A fishing village on a peninsula of pines and villas, the Rothschild gardens at its neck and a coastal path all the way round – the coves, the walks and the bars, in one guide.
In Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat now
–
Weather
–
MICHELIN
2 ✱ tables · 3 Key hotels
Photo: Michal/Adobe Stock
In this guide
Every table and hotel the MICHELIN inspectors have chosen in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat – 2 starred, 4 more restaurants and 3 hotels – on one map, with our own stories as we write them.
Stroll the flat 1.3 km seafront path from the port towards Beaulieu along the Baie des Fourmis, past the Cap's first great villas; free, open every day.
The palace and its nine gardens are open daily 10:00–18:00 until 1 November (adult €18, children 7–17 €12); lunch at Restaurant Béatrice on the terrace, served 12:00–15:00.
Saturday 31 October, 14:00–17:00 on the Théâtre sur la Mer: bouncy castle, pumpkin drawing and autumn collage, wooden games and music; free. Pumpkin soup at 17:30 by the Espace Neptune.
Round the southern tip on the coastal path – past the Grand-Hôtel's sea-water pool and the lighthouse to Passable; about two hours from the port. Check access in swell or wind.
✱ 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
Palace bars, a wine bar on the square and a 1946 café on the port.
A wine cellar and bar on the port since 2013, whose list moves with the sommelier's finds – small growers alongside grands crus – with small plates and tasting evenings.
Sources: Côte d'Azur France listings from the Nice Côte d'Azur tourist office, the Michelin Guide and the hotels' and bars' own pages, read 27 October 2026.
05
Where to stay
The hotels worth the trip
The MICHELIN Guide's Keys first – its mark for hotels with character, service and a sense of place – then the rest of its selection and the ones we would book ourselves.
The great walk of the peninsula: a cliff-edge path round the southern tip, past the lighthouse, with views from Cap de Nice to the Estérel on a clear day.
Past The old quarry that supplied stone for the port of Monaco, Below the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat and its sea-water pool, The Cap Ferrat lighthouse and the Pointe Malalongue
All year; access may be closed temporarily in swell or strong wind – the tourist office advises calling the information bureau (+33 4 93 76 08 90) or the municipal police before setting out.
Not wheelchair accessible; uneven rocky sections and steps.
Start: Port of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (Département 06); the marked path itself starts on chemin de la Carrière
A short interpretive trail round the point where the hermit Hospitius lived, with the chapel and the giant bronze Virgin twenty minutes above the shore.
Past Plage de la Paloma and the Pointe du Colombier, Six observation stations on the classified site, Chapelle Saint-Hospice, the 1903 bronze Virgin and the Belgian military cemetery
All year, weather permitting; may be closed in swell or wind.
Not wheelchair accessible; stairs at the end of the loop.
Start: Port of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (Département 06) or chemin de Saint-Hospice
The old seafront path between Beaulieu and the village, flat and level all the way – named after the politician who won Saint-Jean its independence in 1904.
Past The Baie des Fourmis, The first great villas of the Cap, The former Panorama Palace, now the Royal-Riviera
All year, every day. Free.
The one path on the peninsula listed as wheelchair accessible, so the easiest with a pushchair.
Start: 8 avenue Denis Séméria, by the port of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (or from the Baie des Fourmis in Beaulieu)
A guided walk through the village and out to Saint-Hospice with the tourist office, telling the stories behind the frescoes, the chapel and the cemeteries.
Past The old fishing village, Pointe Saint-Hospice, its legend and the Belgian military cemetery, The sailors' cemetery and the bronze Madonna
Thursdays at 09:30 from 5 November to 17 December 2026, then January–May 2027 (see the tourist office calendar). €5 per person (included in the French Riviera Pass).
No source covers children or pushchairs.
Start: Tourist office, quai Virgile Allari (Centenaire car park side)
Sources: the Département des Alpes-Maritimes Randoxygène guide to coastal walks, the Nice Côte d'Azur tourist office's Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat trail pages and Côte d'Azur France, read 27 October 2026. Coastal paths close in rough seas – check before you set off.
08
With kids
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat for children
Six village beaches, the Rothschild gardens, whale-and-dolphin outings and a Saturday children's theatre on the quay.
The village beach and one of the biggest on the peninsula: easy to reach, with a children's play area, a beach-volley court and kayak and paddleboard hire.
Béatrice de Rothschild's Belle Époque palace and nine themed gardens – Spanish, Florentine, Japanese, exotic, a rose garden and more – with fountains and cascades children can run between.
Daily 10:00–18:00 until 1 November 2026; from 2 November weekdays 10:00–16:30, weekends, public and school holidays 10:00–18:00.
A phone quest round the village: fisherman Arnaud's boat has been turned into a work of art without his consent, and families must find the piece and the artist.
Played on a phone; game available online or from the tourist office bureau on the quay.
Educational trips aboard the Turkish caique 'Santo Sospir' to look for the whales and dolphins of the Pelagos sanctuary, run by a marine-conservation association.
Sea outings from April to November; book on the association's online planner.
A sailing and water-sports club opened in April 2026, with holiday courses for children and adults on Optimists, catamarans, windsurfers, paddleboards and kayaks.
1 October 2026–31 May 2027: Monday–Saturday 09:00–12:00 and 13:30–17:00 (daily in summer).
A PADI five-star dive school on the peninsula since 1999, taking families out on the Corto, a traditional Mediterranean boat, for first dives and snorkelling outings.
Daily 08:30–18:00 from 1 April to 30 September; 1 October 2026–31 March 2027 by appointment.
A monthly 15:00 show for children – commedia dell'arte, puppets, a Christmas tale, world folk tales – in the village hall on the harbour, for a few euros.
One Saturday a month at 15:00: 28 November 2026 (commedia dell'arte, 'Les aventures du Capitaine Rodomonte'), 26 December, 30 January, 27 February, 27 March and 24 April 2027.
A garden at the start of the Saint-Hospice point, high above the Plage des Fossettes, with the COEXIST fountain – the natural picnic stop on the coastal loop.
Sources: the Nice Côte d'Azur tourist office (Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat bureau), the Ville de Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Côte d'Azur France 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.
09
The atlas
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat at a glance
Every restaurant, hotel, sight, beach and shop we know of – 109 places, each with its own page. Choose a quartier, or a kind of place.
Photo: Photobank/Adobe Stock
10
The directory
Every place in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
109 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.
✱One MICHELIN StarLe CapModern Cuisine · Saint-Jean-Cap-FerratRead the story ✱✱One MICHELIN StarLe Restaurant des RoisModern Cuisine · Beaulieu-sur-MerThe address 
One MICHELIN KeyRoyal-Riviera94 rooms · St Jean Cap-FerratRead the story 
No. 1Villa Santo Sospir – Jean Cocteau's tattooed villa on Cap FerratJean Cocteau's tattooed villa in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat: the murals, the Weisweillers, the restoration by the Melia family and what visiting Santo Sospir means in 2026.Read 
No. 2Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild – nine gardens on the headland at Cap FerratVisit Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat: Béatrice de Rothschild's pink villa, its Sèvres porcelain and nine themed gardens.Read 
No. 3Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in a day – villas, coastal paths and PalomaA day on Cap-Ferrat: Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild's nine gardens, lunch at the harbour, the coastal path to the lighthouse and a swim at Paloma beach.Read 
Villefranche-sur-Mer2 km from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Èze5 km from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Nice6 km from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Saint-Paul-de-Vence17 km from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Menton17 km from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Antibes21 km from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Cannes30 km from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat