The old town climbing to its basilica, the lemon gardens and the last bay before Italy – the tables, the hotels and the gardens of Menton, in one guide.
In Menton now
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Weather
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MICHELIN
1 ✱ tables
Photo: Olga/Adobe Stock
In this guide
Every table and hotel the MICHELIN inspectors have chosen in Menton – 1 starred, 1 Bib Gourmand and 2 more restaurants – on one map, with our own stories as we write them.
Walk the Promenade du Soleil east past the Sablettes esplanade towards the old town's coloured façades as the light goes – the first stretch of the tourist office's own town loop.
A drink on the rooftop of the Hôtel Méditerranée, open all year with a panoramic view of the mountains and the sea; the listing gives a daily happy hour 18:00–19:00 (last updated 2023, so check).
A Bib Gourmand where a Japanese chef cooks Mediterranean produce with Japanese touches – salmon tataki, sirloin with yuzu kosho; dinner 19:00–21:30, Tuesday to Saturday.
The Belle Époque market hall of 1898 on quai de Monléon, open every morning 08:00–13:00 with about thirty traders selling local and Italian produce; on Saturday mornings more stalls fill place Fornari and the mall by the Bastion.
The harbour fort Cocteau turned into his museum, showing 'Le château de la Bête' for the 80th anniversary of 'La Belle et la Bête' until 16 November; open 10:00–12:30 and 14:00–18:00, closed Tuesdays and 1 November.
Go up to the perched village of Castellar and walk the waymarked path back down to Menton – easy and almost all downhill, through woods with views over the bay of Garavan, ending on the steps of the Basilique Saint-Michel.
Bistronomic cooking with fresh, seasonal produce a few metres from the Casino, with a sea-view terrace and a heated dining room; Saturday dinner 19:00–22:00 (tourist office listing, 2024).
Drive up to La Turbie for the Roman monument above the bay of Monaco, its park and panoramic terrace; open 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–17:00 out of season, closed Mondays and on 1 and 11 November; €7, free for under-18s.
Mauro Colagreco's Argentine grill on boulevard de Garavan: empanadas, octopus and picanha from the wood fire, with a view over the old town and the harbour; Sunday lunch 12:15–14:00.
✱ MICHELIN star · Bib Gourmand: good cooking at a fair price · ◆ selected in the Guide · € to €€€€: the Guide's own price bands, from «on a budget» to «spare no expense».
04
Sunset and drinks
Where to drink
Old-town wine bars, local craft beer and a rooftop seven floors above the town.
Cocktails, wines and hot drinks seven floors up, with a panoramic view of the coloured mountains behind Menton and the sea beyond – three minutes' walk from the front.
A small wine bar on the old town's main lane where Stefania, an Italian sommelière, pours from about a hundred wines and talks you through them, with Franco-Italian boards, bruschetta and focaccia.
A vaulted cave in the old town, opened in 2021, where you can drink a bottle from the shelves on the spot with charcuterie, pan con tomate or a truffled brie – and have a case sent home.
Pavement tables in front of a Belle Époque façade, cocktails, a long beer list and events – the town's lively pub when you want company rather than a view.
The tourist office's own loop through the whole town – sea, harbours, the border, the villa hill and the old town's best viewpoint – in one morning.
Past Promenade du Soleil and the Sablettes esplanade, Port de Garavan and the Hanbury fountain at the Italian border, Boulevard de Garavan and its Belle Époque villas
All year (tourist office).
Water points at the Sablettes esplanade and the Parc du Pian (tourist office).
Start: Tourist office, Palais de l'Europe, 8 avenue Boyer
Walk down from a perched village to the sea: forest, then the bay of Garavan opening below, finishing on the basilica steps in the heart of old Menton.
Past Chapelle Saint-Roch, Forest path with views over the bay of Garavan, A fully painted tunnel near the motorway
All year, every day (tourist office).
Downhill all the way, so manageable for school-age children; the listing notes a public transport stop within 500 m of the start.
Start: Castellar, route des Granges Saint-Paul, 20 m past the Chapelle Saint-Roch (signpost 414)
Sources: the Menton, Riviera & Merveilles tourist office and the Mairie de Sainte-Agnès walking guide, read 27 October 2026. Coastal paths close in rough seas – check before you set off.
07
With kids
Menton for children
The coast's one fine-gravel beach, lemon groves, a jungle garden – and Monaco's aquarium half an hour away.
The only beach around Menton that is not pebbles: very fine gravel, a gentle slope and water shallow far out, so it is the easy choice with toddlers, with the old town's coloured houses right above.
A shaded park with a 'Russian castle' climbing frame – two slides and plenty of hiding places for 1- to 8-year-olds – plus spring riders and room to kick a ball.
A small, colourful amusement park a few steps from the beach, with rides, tree-top adventure, multisport structures, padel and paintball – and free entry, so you pay only for the rides you use.
Open all year: Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday 10:00–19:00 (tourist office listing; hours not guaranteed).
Menton's town museum, open since 1909: the ground floor tells how prehistoric people of the region coped with climate change, and a permanent room shows treasures raised from Mediterranean shipwrecks – free for anyone under 18.
