Where you stay on the French Riviera decides where your tours start. Most road days collect you only in Nice. The boats and food walks leave from a harbour or a square in their own town. Before you book French Riviera guided tours, pick the base that suits them.
The coast is one railway line. The TER runs from Cannes through Antibes and Nice to Monaco and Menton, and on over the border to Italy. So no base cuts you off. What changes is how far you travel to the start, and at what hour.
Each base below has the same four labels: the train, the tours that start there, who it suits and the trade-off. We name no hotels. Pick the town, then book what suits you in it.
Nice is the Riviera's biggest city and its airport, and the one base where almost everything starts. The road days to Èze, Monaco and Saint-Paul-de-Vence collect you at your hotel. The shared boats leave from Port Lympia, at the end of tram line 2.
If this is your first trip, stay in Nice. You can reach any other town by train in under an hour, and back in the evening.
The road days collect you at your hotel. Compare them by the towns each one reaches.
Cannes and Antibes sit west of Nice, on the same line. Cannes has the Croisette, the festival and the ferries to the Lérins Islands. Antibes is smaller, inside its sea walls.
Staying west suits a trip that looks west. For Èze and Monaco, take the train to Nice for the pickup, or pick a private tour.
Villefranche-sur-Mer and Beaulieu-sur-Mer are the first stops east of Nice on the coastal train. Both are small, quiet and on the water.
The cape of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat sits between the two. It has no station, but its marina is where the private day-cruiser boards.
Monaco is a separate country on the coast, 22 minutes from Nice by train. It is small enough to cross on foot.
Stay one night if you want Monaco after dark. Base the rest of your trip in Nice.
Menton is the last French town before the border. The line runs on to Ventimiglia in Italy, about 48 minutes from Nice.
Book early for the Fête du Citron, 13 to 28 February 2027, when the town fills.
Match your plans to a base here. The private road tours pick up by arrangement, so they fit any of them.
| Base | By train to Nice | Tours that start here | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nice | You are there | Road days with hotel pickup, the Nice boats, bikes, e-cars, the wine tasting | A first trip; the most choice |
| Cannes | About 27 minutes | The Cannes food walk, the Lérins private boat | The western coast and the islands |
| Antibes | 11-13 minutes | Private road tours by arrangement | A smaller base on the line |
| Villefranche or Beaulieu | A few minutes; the first stops east | The solar boat at Beaulieu; private tours by arrangement | A quiet base, and cruise passengers |
| Monaco | About 22 minutes | The self-drive boat | One night, not a week |
| Menton | On the line to Italy; €7.70 single | The Menton food walk | A quiet stay at the Italian end |
Cruise passengers are the one exception. Ships anchor in the bay and tender you to Port de la Santé in Villefranche-sur-Mer. Check that your road day takes cruise passengers.
The train times and fares are SNCF's own pages, checked 26 September 2026. The cruise port is the Département's page. Every pickup rule and meeting point comes from each tour's own listing.
Five hours in a private electric car for up to four, collected from your hotel, the port or an address you give: Monaco's old town, the casino, the hill village and its perfume works, then back through Nice. Parking is included.
From $180 per person
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A driver-guide collects you anywhere in central Nice for five hours: two short photo stops, an hour and a half at the hill village and the perfume works, then Monaco and Monte-Carlo. Food and drinks are not included.
From $75 per person
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Three hours on foot in the lemon town by the Italian border, lunch included: the covered market, the old lanes and the seafront, ten people at most.
From $116 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: find your start on the meeting points map, see what to do in each town, or compare every tour on French Riviera Tours.