Villefranche-sur-Mer is an easy short walk to cover it all. It is pretty and classy, clean and colourful. Being a tender port the journey in is made slower by the port authority restrictions, and one can see why a town full of restaurants might not think cruisers are good for them if they don’t spend. From our ship 1670 went ashore, and I am sure someone made a few Euros. It is a wonderful place, and perhaps a hidden gem of the Riviera.
Villefranche-sur-Mer is immediately to the east of the city of Nice, and Monaco. Both become excursions and the open top bus takes you all the way to Nice. Should you wish to get off in Nice, lleave early. The bay of Villefranche is one of the deepest natural anchorages of any port in the Mediterranean Sea and provides safe anchorage for large ships from easterly winds. The Bay is the place where the United States Sixth Fleet moors when cruising the Mediterranean coast.
The old twon is where you will walk. The 16th century fort, the covered road and the beach are features in a city of pretty streets and restaurants. Moules frittes is a local dish, they are small, but you get a huge pan full.
The city limits extend to the hills surrounding the bay climbing from sea level to an altitude of 1,893 feet (577 m), the highest point of Mont-Leuze, reflecting on land the features found offshore. The Basse Corniche runs through Vlllefranche with the Moyenne Corniche above and the Haute Corniche above that entering the farthest reach to the west of the Alpes-Maritimes.
