybody fantasizes about! Its legendary Princess Grace of Monaco, its glamorous buildings belle-époque (Casino, Opera de Monte-Carlo, Hôtel de Paris, Hôtel Hermitage and Café de Paris); its Prince's Palace (Palais Princier); its Grand Prix de Formula 1; its Oceanographic Museum (Musée Océanographique de Monaco); its designer fashion boutiques and jewellers, and so much more…
Your Guide Boba will tell you all the fascinating stories that brought the mythical Monaco and Monte Carlo into being.

Cannes : A passage to and from between two worlds: on one side, Cannes and its fabulous boulevard de la Croisette lined with palms and grand hotels belle-époque (Carlton, Majestic, Martinez) and its Palais des Festivals that houses the world-famous Cannes International Film Festival (Festival de Cannes); and on the other, Cannes and its hilltop old town known as Le Souquet with its narrow flowery lanes, its Provencal market Marché Forville and its Place de la Castre where, in the shade of pines, one admires sweeping coastal views of the Bay of Cannes and the unspoiled Lerins Islands (îles de Lérins).

Saint-Tropez : Brigitte Bardot, Colette, Françoise Sagan, Juliette Greco, Sartre et Simone de Beauvoire, Boris Vian, Signac, Derain, Matisse, Picasso,…. They were all attracted by the magical light of this endearingly charming seaside village. Apart from its razzmatazz reputation indulged by so many celebrities and stars (Johnny Depp, Puff Daddy, Penelope Cruz, Leonardo di Caprio, Jack Nicholson, Elton John, Bono, Kate Moss, Paris Hilton,…), Saint Tropez is also a peaceful village where one can stroll around the cluster of uncrowded narrow streets down to its Place des Lices, lined with ancient plane trees and Bohemian cafés.
Let Your Guide Boba show you the unforgettable points of view drenched in the generous Mediterranean light, so special and different in Saint-Tropez…

Eze : Situated high up sparkling blue sea, this Eagle's-Nest-village (Nid d'aigle), with medieval houses and the labyrinth of cobbled and flower-filled alleys and stairways, is without doubt one of the region's best-preserved hilltop villages, bestowing one of the most breathtaking views of the French Riviera.– Simply spectacular!

Saint-Paul-de-Vence: Chagall, Giacometti, Miro, Braque, Picasso, the Maeghts', Jacques Prévert, Montand and Signoret, Lino Ventura, Romy Schneider, Roger Moore, Tony Curtis … and the list is endless! They would all meet at Colombe d'Or, the legendary artists' hub of this picture-postcard hilltop village that has become a true myth. The maze of steep, cobbled streets, the ramparts, tiny gardens and vineyards clinging to the hill… and, of course, a game of pétanque in front of le Café de la Place – shouldn't be missed!
During a walking art and history tour Your Guide Boba will help you discover and feel the true atmosphere of the art à la française…

Antibes : Monet, Picasso, Nicolas de Staël, Scott Fitzgerald, Sidney Bachet, Cole Porter, … many artists succumbed to the charm of Antibes, mesmerizing with its Old Town with surprisingly Greek overtones of the ancient Antipolis and surrounded by a defensive wall, its covered Provencal market, its Fort Carré, its unique Picasso Museum (Musée Picasso)… - Simply unforgettable!

Menton : City of lemons and glorious gardens right on the Italian border. Its picturesque Old Town is a hotchpotch of ancient pastel-colored houses punctuated by terracotta-paved steps, baroque churches, alleys and tiny squares and fountains: French-style dolce vita with sweet citrus overtones. At the other end of its beaches, you are already in Italy!

Roquebrune-Cap-Martin : Le Cabanon de Le Corbusier (Le Corbusier's Log Cabin), Roman Gary's house,… a fascinating tangle of ancient flower-filled lanes, stairway and vaulted passages of the medieval hilltop village clustered around its old castle that offers sweeping views over the French and Italian Riviera.

