Four to five days lets you cover two or three towns properly without rushing between them. The coast between Toulon and Menton stretches over 100km, so trying to see it all in a weekend usually means seeing it from a car window.
Discover Local French Riviera & Var: What to Do Around Mercure French Riviera & Var
At Mercure, we believe you shouldn't need a guidebook to feel like you belong somewhere. That's the idea behind Discover Local: since 1973, every Mercure hotel has been built around its neighbourhood, not just dropped into it — from the décor on the walls to the flavours on the menu. Step into any Mercure and our teams are on hand with the kind of tips you won't find in a guidebook: the market stall locals queue for, the bar where nobody speaks English, the walk that skips the crowds. They live here. They know. Discover Local isn't a generic city guide — it's a short, honest list of the restaurants, markets and neighbourhoods our own hotel teams actually recommend to guests, updated as the city changes around us. Below, you'll find our picks for French Riviera & Var, an interactive map to help you find your way, and answers to the questions travellers ask us most. So — where will Discover Local take you?
French Riviera & Var in 5 picks
Saint-Tropez
Skip the yacht-watching and head to Place des Lices in the morning, when the pétanque players and the market stalls take over at the same time. The tarte tropézienne — cream-filled brioche invented here in 1955 by a Polish baker named Alexandre Micka — is worth the calories.
Hyères
The oldest resort town on the Riviera, and the least crowded. Its old town climbs a hill above the coast, and from the port you can catch a ferry out to the Îles d'Or — Porquerolles and Port-Cros — for pine forests and water so clear it looks retouched.
Grasse
This hill town has been France's perfume capital since the 18th century. Houses like Fragonard still run tours through the distillation rooms, and the old town smells faintly of jasmine even when the flowers aren't in season.
Antibes
The ramparts of the old town face the sea, and the Marché Provençal under its iron canopy sells the socca, olives and courgette flowers that end up in every nearby restaurant kitchen by lunchtime.
Menton
Right on the Italian border, with pastel Baroque façades and gardens that stay green through winter thanks to the mildest microclimate on the coast. The town's lemons are famous enough to have their own February festival.
FAQ
Yes — the calmer beaches around Hyères and the Var coast, plus the islands of Porquerolles and Port-Cros, tend to suit families better than the busier stretches near Cannes and Nice in peak summer.
Not if you're basing yourself on the coastal rail line. A car helps for reaching hill towns like Grasse's surrounding villages or the calanques, where public transport thins out.
Where to sleep
See our Mercure hotels across French Riviera & Var, ideally placed to explore these picks.