Tailormade tour Nice by train, tour Provence and French Riviera by car France

This touring holiday by train and car to Nice, Provence and the Cote d’Azur whisks you from London St Pancras to Marseille direct by Eurostar. The direct service operates from the beginning of May until mid-September, 3 or 4 times a week. At other times, the holiday can be done with a change in Paris. The train leaves London at about 07.15 and arrives in Marseille at 14.45 hrs. You then connect to Nice on a train at about 15.30 arriving in Nice just after 18.00 hrs. You spend three nights in Nice.

On the coast of the Cote d’Azur, also known as the French Riviera, enjoy two full days in the Mediterranean resort of Nice. There are plenty of cultural and active things to do both in Nice and nearby. Spend an afternoon walking along the Promenade des Anglais, which runs parallel to one of the most beautiful beaches in France, the Baie des Anges. Well-known for its artistic and cultural connections, Nice has over 20 museums and galleries, including the Musée Matisse, the Palais Lascaris, and several archaeological and historical museums. For something more modern, take a tour of the city’s 13 examples of street art, painted by internationally-renowned artists, or simply tour the architecture and atmosphere of the town to the soundtrack of the street jazz music. The Marche aux Fleurs Cours Saleya is the site of some of Nice’s best markets, selling flowers, fruit, and vegetables, as well as other local delicacies. Be sure to seek out and try some Socca, a pancake or crêpe made from chickpea flower, or Pissaladière, a kind of pizza topped with onions, olive, garlic, and anchovies. Wander round the Marché Artisanal Nocturne, lit atmospherically by the buildings around it, which runs from 18:30 to 00:30 every night apart from Monday, and displays the work of Nice’s local artists. A self-guided tour of the city will bring you to Queen Victoria’s Ancien Hôtel Régina, the Basilique Notre Dame, Le Cadran Solaire (a sundial which you operate using your own shadow), and the small squares of the Old Town. Take lunch on one of the café terraces. Voted the Green City of the Mediterranean, Nice has many hidden gardens ready to be explored; large or small, they are all perfectly maintained. For those looking for a more active experience of the Nice landscape, climb the Colline du Château, or head outside the city on one of the many trails that take you along the hillside, through oak woods and olive groves, to the hamlets and neighbourhoods of Bellet, the origin of Nice’s famous Bellet wine. Other possible day excursions include trips to Grasse, the perfume capital of the world, Monaco, the luxurious self-contained state famous for its connections with A-list stars and the Grand Prix, the seaside village of Beaulieu-sur-Mer, and the exclusive peninsula of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

This morning collect your hire-car from an office in the centre of Nice and then make your way out of town. The driving time without a stop is just over an hour, but there are plenty of places to stop along the way. The first stop should be at St Paul de Vence, one of the prettiest perched villages in the hinterland of the Cote d’Azur. It is renowned as an artists’ village and the winding main street is full of galleries and artisan goods to purchase. If you want to have lunch at the famous Colombe d’Or, a haunt for artists and writers who have left their mark with the vast collection of original works of art that adorns the walls. Pre-booking is essential. Near here, about 15 minutes on foot, or call in on your own in or out of the village is the Fondation Maeght, a museum of modern art with one of the largest collections of paintings, sculptures and works on paper of modern and contemporary art in Europe. Your next port of call should be in the village of Grasse, known for its long-established perfume industry. There is a museum exploring the history of perfume, and three historic perfume manufacturers, Fragonard, Galimard and Molinard provide guided tours to their factories. The town itself is a maze of winding alleyways and stairways, hiding some superb examples of 17th and 18th century private mansions. The local speciality is a ‘fassoum’, a courgette flower doughnut. The region around Grasse has grown flowers for hundreds of years in a favourable climate and in rich soil. Originally the plants grown were jasmine, rose and tuberose, but now other flowers are used and grown locally including orange blossom, mimosa, lavender, violet and jonquil. To these locally grown flowers are added imported materials in a raw and natural state including iris or vetiver roots, oak moss, amber seeds, sandalwood, patchouli leaves, cinnamon bark and cistus. The rose is harvested in May, the flower of the orange tree from the end of April until the beginning of June and jasmine in July and August. The most spectacular fields are those of mimosa from January to March in the region of the Massif du Tanneron, then broom in June and lavender in July.

From Joucas you can visit the hill-top village of Gordes and see the bories - the stone dwellings of the region. It is a short drive to the Luberon and the villages such as Bonnieux and Roussillon, renowned for its red soil. To the north you can visit the wine regions of Beaumes-la-Venise and it is a short drive to the foothills of the Mont Ventoux.

The most direct route to your next stop in Provence only takes just over an hour and a half but we suggest you take a route that follows the course of the Gorges du Verdon and approach the village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie from the gorge itself. The road towards the gorge winds through valleys of varieties of pine and oak and then you reach the Gorges du Verdon, the deepest gorge in France and where waters from the Alps have carved into the limestone massif of the foothills of the Alps. The road follows both sides of the gorge and is hairpin in places. Also, worth noting in this area is the variety of birdlife, especially vultures, eagles and other birds of prey. From Trigance, a typical village of Haute-Provence with a castle and narrow streets, you can take the northern route to the ‘point sublime’ with a spectacular viewpoint looking down the gorge. You pass through villages of Rougon and La Palud sur Vernon. The area is also popular for hiking with kayaking in the lower part of the gorge and on the Lac de Sainte Croix. Your hotel for three nights is in the charming and popular village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie.

There are plenty of opportunities today to explore the area, perhaps on foot as there are numerous walks, or drive to the Lac de Sainte Croix, as well as driving through the dramatic Gorges du Verdon. The village is renowned for its earthenware tiles and there are several workshops and sales outlets for the tiles. There is also a pottery museum. Another option for a day’s drive is to visit the area of the lavender fields near Riez (also known for its honey and truffles) and Valensole.

Return to Nice for the train back to Paris and on to London by Eurostar.