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat : an exclusive "almost-a-dream-peninsula" for many such as Chaplin, Churchill, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Elisabeth Taylor, Somerset Maugham, Jean Gabin, Paul Allen …. With its sumptuous villas amid subtropical foliage and pines among them the most well-known and lavish architectural jewel: Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild.

Vence : Less coy than the other villages of the Côte d'Azur, even though it does not lack any of the ingredients of the true douceur de vivre of Provence: sun, mountains, artists, a place to play la pétanque, café terrasses… Henri Matisse lived here and left one of his major works: the beautiful Chapelle du Rosaire.

Grasse – the perfume capital : its great perfumeries Fragonard, Molinard and Galimard (and some of their finest perfumes of Provence), its medieval Old Town with washed out Provencal facades and Italian-style arcades, its villas belle-époque and its panoramas overlooking the sea and the countryside,… Patrick Süskind's novel Perfume was inspired by the dark alleys and the elegant private mansions (hôtels particuliers) of Grasse.

Gorges du Loup and Gourdon : impressive, deep and abrupt with sparkling waterfalls, the spectacular gorges carved by the river Loup, wind between chalky cliffs before arriving at eagle's nest - Gourdon. Clinging to the summit of a cliff, 760m above the sea-level (1,640 feet) above the Loup, Gourdon offers a breathtaking panorama of the entire Côte d'Azur. Queen Victoria enjoyed doing watercolor painting on its main square, Place Victoria…

Haut de Cagnes : Formerly called the Montmartre of the Côte d'Azur, this inviting village clinging to a hill, with its shady streets and brightly colored houses, smothered in bougainvillea, mimosa and geraniums, encircled by medieval ramparts is yet to be discovered. Renoir spent his last years at Domaine des Colettes…

And so many other charming and captivating places to discover on the Riviera (even the off the beaten track ones still exist!): îles de Lérins, Mougins, Biot, Peillon, Peille, Coaraze, Lucéram, Tourettes sur Loup, …

Italian Riveria - Riviera dei Fiori :

But also, the Italian Riviera on the Ligurian Coast, also known as Riviera dei Fiori (the Riviera of Flowers)- awaits for you to discover it :

San Remo : the city of flowers and of Italy's most important music festivals, the Sanremo Festival. Sanremo presents an impressive variety of faces: its colorful domed Russian Orthodox church, its flamboyant belle-époque Casino and luxury villas - the reminder of its belle-époque heyday but also its Old Town, where you can wander amongst the steep winding streets, alleyways and secluded piazzas.

The old Ventimiglia: from afar it looks like a painting by Paul Klee yet, once inside, its medieval charm Italian-style starts operating immediately: cobbled, steep alleys, lanes (carruggi-s) and vaulted passageways beautiful palazzi, fountains and sunny squares. Right on the French border, Ventimiglia is the beginning of the Riviera dei Fiori.

Dolceacqua : situated in the hinterland of the Italian Riviera, this is a veritable medieval village at the foot of the mountain, with an elegant stone bridge, the remains of an ancient fortress, cobbled alleys and vaulted passageways.

Bordighera: a seaside resort that has somehow kept the atmosphere of the ones in days gone by. Bordighera still cultivates all the ingredients of a true Riviera style vacationing: (famous) palm trees, an old town perched atop a hill, a long seafront walk, Liberty style villas, ... Dickens and Monet were enchanted by it.

Bussana Vecchia : formerly a ghost-village inhabited by the artists from all around Europe forming the "International Artists' Village". Bohemian flair and the sea from afar - one of the most unusual discoveries in the surroundings of Sanremo.

Porto Maurizio : sitting atop the hill of Imperia, the tranquil, colorful and typically Ligurian village with monastery Santa Chiara's open cloister overlooking the sparkling blue sea, is a real delight for the eyes and senses.

Discover the French Riviera with Your Guide Boba (a Licensed Professional Tour Guide) and appreciate having a tailor-made tour (an individual or a group tour) with a personally customized itinerary designed only for you.