One Week French Riviera Art Itinerary
The Art of the French Riviera, A Week of Beauty, Culture & Timeless Glamour
Best period : all year
Prices starting from : $7.900 per person
Between the light of the Mediterranean and the brushstrokes of its artists, the French Riviera is a living masterpiece. From the polished allure of Monaco to the creative sanctuaries of Vence and Antibes, this journey celebrates art, elegance, and the enduring charm that has captivated painters, poets, and collectors for over a century. Each step of this French Riviera art itinerary reveals a new facet of the Riviera’s soul, radiant with color, framed by sea and sky, and illuminated by encounters with art and artistry in its purest form.
Itinerary
Step 1
Monaco: Riviera Art & Royalty – 2 Nights
Monaco is the Riviera turned up to high definition: a tiny principality where Belle Époque villas, cutting‑edge architecture, and contemporary art all sit within a few walkable blocks. Days here glide between museum terraces with sea views and palace squares steeped in royal history, while nights are all about softly lit streets, super‑yachts, and destination restaurants. It is an effortless base for exploring both Monaco’s cultural scene and the artist‑loved coastline that stretches toward Menton.
Your elegant pied-à-terre in the heart of Monte‑Carlo, Hôtel Métropole Monte‑Carlo, is a 5‑star haven where Belle Époque architecture meets contemporary design, couture‑level interiors, and a strong curatorial eye for modern art. Suites feel like private apartments overlooking the Mediterranean or city gardens, while the pool terrace, spa, and Michelin‑starred dining create a setting that is as much a work of art as the collections you will visit beyond its doors. Evenings here are all about mood: soft Riviera light, refined cocktails, and gastronomic tasting menus that make the hotel an essential stop on any French Riviera art itinerary.
Highlights:
- Private Art Immersion: Begin your journey with an exclusive visit to a private art foundation, before delving into Monaco’s two flagship institutions, the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco at Villa Paloma and Villa Sauber. In these contrasting spaces, one perched above the sea with sweeping views, the other steps from the shoreline, you will encounter rotating exhibitions of contemporary art, photography, and installations that explore the Riviera’s role as a creative laboratory.
- The Cocteau Museum: Continue along the coast to Menton for a privately guided visit of the Jean Cocteau Museum, a light‑filled space showcasing his drawings, ceramics, and films. Afterward, step back outside to see Cocteau’s work in situ around town, from the wedding hall he decorated at the Hôtel de Ville to his seaside chapel, so you experience his art exactly where it was created for the Riviera.
- Menton & the Art of Citrus: After the museum, wander Menton’s lemon‑scented gardens, pastel façades, and seaside promenades, discovering how the town’s famous citrus groves and Belle Époque villas inspired generations of painters and photographers. Your guide highlights viewpoints, architectural details, and color palettes that make Menton feel like a living canvas.
- A Royal Encounter: Return to Monaco for a privately guided walking tour that weaves through the old town’s narrow lanes, the courtyard of the Prince’s Palace, and panoramic terraces above the harbor. Along the way, your local historian brings royal ceremonies, artistic patronage, and everyday life in the principality to life, connecting the Riviera’s glamour to its cultural roots.
Step 2
Vence & Saint-Paul-de-Vence, The Artist’s Haven – 2 Nights
Vence is a hilltop town, a quiet counterpoint to the buzz of the coast where stone ramparts, fountains, and sun‑washed squares have long drawn painters and writers. Here, daily life still unfolds around café terraces and open‑air markets, yet just beyond the village walls you find chapels, galleries, and vistas that have inspired masters from Matisse to Chagall. It is the perfect inland retreat for slowing down, breathing in the Riviera air, and seeing the French Riviera through artist’s eyes.
Your haven, Château Saint‑Martin & Spa, a former Templar château turned Palace Hotel, where stone terraces, cypress trees, and olive groves cascade down toward the Mediterranean. Suites feel like private Provençal retreats, with doors opening onto gardens or wide coastal views, and the property doubles as an open‑air gallery, with artworks and sculptures thoughtfully placed throughout the interiors and grounds. The spa and Michelin‑starred restaurant complete this hilltop sanctuary, making it a serene, art‑filled base for exploring Vence and Saint‑Paul‑de‑Vence.
Highlights:
- In the Footsteps of Masters: Explore Saint‑Paul‑de‑Vence with a private art expert, walking the same cobbled lanes that once welcomed Chagall, Miró, Giacometti, and their circle. Your visit culminates in an exclusive private tour of the Fondation Maeght, where sculpture gardens, Calder mobiles, Miró courtyards, and intimate galleries reveal one of Europe’s most important collections of modern art.
- The Legacy of Chagall: Head to the hilltop cemetery of Saint‑Paul‑de‑Vence, where Marc Chagall rests beneath a simple stone overlooking the valleys that inspired his floating figures and dreamlike colors. Standing here, with the light shifting across the landscape, you see the very vistas that fed his imagination and understand why he chose this village as his final home.
- Vence & the Spirit of Matisse: In Vence, step into the Chapelle du Rosaire, Matisse’s personal masterpiece, conceived, designed, and painted by the artist late in his life. Bathed in filtered blues, greens, and yellows from the stained‑glass windows, the white walls, simple line drawings, and liturgical objects create a serene, total work of art that feels both spiritual and radically modern.
- A Walk Through the Landscape of Light: Finish with a guided walk through the hinterland, where wild thyme and rosemary perfume the air and stony paths open onto wide views across the Riviera, the Alps, and, on clear days, Corsica on the horizon. This is the landscape that has long drawn painters, writers, and dreamers, a living studio of shifting light and endless sky.
Step 3
Antibes, The Final Masterpiece – 2 Nights
Antibes is the Riviera at its most painterly: a walled old town wrapped around a busy harbor, with market stalls, café terraces, and narrow lanes that spill straight toward the sea. For generations, artists like Picasso have come here to chase the changing light on the stone ramparts and the shimmering Cap d’Antibes. Today, galleries, studios, and sculptures woven into the streets keep that creative energy very much alive.
Your hotel, the Hôtel du Cap‑Eden‑Roc, is a legend of the French Riviera set amid pine trees and manicured gardens on the tip of Cap d’Antibes. Rooms and suites open onto balconies or terraces with endless sea views, while cabanas and seawater pools carved into the rocks create a private playground for swimming, sunbathing, and quiet sketching sessions between excursions. Inside, a refined, almost cinematic atmosphere, gleaming wood, white linens, and historic photographs, recalls the writers, artists, and film stars who have made this their hideaway for more than a century.
Highlights:
- In Picasso’s Footsteps: Explore the Musée Picasso in Antibes, housed in the medieval Grimaldi Castle where the artist lived and worked in 1946, leaving behind paintings, drawings, and ceramics created with the sea at his feet. Your private guide brings the collection to life, connecting the blues, ochres, and bold lines on the walls to the very views framed by the castle windows.
- Create Your Own Souvenir: Join a private art class led by a local painter, perhaps in a studio or on a quiet terrace overlooking the harbor, and learn how to translate the Riviera’s light and color into your own canvas. Under gentle guidance, you experiment with palette and brushwork, creating a one‑of‑a‑kind piece to take home as a tangible memory of your French Riviera art itinerary.
- Sculpture & Sea: Stroll along Antibes’ ancient ramparts, where contemporary sculptures punctuate the path and the Mediterranean stretches endlessly beyond. With the old town on one side and open water on the other, this walk becomes a living gallery, the perfect final promenade before returning to Eden‑Roc.
