Côte d'Azur

Encompassing the heart and soul of Cap-Ferrat's coastline, this 7km loop circumnavigates the most rugged and scenic part of the peninsula, with one trailhead starting from Plage de Passable behind St-Jean's tourist office and another just south of the village of St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Highlights include the series of rocky, secluded coves on the peninsula's western shoreline and the lighthouse at the far southern tip. Allow about two hours to walk the trail in either direction.

With its mix of real-city grit, old-world opulence, year-round sunshine, vibrant street life and stunning seaside location, no place in France compares with Nice.

With the exception of a 4km stretch through Monaco, you can walk the entire 13km coastal strip between Roquebrune-Cap Martin and Cap d’Ail without passing a car. Starting west of Menton, the Sentier du Littoral follows Cap Martin’s rugged coastline past beaches and wooded shores, including beautiful Plage Buse, all the way to Monaco’s Plage Larvotto. Resuming at Plage Marquet near Monaco's western edge, the path skirts dramatic coastal bluffs all the way to hedonistic Plage Mala in Cap d’Ail.

Pouting sexpot Brigitte Bardot came to St-Tropez in the 1950s to star in Et Dieu Créa la Femme (And God Created Woman; 1956) and overnight transformed the peaceful fishing village into a sizzling jet-set favourite. Tropeziens have thrived on their sexy image ever since: at the Vieux Port, yachts like spaceships jostle for millionaire moorings, and infinitely more tourists jostle to admire them.

Yet there is a serene side to this village trampled by 60,000 summertime inhabitants and visitors on any given day. In the low season, the St-Tropez of mesmerising quaint beauty and ‘sardine scales glistening like pearls on the cobblestones’ that charmed Guy de Maupassant (1850–93) comes to life. Meander cobbled lanes in the old fishing quarter of La Ponche, sip pastis at a place des Lices cafe, watch old men play pétanque beneath plane trees, or walk in solitary splendour from beach to beach along the coastal path.

Once upon a time, St-Paul de Vence was a small medieval village atop a hill looking out to sea. Then came the likes of Picasso in the postwar years, followed by showbiz stars such as Yves Montand and Roger Moore, and St-Paul shot to fame. The village is now home to dozens of art galleries as well as the renowned Fondation Maeght.

Among the many artists who have lived in or passed through St-Paul over the years are Soutine, Léger, Cocteau, Matisse and Chagall. The latter is buried with his wife, Vava, in the cemetery at the village’s southern end (immediately to the right as you enter).

St-Paul’s tiny cobbled lanes get overwhelmingly crowded in high season – come early or late to beat the rush.

With its boat-bedecked port, 16th-century ramparts and narrow cobblestone streets festooned with flowers, it's little wonder that lovely Antibes has stolen the hearts of so many artists and writers: they include Graham Greene, Max Ernst and Picasso, who featured the town in many paintings and now has a museum dedicated to him here.

Only Antibes' attractive old town would be recognisable to any of its famous former residents. The modern town, like many along the Riviera, has sprawled rather unbecomingly along the coast and inland, so the best vantage point is from the sea – ideally in one of the many posh yachts that pull into port throughout summer, or from the long series of beaches south of town.

Beyond the city limits, save some time to explore beautiful Cap d'Antibes, a wooded cape studded with seaside mansions and pretty walking trails.

Squeezed into just 200 hectares, Monaco might be the world’s second-smallest country (only the Vatican is smaller), but what it lacks in size it makes up for in attitude. A magnet for high-rollers and hedonists since the early 20th century, it's also renowned as one of the world's most notorious tax havens and home to the annual Formula One Grand Prix.

Despite its prodigious wealth, Monaco is far from being the French Riviera's prettiest town. World-famous Monte Carlo is basically an ode to concrete and glass, dominated by high-rise hotels, super yachts and apartment blocks that rise into the hills like ranks of dominoes, plonked into an utterly bewildering street layout seemingly designed to confound lowly pedestrians.

In dramatic contrast, the rocky outcrop known as Le Rocher, jutting out on the south side of the port, is crowned by a rather charming old town, home to the principality's royal palace.

Up in the hills to the north of Nice, the town of Grasse has been synonymous with perfumery since the 16th century, and the town is still home to around 30 makers – a few of which offer guided tours of their factories, and the chance to hone your olfactory skills. The perfumes of Provence are something that linger long after you leave for home – especially if you happen to have bought a few soaps, body sprays and eaux de toilette to take home with you.

A walk or drive along the winding Corniche de l’Estérel, opened by the Touring Club de France in 1903, is an attraction in its own right. Also known as the Corniche d’Or, ‘Golden Coast’, and signposted as the N98 or the D559, it offers spectacular views of rugged red rock formations juxtaposed against the blue-green Mediterranean. Small summer resorts and dreamy inlets (perfect for swimming), all accessible by bus or train, dot its 30km length. The most dramatic stretch is between Anthéor and Théoule-sur-Mer, where the tortuous, narrow road skirts through sparsely built areas.

A combination of perilously perched villages, sheer cliffs, waterfalls, densely wooded slopes and gushing rivers, the Gorges du Loup is a scenic, unspoiled part of the world, known for spectacular drives and walking trails.

The highlight of the gorge's western side (reached via the D3) is the fortified village of Gourdon, teetering on a rocky summit. From place Victoria at the top of the souvenir-shop-riddled village, a magnificent coastal panorama sweeps 80km from Nice to Théoule-sur-Mer.

Way down below, along the D2210, bitter-orange trees are cultivated on terraces around the beautifully intact medieval village of Le Bar-sur-Loup. Further north along the rushing river's edge, tucked beneath the remnants of an old railway bridge (bombed during WWII) you'll find the hamlet of Le Pont du Loup.

On the eastern side, off the D2210, the isolated hamlet of Courmes is reached by a single, winding lane.