With 120 km of sun-drenched shores, the Riviera offers one of France's most attractive seafronts. For yachtsmen, bathers, sport fans and strollers, there are idyllic moorings, rocky creeks, nautical clubs and coastal paths.

The Sea For Yachtsmen
From Theoule to Menton, 31 yacht harbours or ports offer cruisers, high-quality infrastructures in ports of call that still boasts all their original beauty: the Esterel cliffs, the quayside of Villefranche, the gulfs of Cannes and Antibes, Nice's Bay of Angels.

The Coast For Strollers
Corniches, capes and seaside parks should all be discovered on foot. Marked hiking trails ensure safe and scenic walks: Le Corbusier promenade on Cap-Martin, the headland of Cap d'Ail, the maeterlinck pathway on the Cap de Nice, the Tirepoil pathway on Cap d'Antibes and, of course, a tour of the Lerins Islands.

Marine Life
Two original institutions will help you discover, study and protect marine mammals: Marine land in Antibes, and the Museum of Oceanography in Monaco.

The Water
Warm and clear: Variable on the surface because of the sun, its temperature is constant deeper down: 13 degrees at depths ranging from 200 m to +000 m. This is an important factor for the Mediterranean climate. This enormous mass of liquid cools in summer and warms in winter. Bathing is thus possible all year round. Greta Garbo loved to bathe in the sea in winter. At that time of year, water temperature varies from 13.1 degrees in February to 14.9 degrees in December (which encourages the traditional "Christmas bathing" event). In summer sea temperature is about 25 degrees.

Sea. Sun, Sand and...Pebbles!
Public or private, sand or pebbles, the dozens of beaches that are dotted along the shore compose, over about 40 kilometres, the commercial basis of the Riviera's tourist industry.

Perhaps even more than the beaches, it may well be the seafront, which attracts the tourists. But can you imagine the Riviera without a beach? Beaches, and especially the sandy shoreline from Antibes to Mandelieu, constitute one of the basic components of the image as well as the product offered by the Cote d'Azur. While a considerable stretch of the coast is still freely accessible, there are now 200 beaches run on a private concession basis.