Open all year, daily except Tuesday, 10:00–12:30 and 14:00–18:00 (tourist office listing, updated 20 October 2026).
A 17th-century fort on the harbour wall that Cocteau turned into his own museum, with a pebble-mosaic lizard on the floor; this autumn's show marks 80 years of his film 'La Belle et la Bête', a good way into art for children who know the story.
Daily except Tuesday, 10:00–12:30 and 14:00–18:00; closed 1 January, 1 May, 1 November and 25 December (museum site).
LEGO and DUPLO workshops under a vault on the beach esplanade, built around science, technology and maths – 800 exclusive models in 60 themes, plus junior and advanced robotics.
Open all year (tourist office, 2026); workshops, holiday courses and birthday parties by booking.
Rent a backpack of explorer's kit, open the chat bot on your phone and solve riddles, codes and observation puzzles around Menton – one of fourteen quests across the villages from Roquebrune to Tende.
Backpacks rented from the destination's tourist information points; return to the same point.
The town's own sailing school, on the water since 1973, teaching Optimist, windsurf, catamaran, paddleboard and kayak a few steps from the Sablettes beach.
A five-star diving school with its own 12-metre boat and more than 30 sites between Italy's Mortola point and Monaco; its programme for children from six takes them under the water for the first time with an instructor each.
Open all year, daily 08:30–18:00 (tourist office listing, updated 2 October 2026).
An 18-hole course laid out under the 530-odd olive trees of the Parc du Pian, some of them centuries old, with a snack bar for crêpes and ice creams and the La Topia restaurant on site.
When small legs give up: a 45-minute commented ride from the old town along the sea and up to the heights of Menton, with audio in French, English, Italian and Russian.
A local skipper's small fleet, led by the wooden Brigantin, for swims, sunset outings and trips along the coast as far as Monaco's harbour or the Italian Riviera – the tourist office's pick for taking children to sea from the old port.
Outings from 1 h 15 to a full day on request; times and routes can change with the weather – call the day before (tourist office).
Organic growers of the IGP Menton lemon show you the groves and run workshops around lemons and other local produce – floral water, jam, aromatic herbs – the most direct way to explain to children why the town is so proud of its fruit.
All year, by booking only (tourist office, 2026); no visits during the Fête du Citron.
The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle's tropical garden: 1,700 plant taxa, lotus and water lilies in the pool, banana trees and shady paths – a real jungle walk for children on 1.5 hectares.
Until 31 October 2026: daily except Tuesday 10:00–18:00.
The ruins of a 10th-century castle on a rocky spur 800 metres up, with a 360-degree view over the bay of Menton, the sea and the mountains – a short climb from one of the highest coastal villages in Europe that children remember.
Open all year, daily 09:00–22:00 (tourist office listing, 2026).
The Roman monument Augustus raised over the bay of Monaco, with a park for running about, a panoramic terrace and a small interactive museum built around a large model; on set dates children rebuild it in LEGO or follow 'Augusta la Romaine' on a comic guided tour.
The palace of the sea on the cliff of the Rock: a 450,000-litre shark lagoon, tropical aquariums, the sea-turtle trail and a rooftop terrace with a play area and land tortoises – the classic rainy-day trip from Menton.
Open every day; October–December 10:00–18:00; last entry 30 minutes before closing; closed 25 December (museum price sheet, March 2026).
Sources: the Menton, Riviera & Merveilles tourist office, Côte d'Azur France, the Ville de Menton, the Muséum's Val Rahmeh garden, the Centre des monuments nationaux, the Musée océanographique and the places' own pages, read 27 October 2026. Drive times from the town centre without traffic. Check seasons and ages with the place before you go.
08
The atlas
Menton at a glance
Every restaurant, hotel, sight, beach and shop we know of – 599 places, each with its own page. Choose a quartier, or a kind of place.
Photo: Gerald Villena/Adobe Stock
09
The directory
Every place in Menton
599 places, each with its own page – the six nearest the centre of each kind are here; every one of them is in the directory, A to Z.
✱✱✱Three MICHELIN StarsMirazurCreative · MentonRead the story 
BibBib GourmandL'OrangerieModern Cuisine · MentonRead the story 
No. 1Jean Cocteau's Menton – the wedding hall, the Bastion and a disputed collectionJean Cocteau in Menton: the frescoed wedding hall in the town hall, the Bastion museum by the harbour, the Wunderman collection and how to visit today.Read 
No. 2Val Rahmeh in Menton – the general's garden that became a botanical treasureVal Rahmeh in Menton: from a lemon grove to General Radcliffe's villa and, since 1967, a botanical garden with lotus, daturas and the rare toromiro tree.Read 
No. 3Serre de la Madone – the garden Hidcote's creator hid away in MentonSerre de la Madone in Menton: the terraced garden Hidcote's Lawrence Johnston made from 1924, its decline, its rescue and the restoration under way now.Read 
No. 4Menton in winter light – lemons, gardens and Belle ÉpoqueMenton in winter light: the old town and Saint-Michel basilica, Cocteau's museum and Bastion, the February lemon festival and the gardens of Garavan.Read 
