Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Villa Kérylos, Nice

About Beaulieu-sur-Mer

Beaulieu-sur-Mer is a seaside town on the Riviera between Nice and Monaco. It borders Villefranche-sur-Mer and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, with Èze on its rock above. At under a square kilometre it is the department's smallest commune, separated from Villefranche only in 1891.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Beaulieu became a winter resort for Europe's elite. Leo Tolstoy, the engineer Gustave Eiffel, the American publisher James Gordon Bennett and the composer Igor Stravinsky all came here, and the playwright Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin spent his last years here. Today it's a quiet town with a marina, beaches and villas, free of the big resorts' noise.

What to see

• Villa Kérylos — an ancient Greek house on a headland above the sea.
• Baie des Fourmis — a palm-lined promenade with views of the cape.
• The marina — yachts, cafés and a stroll along the quays.
• The Cap Ferrat path — a seaside walk to the next peninsula.
• The beaches — small and calm, good for swimming.
• Belle Époque villas — mansions from the winter-season days.

Villa Kérylos

The Villa Kérylos stands on a rocky headland in the Baie des Fourmis, surrounded by sea on three sides. It was built by the archaeologist Théodore Reinach, who was in love with antiquity. The architect Emmanuel Pontremoli recreated a Greek noble's house from 2nd-century-BC Delos: rooms around an open colonnaded courtyard, a peristyle.

Construction began in 1902 and took six years. Inside are frescoes, mosaics and exact copies of ancient furniture from the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. Yet the house also had plumbing and underfloor heating, the very latest for the early 20th century. 'Kerylos' is Greek for kingfisher, a bird of good omen.

The villa today

When he died in 1928, Reinach left the villa to the Institut de France, of which he was a member. His children and grandchildren lived here until 1967, and today Kérylos is a museum open to visitors. It has been a historic monument since 1966.

A visit takes about an hour: the audio guide leads you through the rooms around the courtyard, the library, the dining room where guests reclined as in ancient Greece, and the bedrooms. The terraces look out over the bay and Cap Ferrat.

The seafront and the path to Cap Ferrat

From the villa a palm-lined promenade with old mansions runs along the Baie des Fourmis. Past the marina a seaside footpath leads to the village of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the next peninsula, about half an hour each way and almost flat.

The town has several small beaches; hills shelter Beaulieu from the wind, so the water is often calmer than in Nice. Beaulieu has been in films too: in the 1988 comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels it played the fictional resort of Beaumont-sur-Mer.

Tips for your visit

Two or three hours covers Beaulieu with the Villa Kérylos. A good day plan: the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild in the morning, then walk down to Beaulieu, lunch by the marina, Kérylos in the afternoon and the train back to Nice in the evening.

Beaulieu combines easily with Èze and Menton, all on the same railway. Swim in the morning while the beaches are empty.

Kérylos is small and intimate, so arrive at opening in season. The promenade and path are fine with a pushchair; access inside the villa is limited.

Places in Nice: compare and choose

Places in Nice rated by YesGo. Click a column header to sort.

Nearby and on the way

36

Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

Nice, France

1 h 45 min · Villa and gardens ticket · 21 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

46

Villefranche-sur-Mer

Nice, France

2 h 30 min · Free · 29 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Villefranche-sur-Mer

40

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

Nice, France

3 h · Free · 38 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

How to do it right

• Two villas in a day.
• 10 minutes by train.
• Walk to Cap Ferrat.
• Swim in the morning.

Questions