A guide to Menton
Ooh lemon is a place on Earth
Posted by: Josh, 15 June 2026
Menton is a small and picturesque French town, close to the border with Italy and a mere 30 kilometres’ drive or 35 minutes on the train from Nice. For anyone staying in Nice (read our guide to Nice if you're thinking about it), Monte Carlo or anywhere else along the French Riviera, it’s worth considering spending a few hours of your holiday here.
Menton has a long and interesting history, far too long to retell in full in a short travel guide, but the potted version is that human presence in the area dates as far back as palaeolithic (‘very old’) times, a settlement where Menton stands today was on the Via Julia Augusta connecting ancient Rome to Gaul, and between the 13th and 19th centuries it was traded between Genoese, Sardinian, Monegasque and French hands several times before it was finally purchased for good by France in 1860.
A few years later, the Belle Epoque – the ‘Beautiful era’ – began with France signing a peace treaty with Prussia. Menton, a pretty town with a microclimate that keeps it even warmer and sunnier than its neighbouring towns and villages, became known as the ‘Pearl of France’. It attracted famous writers, poets and artists to live and holiday in the town, and many of their artistically designed villas and mansions survive to this day.
The Belle Epoque ended in 1914 when, as I’m sure you realise, Europe would become significantly less belle for the next four years. But in the context of all that went before, it’s understandable why so many French people and tourists alike find a romantic attachment to the town.
While the era of famous poets and writers is long gone, replaced by the era of tourism and lemons (our term, not the locals'), you’ll still find reminders of Menton’s past in its beautiful old buildings, gorgeous coastline, and a very lovely coastal path which you can follow all the way to Monte Carlo if you’re in the mood for a long stroll in the South of France sun.
This is our guide to visiting Menton.
Contents
Things to do in Menton
As with most of the little villages and towns that you might want to visit along the Cote d’Azur, the town’s greatest appeal lies in slowly strolling through it and stopping as and when you fancy it, at whatever pace suits you.
This stretch of coastline is dotted with nice beaches and upmarket beach clubs (where you can expect to pay upmarket prices), so if all you want to do is stroll through Menton Old Town before lounging on the beach with a cocktail in hand, you’re going to have a nice day out. Equally, there’s nothing wrong with whiling away some hours at one of the bars or restaurants along the seafront. If you feel like you’re paying for the view, you are... but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing if the view is worth it to you.
If you’re looking for more specific ideas of what to do, we have a few suggestions.
Menton Old Town
I’m not usually the type of person who enjoys the busiest and most Instagram-able spots as much as some others, but Menton’s Rampes Saint-Michel – an 18th century staircase leading from the seafront to the Basilique Saint-Michel Archange – is worth making an exception for. The staircase is pretty, the steps are shallow and easy to walk up, and the view from the top back down to the turquoise sea below is just lovely.
If you have the energy, there’s an observation deck around seven or eight minutes’ walk further uphill from which you can take in views of the town and the wider coastline. Just search “Point de vue du Port” in Google Maps and follow the directions, or else follow the cutely named “Mnt de Souvenir” until you reach the deck.
We’d recommend letting yourself get a little lost on the way back down the hill, as the old streets off the main road were empty of other tourists when we visited. There’s no one particular place or sight to recommend seeking out among these alleys, but we enjoyed meandering through a quieter part of town to experience a different side of Menton. Hopefully, you will too.
Botanical gardens
A short walk from the old town is Val Rahmeh Botanical Garden. If you’ve read any of our other guides – particularly those from our trip to the Azores Islands – you’ll know that me and Liz are big fans of strolling through a garden on our holidays.
While we enjoyed our 90 minutes in Val Rahmeh, we both agree that it isn't as pretty, interesting, or impressive as some others we’ve seen on our travels or at home in England. If you like garden walks as much as we do, you should probably pay it a visit. But if you're only really interested in visiting the nicest gardens that the world has to offer, we think perhaps there are other things in Menton that you'll enjoy a bit more. Perhaps consider making time to visit the busier, but more impressive, Exotic Garden in nearby Eze on another day instead.
We didn’t have time to visit the other botanical garden in Menton, Serre de la Madone. It’s a much longer walk from the centre of Menton and is apparently a bit smaller than Val Rahmeh but advertises itself as containing a large collection of rare plants. Should rare plants be your thing and you decide to visit, we’d be really grateful if you would let others know in the comments what your experience was.
