Family Holidays: Alpes Maritimes family holidays and breaks

Take the Family holiday rating 4 stars out of 5

Why

Everyone knows about the Côte d'Azur: wonderful weather, excellent beaches, a beautiful coastline, famous towns - Cannes and Nice, Antibes and St Tropez, famous people, famously rich people, and famously high prices! What few of us know is that the Côte d'Azur, in the far south east of France, is part of the ‘département’ of the Alpes Maritimes.
The mountains begin the moment you leave the coast - there are ski resorts less than an hour’s drive from Nice, and the higher you climb into the superb alpine landscapes, the more appealing – and affordable - the idea of a family holiday in the same region as the Monte Carlo Casino becomes.
All the entertainments we associate with mountains are on offer: skiing and winter sports in the winter (surprise, surprise!), and in the summer walking, mountain biking, kayaking and rafting in the rivers Var and Verdon, bungee-jumping, trampolining…..
There are charming villages to explore, castles and forts to discover, small market towns to enjoy, and if you want, you can always drive down to the coast for the day – reminding yourself and the family of all the pleasures of the seaside.

Top left: Lush green valleys
Top right: Pretty village of Peone

Bottom left: Turquoise lakes
Bottom right: walking among high peaks

When

The winter sports season lasts into April at the highest resorts (Isola 2000). Spring comes to the mountains in late May, with snow lingering on the peaks, but wonderful flowers and lush landscapes below. This is when the rivers are at their best for white-water sports. The summer begins in June and lingers to the end of September, and the weather is often still fine in October, when the autumn colours in the mountains are magnificent.

How

Easyjet, British Airways and several other airlines fly daily from a variety of UK airports to Nice, from where you can reach the mountains of the Alpes Maritimes within 1-2 hours drive.

Stay

You will be spoilt for choice for great accommodation in this region. From gorgeous B&Bs to luxury town apartments, to secluded farmhouses to luxury gites with pools, sleeping up to 8, as well as hotels. Weekend breaks are available at many of these. You can expect prices to start at around £30 per night per room in a basic, classically rustic B&B, or from £75 per night for a weekend break in a 2 bedroom, 3 floor, rural mill which sleeps 5, (not including service charge or cleaning supplement). Luxury gites start at around £400 to £1, 300 per week. check Expedia, Octopus Travel, and Active Hotels, for their huge range of hotels and self catering accommodation. Depending on your location, it may be well worth also considering hiring a car for your trip. Try Take the Family's Car Hire page.

Do

Walk – a little or a lot - on the superbly maintained networks of footpaths at all levels in the mountains, gawping at gorges, splashing in lakes and streams, puffing up peaks and spotting the plentiful wildlife (marmots and chamois, the former a giant ground squirrel, the latter a deer-like goat, or goat-like deer).

Sign up for a bungee-jump off an 80 metre bridge, a summer luge in Valberg, an abseil down a waterfall, a voyage down the waters of the Var in a white-water raft, or a bike or horse ride through the meadows. Explore the medieval alleys of Entrevaux, and its fortress on the cliff above (complete with dungeons), visit little local museums and traditional farms, where you can buy cheese and yoghurt straight from the cow or goat.

Eat

All the best that French food has to offer, with some Italian thrown in (Italy is not far away). The local cuisine is relatively simple – by French standards – and includes tasty lamb and plentiful vegetables (tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, courgettes) as well as some pasta dishes from across the nearby border. Of course the usual suspects are also on offer: pizza, pancakes, ice-cream, and all the dangerous delights of the French bakery.

Cost

Flights to Nice can be picked up very reasonably if you can be flexible about when you fly and book well in advance. Airline prices do tend to jump at half-term, but travelling mid-week will help.

Campsites are numerous in the mountain valleys, as are ‘Gîtes Ruraux’, which are self-catering units of differing standards and sizes in ‘rural’ settings. Both options offer very good value for money, although the camping season is limited to June to September. Even hotels are a bargain (around €50-60 for a double) – especially if compared with prices on the coast!
In most places the traditional French three course menu is still available for under €20 a head, and child friendly food will of course set you back even less.