Antibes and Juan-les-Pins, Nice

About Antibes

Antibes is the department's second-largest town after Nice, a resort on the Riviera between Nice and Cannes. It was founded by Greeks from Massalia, today's Marseille, who named it Antipolis, 'the city opposite', because it faced the Greek settlement of Nikaia, the future Nice, across the bay.

Today almost 78,000 people live in Antibes. It has several parts: the old town behind walls above the sea, the huge Port Vauban yacht harbour, the green Cap d'Antibes with its villas and gardens, and the resort of Juan-les-Pins, with sandy beaches on the far side of the cape. It's all one commune, linked by buses.

What to see

• The old town — lanes, the cathedral and a promenade on the seawalls.
• The Picasso Museum — in Château Grimaldi above the sea.
• The Provençal market — fruit, spices, cheese and flowers.
• Port Vauban — Europe's largest yacht harbour.
• The Cap d'Antibes — gardens, the Garoupe lighthouse and a clifftop path.
• Juan-les-Pins — sandy beaches and summer jazz.

The old town and market

Old Antibes stands on a rock right above the sea, and its promenade runs along the top of the old walls: tiled roofs on one side, turquoise water on the other, and on a clear day the snowy Alps on the horizon. The lanes are full of window boxes, little squares, cafés and shops.

The heart of the old town is the covered Provençal market: in the mornings it sells fruit, vegetables, olives, spices, cheese, soap and flowers. Nearby is the cathedral, rebuilt in the 18th century, with a Baroque altarpiece and a 15th-century wooden carving inside. After the market, head down to the small town beach below the walls.

The Picasso Museum

The Château Grimaldi stands at the edge of the old town above the sea. It was built in the late 14th century by the Genoese Grimaldi lords, and in 1946 Pablo Picasso lived here for six months, given a studio in the empty château, where he produced a whole series of works.

Today the château is the Picasso Museum, one of the world's finest collections of his work: 24 paintings, 44 drawings, 32 lithographs, 80 ceramics, sculptures and tapestries. Most are bright and Mediterranean: fauns, centaurs, fish and goats. The museum terrace looks out over the sea and the promenade.

The port, the Cap d'Antibes and Juan-les-Pins

Port Vauban is Europe's largest yacht harbour, with more than two thousand berths and room for yachts over a hundred metres long. A walk along its quays from the old town takes you past everything from fishing boats to giant private yachts.

To the south stretches the Cap d'Antibes, a green peninsula of villas, home to the famous Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc. It has the Villa Thuret botanical garden, the Villa Eilenroc gardens above the sea and the Garoupe lighthouse on a hill with views along the coast. On the far side of the cape is Juan-les-Pins: sandy beaches, pines, cafés and nightclubs. In all there are 48 beaches along 25 kilometres of shore around Antibes.

Tips for your visit

Half a day is enough for the old town, market and Picasso Museum. Add the Cap d'Antibes or a beach in Juan-les-Pins and plan a full day. A good order: market and old town in the morning, museum at midday, beach or cape walk in the afternoon.

Antibes combines easily with Cagnes-sur-Mer, on the same railway from Nice. For swimming with children, Juan-les-Pins' sandy beaches are better: the shore by the old town is mostly pebbly.

The port and old town get busy in summer, so come early. No flash photography in the Picasso Museum.

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How to do it right

• Market before lunch.
• Swim at Juan-les-Pins.
• The train beats driving.
• July means jazz.

Questions