Experience the best of Beaulieu-sur-Mer

Beaulieu-sur-Mer sits on the Mediterranean about 5 km east of Nice, below steep hills that shelter it from the north wind. This mild microclimate earned it the nickname Petite Afrique. A seafront promenade passes the yacht harbour and the pebble beaches of Petite Afrique and the Baie des Fourmis, with Belle Époque hotels, a casino and villas lining the bay.

Villa Kérylos, a faithful reconstruction of an ancient Greek house built in the early 1900s for the archaeologist Théodore Reinach, stands at the water's edge with marble, mosaics and painted walls. The Cap Ferrat peninsula starts just east, with a coastal path round its point and the pink Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild and its gardens. Villefranche-sur-Mer's old harbour, the hilltop village of Èze and Monaco are all close by.

Niçois cooking shapes the menu: socca, a chickpea pancake, pissaladière, an onion tart with anchovies and olives, and salade niçoise, alongside fresh fish and Provençal rosé. Winters are mild, spring and autumn are warm and calm, and July and August are hot and busy. The coast is at its easiest between April and October.