Eze and the perched villages above the coast

Some of the best of the Cote d'Azur is not on the shoreline at all but in the villages perched above it. Chief among them is Eze, a short drive or a train-plus-climb from the villa, where stone lanes wind up to a garden and a view that takes in the whole sweep of the coast.

Eze village

Eze is one of those places that looks impossible until you stand in it. The old village is a knot of honey-coloured stone houses, archways and stepped lanes, built tight onto a rocky pinnacle for safety in the days when raiders came by sea. It is entirely car-free, so you leave the road behind and climb on foot through cool, shaded passages that open without warning onto a balcony of light and blue water.

The lanes are lined with artisan workshops, small galleries and the occasional tucked-away terrace, so wandering is the whole point. There is no need to rush. Follow the cobbles uphill, pause where a window frames the sea, and let the village reveal itself a corner at a time. From almost every turn the view drops away dramatically to the coast far below. Early morning and the hour before sunset are the loveliest times to come, when the day-trip crowds thin out and the low light warms the stone.

The Jardin Exotique

At the very top, where the old castle once stood, the village opens into the Jardin Exotique, a garden of cacti and succulents planted among the ruined walls. It is a curious, beautiful spot: spiky silhouettes against the sky, stone statues placed along the paths, and benches set just where you would want to sit.

The reason everyone climbs to it, though, is the view. From the summit terraces you look down over the village rooftops and out across the sea in a wide panorama that on a clear day seems to run for miles along the coast. It is the kind of place where you simply stop talking and look. Allow time here, and bring a hat in summer, as there is little shade at the top.

The Nietzsche path

For anyone who likes to earn the view, there is a more romantic way to arrive. The Nietzsche path is a footpath that climbs from Eze-sur-Mer, the seaside part of Eze on the coastal train line, up the hillside to the perched village above. It is named after the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who is said to have walked it and found inspiration on the ascent.

It is a proper climb, steep in places and rough underfoot, taking roughly an hour at a steady pace, so good shoes and water are sensible. The reward is the changing view as you rise, the sea spreading out wider with every bend, until you arrive at the village from below as travellers always did. Many guests walk up and take the easier route back down.

The three corniches

Eze sits at the heart of the Riviera's most celebrated drives. Three roads, the corniches, run east to west along this stretch of coast at different heights, and between them they tie the perched villages to the shore. The Basse Corniche, the lowest, hugs the sea and links the coastal towns. The Moyenne Corniche, the middle road, threads through Eze village itself and gives that first famous glimpse of the rock and the bays.

Highest of all is the Grande Corniche, climbing well above the others to the old ridgeline route, where the views stretch the furthest and the whole coast lies mapped out below. Together they are the classic Riviera drive, and the easiest way to weave a visit to Eze into a slow, scenic loop above the sea, with the villa to come home to at the end of it. A favourite plan is to drive up by one road and back by another, stopping in the village in between, so that no two stretches of the view are ever quite the same.

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