French Departments - Alpes Maritimes

The Alpes Maritimes lies in the most south easterly point of France and is a very prosperous department. Combining a classic Riviera feel with Italian elements, it has some stunning coastal and highland scenery. Dramatic, rugged mountains offer fantastic alpine and hill walking opportunities. Le Queyras National Park is a must. It’s wonderfully remote and not as well developed as some of the other French Parks. But there are plenty of other peaks you can explore in Alpes Maritimes or in nearby Haute Provence.

Alpes Maritimes towns

Moving onto Alpes’ towns, Nice, the departmental capital, is often regarded as the unofficial capital of the French Riviera. It offers a young, vibrant city with good beaches and lots to do, including ferry connections to Corsica.

Cannes, synonymous with the Film Festival, lies in the southern end of the department. It was recently voted as the best place to live in France by the magazine Le Point. Just brace yourself in May each year, if you visit then, when the global press descends on the town at Film Festival time.

Sophia Antipolis, just north of Cannes and Antibes, at the more southern end of the Alpes, has a high concentration of technology industries and is often referred to as ‘Silicon Valley’. Further east along the coastline sits the small tax haven state, Monaco, with a population of just 30,000. The official language here is French but Monegasque is used in certain situations. It’s easy to visit Monaco - as you don’t have to go through excessive border formalities.

Finally, a little inland lies Grasse, France’s perfume capital which is a fascinating place to visit. Interestingly, it’s regarded as the wealthiest city in France after Ile De France. And Cagnes-sur-Mer, to the south east of Grasse, is famous for its horse racing.

Find out more at the French Riviera on the Côte d’Azur website, the official Nice website and the official Cannes website.

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