Menton sits on the last stretch of French coastline before Italy, squeezed between the mountains and the sea with Monaco just to the west. It has the mildest climate on the Riviera, which is why it became a winter retreat for European royalty and aristocracy in the 19th century — Queen Victoria, the Tsar, and the man who built the Suez Canal all kept houses here.
The old town rises from the harbour like an amphitheatre, its pastel facades stacked up the hillside toward the baroque Saint-Michel church. The Bastion Museum, a 17th-century fortress at the water's edge, was restored by Jean Cocteau in 1957 and now houses a museum of his work. The Palais Carnolès, once the summer residence of the Princes of Monaco, holds a decent collection of paintings and a magnificent citrus garden.
Menton is best known for its gardens. The Val Rahmeh Botanical Garden, La Serre de la Madone, and the flamboyant Fontana Rosa are all open to visitors and benefit from the unusually warm microclimate. The town hosts a Lemon Festival every February that fills the Bioves gardens with elaborate citrus sculptures. For modern art, the Jean Cocteau Museum holds the world's largest collection of his work, donated by an American collector who never visited the town.