Along the Côte d’Azur (French Riviera) are numerous coastal walks ranging from about 1.5 kilometers (just under one mile) to over 10 kilometers (six miles), which are perfect for a few hours on a beautiful day.
Our first coastal walk was from Nice to Villefranche-sur-Mer, which we did “backwards”. This walk is almost always described as starting in Nice, probably because most of the folks on the trail are from Nice. We saw exactly four other folks walking “backwards”, but probably passed at least twenty to thirty people coming from Nice.
The walk is described as 5.5 kilometers / 3.5 miles, but we added on at least another 2.5 kilometers / 1.5 miles getting from the Villefranche-sur-Mer train station to the trail and then from the trail to the tram in Nice.
At 9:00 AM we left our Airbnb for a short walk to Nice-Ville Gare, the main train station. The 9:20 AM train took us to Villefranche-sur-Mer, arriving at 9:27 AM. Train tickets cost €2.50 each, purchased that morning on the SNCF app.
We started in Villefranche-sur-Mer to avoid heading into the sun while walking. After spending about an hour and a half exploring Villefranche-sur-Mer, starting at several overlooks above town, we walked through town and into La Citadelle, an ancient fort, for a quick look around.
By the time we arrived at the start of the coastal trail, at the base of La Citadelle, it was 11:15 AM. From there we walked past the Villefranche-sur-Mer marina and into and a shipyard. Yes, the marked trail actually cuts through – very briefly – a working shipyard.
The trail hugs the coastline heading south around Mont Boron. On the Villefranche-sur-Mer side, the trail starts out as a concrete and stone sidewalk, but becomes dirt, rocks, and tree roots. Here the trail is mostly a single wide track with a lot of stairs. You are rarely walking on flat ground. Stairs are the norm.
There are few places to stop and sit during the first several kilometers. We managed to find a place to take a break around 12:30 PM, just in time to eat our packed lunch. The fun part comes in the middle, going up and around a section of cliffs. According to the map, it is 60 meters / 195 feet (almost 20 stories) up and then back down, most of which is steps.
On the Nice side of Mont Boron the walk is much easier, on a wide concrete and stone sidewalk, with relatively few stairs and plenty of benches. A lot of folks walk out and back on the Nice side of the trail without ever bothering to go up and around the cliffs.
After an enjoyable few hours, we reached Jardin Félix Rainaud at 1:30 PM, ending the official walk. Our overall time was slightly slower than the estimated completion time of 1.5 to 2.0 hours, probably because we stopped for lunch, I took a lot of photographs, and Stephanie is really slow on stairs.
From the park a short walk led us past the marina to the Port Lympia tram stop, and we made our way back to our Airbnb by 2:15 PM.
Since we enjoyed our first coastal walk, we decided to go on another, a slightly longer walk around Cap-Ferrat.
We took bus 15 from the Bavastro stop in Nice to the Passable Rothchild stop on Cap Ferrat, a hot and stuffy thirty minute bus ride. From there it is a short walk downhill to Plage de Passable (a beach), public bathrooms, and the coastal trail. Unless the trail is closed for both construction and a recent landslide, which we first learned from a prominent sign near where we got off the bus.
Our plan was to follow the coastal trail counter-clockwise around the peninsula ending in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, which is about 6.0 kilometers / 3.75 miles. Because the trail was closed on the west side of the peninsula, we opted to walk down Boulevard du Général de Gaulle and Avenue Jean Cocteau, through the neighborhood, to the Cap Ferrat lighthouse.
There isn’t much to see walking down the streets as tall walls run along both sides, hiding the villas behind.
At the lighthouse we hopped onto the coastal trail and headed east. Along this section the trail is mostly flat, wide, and comfortable for walking. There are numerous places where you can walk down steps towards the water or simply move off the trail to sit, rest, and look out over the Mediterranean. Overall our detour through the neighborhood followed by walking the coastal trail from the lighthouse to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat took about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
The original plan was to hop back on bus 15 in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and return to Nice. But because the walk was quite easy and enjoyable, and it was a perfect day to be outside, we extend our walk by taking the coastal trail around Pointe de Sainte-Hospice, another hour on a largely flat trail.
Back in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat again, neither of us was excited for another hot and stuffy bus ride. So we kept walking, this time the length of the Promenade Maurice Rouvier (the David Niven walk) to Beaulieu-sur-Mer, more particularly the train station. An additional 45 minute walk followed by a 15 minute train ride back to Nice sure is better than an intolerable thirty minute bus ride.
In sum we walked over six miles (almost 10 kilometers) during the course of the afternoon.
While our Cap Ferrat walk did not get off to a great start, with the west half of the trail being closed, we liked this walk much more than the Nice to Villefranche-sur-Mer coastal walk. The scenery is better, with great views of Villefranche-sur-Mer, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, and Beaulieu-sur-Mer, and the trail is much easier on the feet, with far fewer stairs and little elevation change.
Whether you prefer coastal walks along the Mediterranean Sea or hiking in the hills, there are plenty of trails in the French Riviera to keep you occupied. Check out the Cityxee website for a good round up of popular walks and hikes.
Garrett and Stephanie
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