Menton lemons
Menton lemons have protected geographical status, are wholly organic, less bitter than the normal lemon (the white part, the pith, is edible) and, I’ve just found, cost more than £10 per kilo if you want to buy them in London. These are some fancy, famous fruits.
In Menton, they’ll… well, they’ll still cost you quite a bit of money. You can buy lemons, lemon-based drinks, lemon meringue tarts, and other lemon-themed items on a couple of very busy shopping streets in the newer part of town.
If you’re in the mood for shopping and/or lemon tart-therapy, head towards Rue Saint-Michel and the surrounding streets and enjoy dropping in and out of whichever shops, patisseries and bars call to you the most.
Liz and I didn’t linger too long in this part of Menton. I’m not a big fan of big crowds and we weren’t craving a sugary drink or snack when we visited. The area is also, undeniably, a bit of a tourist trap.
It’s not all bad though, even to a cynic like me. The revival of the Menton lemon as an industry is quite a happy story, and it’s nice to see local people taking pride – and earning a good living from – a local symbol. And, unexpectedly, it’s quite fun just to see the lemons on the trees outside Maison Gannac, a grocery shop at the end of Rue Saint-Michel. Just look at the size of it!
The Menton to Monte Carlo coastal path
It’s no criticism of Menton to say that our highlight of our Menton visit was our walk there.
We started in Monte Carlo, where Liz generously went along with my squeals of excitement as I pointed out various bits of road made famous by Formula 1, before setting off on our four-hour walk along the coastal path. It’s easy to find and, walking in this direction, easy to follow. Keep an eye out for signs for the “Sentier du Littoral” – literally, coastal path in English – and you can’t go wrong.
Most of the walk is on well-maintained paths well away from the road. If you spend much more than 30 minutes or so on pavement next to the road, check that you haven’t missed a turn off – we read one guide in advance saying the walk is “not for the faint-hearted” and that it takes you along a main road for long stretches. That wasn’t our experience; only the last 30 minutes or so of your walk as you reach Menton and a short stretch at the start of the walk out of Monte Carlo is directly by the road.
Once past the path running close to the rail tracks leading out of Monte Carlo, you’ll be onto mainly wide and mainly flat path taking you several kilometres alongside bright blue and turquoise ocean and past the ornately designed mansions and villas I briefly mentioned earlier. Several of these houses I’d gladly sacrifice several limbs for – maybe even my own, if necessary.
There is an unexpectedly decent cheap option for lunch about halfway along the walk, at Cabbe near Roquebrune-Cap-Martin station. Liz and I both had nice toasted sandwiches and, from what we could tell, those around us were enjoying the more substantial dishes on offer too. It’s a convenient place to rest, though you’ll need to look elsewhere if you’re in need of a mid-walk bathroom break.
How to get there
Assuming you’re leaving from Nice or Monaco, there are four trains an hour. Trains take around 35 minutes from Nice and between 10 to 14 minutes from Monaco.
At Nice station, don’t queue for ages at the small number of SNCF ticket terminals; head for one of the often-quieter blue Zou ticket machines and purchase your ticket there.
Expect the trains to be busy, particularly during morning and evening rush hours. During rush hour, there’s a chance the first train to arrive might be too busy for you to board. Outside of rush hour, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to get a seat – particularly if you make a beeline for the upper deck of the train.
Final thoughts
Josh's final thoughts
We’d heard good things about Menton before visiting and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a charming town with pretty buildings, loads of history, and a nice waterfront.
The town of Menton alone isn’t quite as much to my tastes as nearby Èze, which although busier has amazing medieval buildings and some of the best views of the coast from its Exotic Garden, or to Villefranche-sur-Mer, which is smaller than Menton but just as picturesque and less full of tourists.
But the coastal walk from Monte Carlo to Menton is one I’d love to do again. That Menton wasn’t my absolute favourite place we visited during our holiday in the South of France is a sign of just how much we loved the other towns we visited, not a hint that you won’t love Menton too.
Liz's final thoughts
Although it’s a bit more built up and busy than some of the other small towns along the French Riviera, the old town of Menton still has a lot of charm. I really enjoyed wandering the streets, admiring the warm, colourful buildings, the small, cobbled streets and views over the turquoise blue ocean.
Although Menton doesn’t have a huge number of must-see attractions, you could happily spend a relaxing day just wandering, eating and drinking here – or combine it with the three-hour walk from Monte Carlo for a more active day.
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