Ports and Beaches in Menton, French Riviera

Menton, nicknamed the Pearl of France, is a French commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department located on the Franco-Italian border, close to the principality of Monaco (7 km), and a famous tourist resort on the Côte d’Azur.

Menton is a city where nature and culture combine harmoniously. City of gardens, City of lemon but also city of art and history, Menton is rich in an exceptional natural and historical heritage. Here, in this preserved nature everything is calm and beauty. From the ledges which overhang the city, one can admire a postcard landscape, that of a city placed on the sea and bathed in hot sun and this all year round.

Climate
Menton became a fashionable tourist centre with grand mansions and gardens. Its temperate Mediterranean climate is especially favourable to the citrus industry, with which it is strongly identified. Sheltered from the north winds by the ascent of the Alps, Menton benefits from an exceptional microclimate. Winters are milder there and summers are warmer than in the other cities of the Riviera. With its 316 days of sunshine a year, Menton is a city where the thermometer rarely drops below 0 ° C.

Under the Köppen system, Menton features a hot-summer mediterranean climate (Csa). However, the milder winters (on average) and the warmer nights in summer (on average), compared to the rest of the French Mediterranean coastal area, provide Menton with a particular micro-climate, with significant warm-summer mediterranean climate (Csb) influences and characteristics, like coastal California and Oregon (experienced from Nice through Monaco and Menton, toward the Italian border) that is favorable to tangerine, orange and lemon groves, hence one of the town’s symbols, the lemon. Winter frosts are extremely rare but may occasionally occur every few years. Likewise, summer temperatures are relatively moderate, rarely rising above 30°C.

Ports:
The Local Public Company (SPL) Ports of Menton has been at the helm ports with a dynamic team on board that welcomes you throughout the year. Menton has managed to combine culture, nature and dynamism in an idyllic setting

The old Port
Located facing the mountains and nestled at the foot of the Old City, its location makes it a single stop. You will be in the front row to admire the Campanin flooded by the morning sun which reveals the different warm and ocher colors of the facades. Its location close to all amenities and the new esplanade des Sablettes makes the Old Port a ” downtown ” port .

Former small Mediterranean fishing harbor where pleasure boats mingle harmoniously with sharp colorful traditional and fishing vessels, the Old Port has combined perfectly modernity and authenticity. While strolling, you will be able to discover what made its activity of yesteryear, with at the entrance of the port the statue of the protector of the City: St Michel wearing the traditional hat of the fishermen as well as the bench of sale of local fishing.

The Old Port is nonetheless modern with an entirely refurbished and pedestrian-only esplanade, a refit area rehabilitated in 2013 where you will find nautical professionals, but also a ” public ” section with a ramp free water.

Joining the Old Port of Menton means enjoying an exceptional view at attractive prices, close to the city center, shops and the various events offered by the City.

Port of Garavan
The Port of Garavan, the nearest starting point for connecting the continent to Corsica. Take advantage of its exceptional location between Monaco and Italy. Benefit from the services of its shipyard

The Port of Garavan was inaugurated in 1967, it is the heart of the Garavan district. It is just 700 meters from the Italian border and less than 2 km from the city center. It is considered one of the largest ports on the Côte d’Azur since it has 770 berths. This port, located on the edge of a residential area, offers boaters a full service on a postcard background.

Its particularity is to be the first or the last port of France. The Port of Garavan is located at a land crossroads between France and Italy but also at sea. Its location makes it one of the closest starting points to Corsica, Sardinia or Sicily.

You will find shops specializing in boating (shipchandler, repair, etc.) but also several quality restaurants. A launching crane is managed by the harbor master’s office for your ships up to 2 tonnes and for larger units you can benefit from the services of the shipyard which welcomes ships up to 50 meters in length. The Port of Garavan, you benefit from quality services, a framework calm and relaxing before returning to the sea.

Beaches:
Hawaii, the first beach in France when you arrive from Italy. Small, it is often exposed to swell, and many can have fun in its waves.
Rondelli, the first sandy beach, at the supermarket level in the Garavan district.
Les Sablettes, which before 1969 was a very small sandy beach, artificially enlarged between 1968 and 1969. Protected from swells and easterly winds by 3 dikes, they have since gathered crowds of tourists at the foot of old Menton.
Market (or Bastion), near the old halls and the new Jean-Cocteau museum.
Casino, just behind the casino in Menton.
Borrigo, this beach and the two preceding ones were in the years 1995 the object of deep structural works which, in particular thanks to the construction of an underwater dike of more than 1 kilometer, limiting their erosion by the currents and sea blows, allowed their widening to, at least 30 meters.

French Riviera
The French Riviera is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from Cassis, Toulon or Saint-Tropez on the west to Menton at the France–Italy border in the east, where the Italian Riviera joins. The coast is entirely within the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of France. The Principality of Monaco is a semi-enclave within the region, surrounded on three sides by France and fronting the Mediterranean. Riviera is an Italian word that corresponds to the ancient Ligurian territory, wedged between the Var and Magra rivers.

The climate of the Côte d’Azur is temperate Mediterranean with mountain influences on the northern parts of the departments of Var and Alpes-Maritimes. It is characterized by dry summers and mild winters which help reduce the likelihood of freezing. The Côte d’Azur enjoys significant sunshine in mainland France for 300 days a year.

This coastline was one of the first modern resort areas. It began as a winter health resort for the British upper class at the end of the 18th century. With the arrival of the railway in the mid-19th century, it became the playground and vacation spot of British, Russian, and other aristocrats, such as Queen Victoria, Tsar Alexander II and King Edward VII, when he was Prince of Wales. In the summer, it also played home to many members of the Rothschild family. In the first half of the 20th century, it was frequented by artists and writers, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Francis Bacon, Edith Wharton, Somerset Maugham and Aldous Huxley, as well as wealthy Americans and Europeans. After World War II, it became a popular tourist destination and convention site. Many celebrities, such as Elton John and Brigitte Bardot, have homes in the region.

The eastern part (maralpine) of the Côte d’Azur has been largely transformed by the concreting of the coast linked to the tourist development of foreigners from North Europe and the French,. The Var part is better preserved from urbanization with the exception of the agglomeration of Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël affected by the demographic growth of the maralpin coast and the agglomeration of Toulon which has been marked by urban sprawl on its part West and by a spread of industrial and commercial areas (Grand Var).