I’ve lived on the French Riviera for years and raising my son here has completely changed how I experience this coastline. You stop seeing it through a tourist lens and start seeing it through a small person’s eyes. These are the places I keep returning to with him. Not the polished itinerary version — the real one.

1) Beach Adventure

Forget the crowded strips. For families, the beaches that work best are the quieter ones with shallow entry and enough space to spread out. Plage de la Gravette in Antibes is my favourite – sheltered, calm and clear, sitting just below the old town walls so you can wander up for lunch without a big production. Plage Passable in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat has the same unhurried energy. Plage du Port Gallice in Juan-les-Pins is ideal for toddlers — shallow water, easy access, good beach restaurant. Pack the good snacks. Leave earlier than you think you need to.

2) Explore the French Riviera with Kids on a Train Ride

Le Petit Train d’Antibes is a firm favourite with my son and honestly with me too. It loops from Cap d’Antibes through Juan-les-Pins and into the old town, past bougainvillea walls and along the seafront. Slow, gentle and genuinely lovely. Book in advance during summer, it sells out faster than you’d expect.

3) Explore the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco

The Oceanographic Museum in Monaco is one of those rare children’s museums that doesn’t feel like a children’s museum. It’s magnificent perched on a clifftop over the sea, full of extraordinary marine life. The shark lagoon alone is worth the trip. Drive in the morning to avoid traffic, the road into Monaco at rush hour with frustrated small children is nobody’s idea of a holiday.

4) Book A Family Photo Shoot

If there was ever a time to organise a family photo shoot, it’s whilst you’re visiting the French Riviera. Our children change so quickly and the light here, particularly at golden hour, is unlike almost anywhere else. I photograph families across the Côte d’Azur and Provence using 35mm and medium format film. Not posed, not rushed – just an hour or two somewhere beautiful, documenting what’s actually there. See French Riviera family portrait sessions →

Sunrise Beach Photo Shoot in Cannes

Provençal Village Family Photo Shoot

Lavender Family Photo Shoot in the Luberon

5) Spend a day at Le Village des Fous

For older kids who need burning off, Le Village des Fous in Villeneuve-Loubet is brilliant. Treetop courses, zip lines, varying difficulty levels. Go early in summer before the heat sets in.

6) Take a Boat Trip to the Lérins Islands

This is my absolute favourite thing to do in summer for me as much as the kids. The islands are fifteen minutes by ferry from Cannes. I prefer Île Saint-Honorat as it’s smaller, quieter with an active monastery built between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. Walk the island, visit the gardens, buy the monks’ honey and wine at the shop by the entrance. Bring a baguette, cheese, something cold to drink. Find a spot under the pine trees. Eat slowly.

7. When It’s Too Hot (or Raining)

For days when the heat is genuinely too much or the rare rainy day on the Riviera head to the Zone Actipark in Mougins, just outside Cannes. It’s an industrial area, which sounds uninspiring but it houses some of the best kids’ activity spaces in the region all in one place.
Blocparty Climbing is a 1000m² indoor climbing gym with walls for every level, from tiny beginners to proper climbers. The kids’ boulder walls are brilliant, the food is genuinely good, fresh, homemade, proper children’s menus.
Right next door, Circus Party is an indoor amusement park with a maze, trampolines, inflatables, a treetop trail and multi-sport area. Combined with Circus Grimp for climbing, it’s a full afternoon sorted.
The whole area is easy to drive to, free parking and genuinely one of those local finds that doesn’t make it onto most tourist guides.

The French Riviera with kids is one of those experiences you want to remember properly. If you’re planning a trip and would love to capture it on film then I’d love to hear from you.

Family Film Portrait Sessions

Couple Portrait Sessions

Have a fabulous holiday!

Abbi