Avandra Field Guide · Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
The Riviera Corniches: Nice, Turini and the Roya
3
nights
127
km driving
4
challenges
950
XP to earn
3
nights
127
km driving
4
challenges
950
XP to earn
Three nights and only 127 kilometres, about three hours at the wheel, but the roads are the slow kind. Three corniches run east from Nice above the Riviera; the highest climbs several hundred metres above the sea to La Turbie, with Èze on its cone of rock between them. Inland the Col de Turini stands at 1,604m on the Authion massif, and the approach from Sospel is a 24.2-kilometre climb averaging 5.1 per cent, hairpin after hairpin — the Monte-Carlo Rally has used it almost every year. Beyond it the Roya cuts its gorges under Saorge. The season here runs April to October; the first leg out of Nice is twelve kilometres.
Best from April to October
127 km of driving in total, about 3 hours over 3 days
The Grande Corniche and Èze: The High Road Above the Riviera
Edited by Avandra
Days 1–2 · 2 nights
Nice and the corniches
12 km · 19 min from Nice
Base camp · 2 nights
Jardin Botanique Saint Michel
4.5
55 Google reviews
Editor's note
Jardin Botanique Saint Michel stands above Villefranche-sur-Mer, under two kilometres from the day's ground and twelve from Nice, nineteen minutes, so two nights here need little driving. The Promenade des Anglais runs seven kilometres round the Baie des Anges and has been UNESCO-listed since 2021 with the villas and hotels of the old winter resort; the Colline du Château, where Louis XIV had the castle razed, keeps a waterfall and the best view of the bay, and the Cours Saleya market runs mornings from Tuesday to Sunday. East, the Grande Corniche climbs to La Turbie, with Èze on its rock at 429m, the Jardin exotique in the castle ruins above and the Chemin de Nietzsche dropping to the sea.
Nice and Èze: The Promenade des Anglais, Castle Hill and the Village on the Rock
250 XPWalk or cycle the seven kilometres of the Promenade des Anglais, which began in 1822 as a two-metre dirt path cut by the wintering British — paid for, it is said, by the Reverend Lewis Way — then sit in one of the blue chairs under a pergola at dusk and watch the lamp-posts throw light upwards as well as down: they double as approach beacons for the airport
6.8 km from camp
About 4 h
The Grande Corniche and Èze: The High Road Above the Riviera
250 XPDrive the Grande Corniche, the RD2564, out of Nice and over its two cols — the col des Quatre-Chemins and then the col d'Èze — as far as La Turbie, keeping the Moyenne and Basse Corniches below you the whole way
3.3 km from camp
About 5 h
Day 3 · 1 night
Turini and the Roya gorges
72 km · 1 h 33 min from Nice and the corniches
Base camp · 1 night
Camping à la Ferme du Seuillet
4.7
28 Google reviews
Editor's note
Camping à la Ferme du Seuillet sits on the Route de Turini at Moulinet, one night, six kilometres from the day's ground and seventy-two kilometres — an hour and a half — from the coast. The Col de Turini stands at 1,604m on the Authion massif, joining Lantosque to Sospel; the Sospel side is a 24.2-kilometre climb averaging 5.1 per cent, and the Monte-Carlo Rally has used its hairpins almost every year. Walk up to the Authion and its ruined forts, or take the Circuit de la Léa, nearly fifteen kilometres. In the Roya below, Saorge hangs over the gorges, reached by two roads that meet only on foot; a Roman funerary stone is set in the south wall of Saint-Sauveur.
The Col de Turini: The Monte-Carlo Rally's Night Stage
250 XPDrive the climb from Sospel to the col, 24.2 km at an average of 5.1 per cent, and mark the halfway point at the chapel of Notre-Dame de la Ménour, 9.9 km up, where the gradient lets go for a moment
3.9 km from camp
About 2 h
Saorge: The Village Hanging Over the Roya Gorges
200 XPWork up through the stacked lanes and collect the three penitents' chapels by their colours: Saint-Jacques of the White Penitents, up the stair to the right of the church of Saint-Sauveur, Saint-Sébastien of the Red Penitents on place Georges-Clemenceau, and Saint-Claude of the Black Penitents on rue Périssol — and find the sundial on the way
11.9 km from camp
About 4 h
Walks from camp
Finish the guide, earn 950 XP
4 challenges across 2 stops.
For the drive itself
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