Without peer for glitz and glamour, the French Riviera, or Cote d’Azur, is known as an enclave for the rich, famous, and mega-rich. Yet, despite the gated communities, ludicrously priced Air BNB’s, and certain air of pretentiousness that pervades, the Cote d’Azur is perfect set up to be explored by campervan. After spending a week here, and only spending $200, we feel fairly fortunate, given the beautiful scenery we were constantly surrounded by. Read our guide on where to wild camp, where to eat, and what to do.

YOU’ll SAVE MONEY

Accomodation in the French Riviera and along the Cote d’Azur is notoriously expensive. Moroever, there are few youth hostels, and those that do exist charge obscene amounts for a night of rest. Wild camping in the caravan, by contrast, is completely legal in France, and costs you absolutely nothing. We estimate that we’ve saved about $100 USD per night thus far in the French Riviera, by staying in our campervan alone.

The cost of food here is also notorious. Expect to pay (at the very least) 15 euros for a menu of the day, and anywhere up to 30 euros per person for a decent feed. By contrast, in our campervan we’ve been able to cook (most) of our own meals, thus cutting another big outlay of cash out.

NB; Visiting the Cote D’Azur? Read our guide on visiting in winter here.

YOU’LL GET OFF THE TOURIST TRAIL

The standard tourist visiting the Cote d’Azur visits a few, seemingly pre-ordained locations. Nice, because they feel like they should, Marseille, again, because they should, and Cannes, because they want to be able to be the kind of person who holidays in Cannes. However, most of those cities are inaccessible or dangerous in a campervan, thus forcing you to choose alternatives. For example, we had been planning on spending a night or two in Nice, yet, after reading about successive burglaries on campervans in the area, we decided to check out the small town of Menton. There, we were the only tourists in sight, got to drink a few glasses of wine with some locals in a brasserie, and visited a place neither of us had ever heard of, let alone considered visiting. If we hadn’t visited with a campervan we’d currently be in Cannes, wondering what all the hype is about.

recommended campsites

Depending on which way you’re travelling, your route through the French Riviera will be different. Different towns and locations appeal to different travellers. Yet, for us, the appeal of the French Riviera lay not in the big glitzy towns of Nice and Cannes, but in the wild camping locations found dotted around the smaller towns and villages.

I would recommend anybody travelling France by motorhome to immediately download and join park4night. They have the biggest list of campsites, campgrounds and locations to park up, which will save you having to use any predetermined list. However, we stayed at a few nice campsites, all of which we payed absolutely nothing for, which you can read about below.

Our first stop in the Cote d’Azur was in the small town of Frejus. Not as well known as the glitzy towns of Cannes and Nice to the east, we made camp here for a single night in order to use their municipal swimming pool (exercise + a shower, not bad). Yet, the town of Frejus was actually quite pretty, and we were able to camp up for the night without being disturbed or bothered by any of the local populace. The views of the Mediterranean from here were genuinely stunning, and I’d recommend them to anyone lucky enough to be travelling the Cote d’Azur by campervan.

CAMPSITE 1: 5008 D559, 83600, Fréjus

The beautiful view from Sentier Des Odeurs

Our second stop in the French Riviera was along the highway between Frejus and Cannes, past the villages of Sant Raphael. The road to this campsite was truly mesmerising; a winding road that ran along red cliffs, and above a sparkling Mediterranean sea below. The campsite was located in a small layover near a series of old concrete platforms that previously held guns during the war years, but now function as observation points. From these we were able to see all the way along the coast to Cannes, and had a mesmerising view of the Alps beyond. That night was tranquil, we weren’t disturbed, and fell asleep listening to the crashing waves below.

CAMPSITE 2: Sentier Des Odeurs (on the highway from Frejus to Cannes)

Our third stop in the French Riviera was in Menton. Deciding to avoid the tourist havens of Cannes and Nice, we continued along the coast to the last French town before the border. Menton is truly gorgeous, and we are exceptionally glad that we were able to visit. Our campsite was located about 1 km from the old part of town, in a wide layaway beside a small residential road.

CAMSPITE 3: Boulevard de Garavan, Menton.

Any questions about visiting the French Riviera? Ask away in the comments below!