Antibes is one of the more rewarding towns on the Côte d'Azur — less flashy than Cannes, less hectic than Nice. The old town sits behind Vauban's ramparts, a maze of narrow streets that opens onto Port Vauban and the Marché Provençal. The Musée Picasso is here, occupying the Château Grimaldi where Picasso worked intensively in 1946 and left many of his paintings.
The beaches south of town at Juan-les-Pins are flat and sandy, rare on this coastline; in late July the pines behind them fill up for Jazz à Juan. Cap d'Antibes, the headland between the two, has walking paths along the cliffs, the sailors' chapel of Notre Dame de la Garoupe, and views back to the Alps.