A hike from Eze to Beaulieu

Assuming you’ve taken the train, turn left out of the station and cross the road. Take the first turning on your right, a small road that leads uphill called Avenue de Provence. You’ll follow this until you come to a quiet junction with a few options, take the Chemin Saint-Michel which is the small path to your far left. You need to stay on the Chemin Saint-Michel all the way until you enter the forest, road signs are scarce so keep your eyes open for the patches of yellow paint that mark the way.

The first section leads you through a quiet and very well-to-do residential area; good opportunity to have a peek through the fences at the beautiful gardens and luxury villas!

After just over 1km the path will leave the road and branch off to the right into a forest, a good portion of this hike is shaded making it a good option for a hot day. The forest path climbs quite sharply in some places, but the steep bits are never very prolonged, walking poles might be useful but are not essential.

The trail crosses small roads at certain points, so you just have to scope out the yellow paint on the other side of the road to see where you pick it back up again. The final stretch of road brings you out by the Hotel Saint-Michel, from here you can walk along the road until you reach the plateau; a viewing point surrounded by botanical garden with stunning views of the bay below. From here you can see Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat jutting out into the bay, with boats coming and going from the ports of Villefranche-Sur-Mer and Beaulieu-Sur-Mer.

The Jardin Botanique doesn’t look too exciting from the plateau, it’s a bit too hot and exposed up here for anything particularly lush to grow. There are plenty of benches amongst the shade of the olive trees though, if you’re looking for a picnic spot. However, follow the path down towards Beaulieu and it soon gets more interesting. As you’re looking out to sea, the path heads off and down initially to the left where you’ll pass an orientation table then swings right, again, just look out for yellow paint and you’ll be fine.

The path descends on a mix of rough stones and occasional paving slabs; depending on the time of year you’ll see cactus, eucalyptus, mimosa, heather and lots of other foliage that looks lovely and smells fragrant but I don’t know the names of. The path twists its way down the hillside towards the bay, giving fantastic views from different angles, while cool refreshing breezes drift up from the sea.

Again, there are a few roads to be crossed but the path continues on the other side until you reach the residential area of Beaulieu-Sur-Mer. From here you simply wind your way down through the bright white villas and vibrant purple bougainvillea to the sparkling blue waters of the Med - with nothing more to do except reward yourself with an ice cream.

Eze-Sur-Mer can be accessed on the SNCF train, direction Ventimiglia, or on Ligne Azur bus 100.

Click here to see the route on Google Maps.

Distance: 6.3km
Total climb: 376m
Time taken: 2h30 (leisurely pace)