What happened when I sent my parents to explore Villefranche-sur-Mer 

Sending my parents to explore different areas of France has become a bit of a holiday hack of late. I tend to scope it out on one of my own trips, then send them a detailed itinerary to follow, only for them to go off piste and find more hidden gems than I even knew existed. Last time it was Marseille, this time, Villefranche-sur-Mer. 

I must admit, this destination was not entirely new to them - I spent two years living in Menton just along the coast, so we had dabbled in a Villefranche beach trip a couple of times on one of their many visits to see me (a daughter on the Riviera is the best excuse for a holiday, it turns out). 

However, I am (sadly) no longer in Menton, so now their trips to the Riviera are unsupervised and completely left to their own devices. In spring this year, they decided that Villefranche would be their destination of choice for a long weekend, due to its easy access to Nice (16 minutes on the train). Flights from Scotland to Nice airport can be few and far between in the off season, so arriving late can mean you miss the last train. Fortunately, an Uber to Villefranche is considerably cheaper and quicker than to Menton. 

They stayed in the Welcome hotel, which I have been assured they would thoroughly recommend. The balcony view over the sea allowed them to munch on frites as they watched cruise ship passengers descend for their day trip in the town. Villefranche is a popular stop with cruise boats throughout the year, with the town filling up for a few hours as they take a quick pit stop before moving on to Monaco. 

Mum and I had walked around Cap Ferrat on one of her previous trips, so she played tour guide to Dad as they completed the 10km sentier around the coast. Coastal walks run pretty much all the way along from Menton to Nice, and every chemin is worth a visit if you have the time, offering surprisingly different scenery in each section. Along the Cap Ferrat path, you can spy on the fancy hotels, the most upmarket of which is the Four Seasons, which frequently plays host to the world’s biggest stars.  

They stopped in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat for some food, where there are a few small restaurants looking out over the sea. For the region they are fairly well priced so you can enjoy lunch in the sun without breaking the bank. It is the perfect pit stop before continuing on to Beaulieu-sur-Mer, where you can take the train back to Villefranche, or indeed anywhere along the coast. 

As keen walkers, they chose to walk into Nice from Villefranche on another day, stopping in the port for a well-earned glass of wine. During this walk they spotted Arsène Wenger, the much-acclaimed football manager, who they followed around for a bit, resulting in our family group chat being inundated with paparazzi-style snaps of the former Arsenal boss. 

In Villefranche itself, they dined on delicious steak frites after being told by the waiter that “un bien cuit n’est pas possible” and that it must simply be “à point”. They were put in their place for a second time when Dad excitedly shouted “that’s the church from Emily in Paris”, only to be interrupted by an irate passing churchgoer who wanted to assure my dad that, first and foremost, it was the Chapelle Saint-Pierre. 

The beach in Villefranche is somewhere in between rocks and sand, which is unusual for the area and draws plenty of crowds during the summer. It has a lovely bay to swim in, which my parents made the most of in the evenings as the sun set. 

As the trip drew to a close, they concluded it was the perfect location for a long weekend away. Easy to get to, and easy to get around but with enough to do in the town itself that you could happily stay put. The tiny ruelles (small streets) make for good exploring, and there are plenty of restaurants and bars both on the front and further into the town to try. Otherwise, a pastry on the beach from the boulangerie and a cocktail from the beach bar in the summer will never go amiss.

Next on the list? Aix-en-Provence…