From Monaco to Antibes, a day feels like stepping into another rhythm. Explore Picasso’s seaside museum, cobbled Old Town streets, quiet beaches, and the coastal trail of Cap d’Antibes.

From Monaco To Antibes

Antibes is one of those places you don’t just see – you feel. From Monaco, it’s less than an hour by train, but when you arrive the air shifts. Softer, a little saltier, almost perfumed by pine trees and the sea. Antibes doesn’t dazzle in the loud way; it draws you in quietly, with streets you want to wander, markets that smell of herbs and fruit, and the kind of seaside views that make you stop mid-step.

It’s a town with history stitched into its stones and art painted into its walls, yet at the same time, it’s relaxed enough that you can just sit with a lemon tart and let the afternoon drift.

Here’s how I like to experience Antibes – slowly, with open eyes and enough space to let it leave an imprint.

Picasso Museum – Art That Still Holds the Sea

The Château Grimaldi doesn’t feel like a typical museum. The rooms are bright, whitewashed, and open straight onto the sea. You walk through, and it’s as though the Mediterranean has been made part of the collection.

Picasso came here in 1946, stayed only a few months, but somehow left the place changed. His paintings, sketches, and ceramics are still here, and they feel inseparable from the view outside. You look at his work, then at the horizon through the windows, and it’s the same light, the same sea he once saw.

Step out onto the terrace and it’s just blue, wide and endless. People linger there without meaning to, standing quietly, as if the sea itself is finishing the story that began in his studio.

The Old Town – From Monaco to Antibes

The Vieil Antibes is not a place you rush. The streets are narrow and cobbled, the shutters painted in shades of turquoise and green that seem faded by years of sun. Bougainvillea spills from balconies, and every corner feels like it could be on the cover of a postcard.

But it isn’t staged. These are lived-in streets – you hear dishes clinking from kitchens, children chasing footballs, a radio playing softly from an open window. If you wander Rue du Haut Castelet, with flowers curling over its arches, you’ll understand what I mean when I say Antibes doesn’t show off. It just is.

I once bought a small basket of olives at the Marché Provençal and carried it around the whole day – salty, briny, perfect to eat one by one while walking.

Bay of Billionaires –  A Name with Stories

The Anse de l’Argent Faux – the Bay of False Silver – carries a history that’s half-legend, half-truth. Centuries ago, counterfeiters hid out here. Today, the name lingers, but the bay itself has transformed into one of the Riviera’s most exclusive stretches.

You can glimpse villas behind high walls and pines, yachts anchored offshore like white jewels. But the real magic is the path that runs along the coastline: the Cap d’Antibes coastal walk. Here the air smells of resin and sea spray, and every turn gives you another view that feels untouched. On one side, discreet gates and glimpses of private gardens. On the other, raw rock and the open sea.

It’s the Riviera in balance – wild and refined at once.

Port Vauban & Nomad – Where the Sea Meets Sculpture

Port Vauban isn’t just any harbor; it’s Europe’s largest. Walking along its quays, you’ll see yachts that look like floating cities. Children point at them, adults pause, and you can almost hear the collective imagining of what life is like onboard.

But what makes Port Vauban more than luxury is the Nomad sculpture by Jaume Plensa. A hollow figure made of white letters, gazing endlessly at the horizon. Step closer and you’ll see children running inside it, their laughter echoing against the metal alphabet. It turns into a space for play, reflection, and pause – something poetic in the middle of all that polished grandeur.

Plage de la Gravette – From Monaco to Antibes

Just below Antibes’ old ramparts, there’s a little sandy beach that locals seem to keep in their pocket like a secret. Plage de la Gravette is small, calm, and sheltered from the wind. In the mornings, families spread out their towels, children run straight into the shallow water, and there’s a softness to it all – as if time hasn’t caught up here yet.

What I love most is the balance. You’re swimming in the shadow of stone walls that have stood for centuries, but the atmosphere is as easygoing as any village beach. Go early, before the day fills up, and the sea feels like it belongs to you alone, quietly shimmering beneath the walls.

The Cap d’Antibes Coastal Trail – Untamed Riviera

Cap d’Antibes Coastal Trail – The Wild Side of the Riviera

You don’t just walk this trail. You feel it.

It starts quiet enough-a dirt path winding past the last sunbathers at Plage de la Garoupe. But before long, the coast takes over. The sea pulls closer, louder, rougher. You’re walking just above the rocks, and sometimes the spray actually hits your arms. The air is thick with pine and salt, and the sea keeps changing-inky blue, then pale and clear, then something in between.

You have to pay attention. It’s not flat or easy. Your feet land on stones, roots, edges. One step is solid, the next wobbles a little. Wind comes suddenly around corners. But somehow, that’s the best part. You’re not just seeing the Riviera-you’re in it. Really in it.

Now and then, a piece of a villa peeks through the trees, white and far away. But most of the time it’s just the sound of the sea, the scrape of your shoes, and the wide, wide sky.

By the time you loop back to Garoupe Beach, your legs are a little tired, and there’s that dry feeling of salt on your skin. But it’s not a workout kind of tired. It’s the kind that settles in deep. Like something in you slowed down for a while.

It’s not a perfect walk. And that’s exactly why it stays with you.

From Monaco to Antibes – Food & Market Finds

Food in Antibes feels as colorful as the streets.

• Marché Provençal: A morning wander here is irresistible. Olives, cheeses, lavender sachets, honey, herbs –  every stall feels like it’s been tended for generations.
• Le Café Brun: A casual café where you sit outdoors with an apéritif and watch life drift by.
• L’Arazur: For a more intimate dinner, this small restaurant plates modern Mediterranean dishes that are delicate but deeply flavorful.

And then there’s the lemon tart. I still remember sitting at a tiny table, biting into one that was bright and sharp yet creamy –  like the whole town condensed into a single dessert.

Personal Note

I visited Antibes with my two children on a warm spring day. We started at the Picasso Museum, then wandered through the Old Town where they chased pigeons across cobbled squares. At the market, they picked lavender bundles, holding them like treasures. Later we ended at Plage de la Gravette, where they built sandcastles while I leaned back against the old stone walls, just breathing in the sea.

Antibes feels lived-in, soft, and unpretentious. If Monaco is a polished diamond, Antibes is a linen shirt worn loose –  still elegant, but with room to breathe.