Last summer we spent about 10 days road tripping the south of France. We spent 4 nights with our friends in Montpellier and then went on by ourselves to St Tropez, Verdon Regional Park and Nice stopping at other places in between.
This blog will be a basic itinerary for anyone who’s looking for recommendations and I’ll write about it best I can 8 months later.
4 NIGHTS IN MONTPELLIER.
Accomodation.
First night we just stayed in a cheap room at Ibis Montpellier centre as we were checking in there late and only staying 1 night.
2 nights at Hotel Saint Clair Bord de Plage.
1 night at our friends parents house out in the vineyards at Clermont-l’Hérault where we stayed in their guest house with a pool which was frickin amazing.
Food.
Rosemarie Delicious dinner.
Bonobo Yummy brunch.
Effet Mer Beach club vibes, we went for sunset drinks and dinner.
Marché du lez. SUCH a cool place, a must visit! Food trucks, food hall, shops, endless options.
Recommendations.
Visit Cathédrale Saint-Pierre.
Visit the Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier.
Walk around the city.
Beach day at La Grande-Motte.
Day trip out to Saint Guilhem le Désert. Beautiful picturesque town in the mountains.
From there go swim at Pont du Diable, Hérault. Can jump off the cliffs, lay out on the pebbles and swim in the river. Nice view driving over the bridge.
2 NIGHTS IN SAINT-TROPEZ.
Accomodation.
Cute 1 bedroom sleep out not far from town and across the road from a beach. We really enjoyed our stay. Linked here.
Food.
You’ve got to get dinner or lunch on the port looking out at all the super yachts.
Breakfast at the famous Le Sénéquier. Expensive but actually really yum.
Prao Plage in Saint Maxime. Beach club. Went to lay out and swim for a few hours and also ate lunch there.
Around the corner from our accomodation was a few street food places with tables and seats outside to enjoy if you wanted a mix of the options available. Kaja Poke, Papy Burger, Kyoto Sushi & Thai.
Recommendations.
Pit stop at La Ciotat for lunch or ice cream on the waterfront.
Walk all around the town. Visit the designer shops. Do the whole sha-bam.
Port Grimaud beach.
1 NIGHT IN VERDON REGIONAL PARK.
Accommodation.
Auberge des Salles. The room was super average but the views from the hotel were amazing over the Gorges du Verdon. Delicious smoothies and sundaes.
Food.
No food recommendations from me here lol. There was a few restaurants to choose from down the road from our hotel. Ihaia had a takeaway burger and fries from somewhere but I just ate our snacks we had brought previously in Saint Tropez and had an ice cream from the hotel for dinner.
Recommendations.
We stayed here a night to enjoy the breathtaking Gorges du Verdon.
We hired an electric boat for a few hours and set out on the water with some food. You’re not allowed to swim out of the electric boat but if we could do it again, we would’ve because swimming from the shore isn’t that nice and people were jumping out of their boats, we were just following the rules.
You can also hire kayaks and pedal boats you can swim from.
We walked around the market in the town of our hotel, Les Salles Sur Verdon.
2 NIGHTS IN NICE.
Accommodation.
The Deck Hotel. We booked the junior suite with terrace. Really spacious, clean and bright. Central in the town.
Food.
Waka Bar. New Zealand owned restaurant and club. We had dinner and drinks here and was a nice taste of home with some New Zealander staff as well.
Hotel Amour Plage. Beach club, hotel and restaurant. We ate dinner here one night. Nice aesthetic, ok food but right on the beach.
Recommendations.
Pit stop in the town of Antibes, a sweet little town. We walked around the town, through the markets “marche provencal”, out to the ocean and port. We wanted to go into the Musée Picasso but it was closed. We ate breakfast in a cafe over looking the markets.
Walk all around Nice. The buildings are beautiful colours.
Walk the long stretch boardwalk.
Visit the colourful town of Villefranche-Sur-Mer.
Big pink villa at Villa et Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild on Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Entrance fee.
Tête de Chien lookout over Monaco and the sea. Monaco is a 30 minute drive from Nice so we just spent a few hours there.
Walk around Monaco. Visit the Casino Monte Carlo, visit a few designer stores.
We also drove 20 minutes from Nice to Èze. An incredible mountain top village that looks like magic is made there. We ate lunch at an Italian place and also visited the “Exotic Garden” which is a must!! Unreal views from the top. Entrance fee.
DANNIELLEGRACE 