South of France road trip - any recommendations?

[FashionDave]

Hello! We’re driving to visit a family member in Geneva this summer and we planned to then continue to the South of France for a couple of weeks with our 2 DC (3 and 6 months).

I have no idea where to start looking! I would like to start around Monaco and then travel westwards towards Marseille then drive back up through Aix or Avignon.

Any recommendations for places to base ourselves? We’d be planning at roughly 2 long stops but are open. I would love to be by a beach ideally…

Don’t drive on a Saturday!

Menton is a lovely seaside town close to Monaco.

Cassis, gorgeous seaside town 30 minutes from Marseille. At least stop for the day if you cant stay over!

Agree with pp, Menton is a lovely place to stay but we also really liked St Maxime at the other end of the Cote d'Azur. The beaches nearby are glorious and much quieter. Pampelonne Beach just outside St Tropez would be an amazing base. Do not miss the Gorges du Verdon either, absolutely spectacular!

Can you fly from Geneva to Nice. Pick up a car there and have several stops then go back to Nice then fly home? Are you driving all the way?

Geneva has the most amazing Patek Philippe watch museum. Do not miss it.

Get a car with decent air conditioning or it could be unbearable.

Villefranche sur mer is beautiful. Nice is great, Eze is unmissable but go really early before the crowds. Cap d'Antibes, Marseilles, Les Calanques all great! What a shame you have up drive rather than get the amazing trains along the riviera.

Thanks for the museum tip!

My DH enjoys driving so we thought we’d make the most of it but I can see that your option would be easier in many ways.

Thanks for all the recommendations! Definitely will look into St Maxime, Menton, and Cassis.

Any kid friendly accommodation that anyone can recommend?

@FashionDave Csnnot recommend hotels as we didn’t go with dc.

Regarding travel: flights to Geneva are reasonably plentiful and the airport is a short train ride from the centre. You might even get a train to Nice. The train from Nice goes to Monaco and Menton. It’s beautiful.