Antibes day trip from Nice: 23 to 28 minutes by train, the €12 Picasso museum shut on Mondays, and a Provençal market every morning but Monday

💡 The Short Version: Antibes is 23 to 28 minutes from Nice-Ville by train and has two things that decide a day: the Musée Picasso, €12 and shut on Mondays, and a Provençal market every morning except Monday from September to May. Picasso worked in the Château Grimaldi in 1946 and left 23 paintings and 44 drawings there. The old town is a walk, not a ticket: the tourist office’s route runs from the Porte Marine past the ramparts to Jaume Plensa’s Nomade sculpture. A Monday is the wrong day. Prices are in euros. Or book a tour: the 2-hour old town walkad is from €25 and the Cannes, Antibes and Saint-Paul half-day tourad from €65 (GetYourGuide).

Tickets and prices

Sources: the City of Antibes’ Picasso museum page and the tourist office’s market page. Under-18s, job-seekers and disabled visitors with their carers enter the museum free. Suitcases, rucksacks and large bags are refused at the door and cannot be left in the cloakroom, so leave luggage in Nice.

Vegetable stalls at the Provençal market on cours Masséna. Photo: Abxbay, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Tours worth paying for

Antibes is one direct train from Nice, so a tour buys a guide rather than a connection. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

Antibes: 2-hour old town walking tour

From €25 · 2 hours · 4.9 stars from 119 reviews

The walkad goes round the old town with a guide.

Picasso Museum drawing tour with a local artist

From €70 · 2 hours · 5.0 stars from 48 reviews

The tourad is a 2-hour drawing tour led by a local artist, built round the Picasso Museum. The listing does not say whether the museum entry is included, so check it before you book.

Little train and hop-on hop-off bus

The coast tours that include Antibes are French Riviera in One Dayad, from €68 for 9 hours, and the Cannes, Antibes and Saint-Paul half-day tourad, from €65 for 4.5 to 5 hours.

What to see

The tourist office’s route through the old town is the order that works. It starts at the harbour and ends at it.

The Château Grimaldi and the ramparts, seen from the sea. Photo: Tangopaso, Wikimedia Commons.

1. The Porte Marine and the alleys. Take Rampe des Saleurs from the Porte Marine into the old town and turn into rue de l’Horloge or rue Saint-Esprit, then wander towards the cathedral.
2. The Château Grimaldi and the Musée Picasso. The castle stands on the site of the Greek acropolis of Antipolis, and the Grimaldi family of Monaco lived in it from 1385. In 1946 the curator offered Picasso part of it as a studio; he worked there and left 23 paintings and 44 drawings, among them La Joie de vivre. The castle became the Picasso Museum on 27 December 1966. The museum also shows Nicolas de Staël, who lived in Antibes from September 1954 to March 1955, and a terrace of sculptures by Germaine Richier.
3. Place Mariejol and the Safranier. The route runs through Place Mariejol and rue Bateau to the wash house, then into the Commune Libre du Safranier, a quarter between rue de la Tourraque and rue du Haut Castelet.
4. The market and the shopping streets. The Provençal market is in the covered hall on cours Masséna. Rue Sade, rue Clemenceau and rue de la République hold the shops and workshops.
5. The ramparts and Nomade. Walk down boulevard Albert Ier, then back to the port along the ramparts. The route ends at Jaume Plensa’s Nomade, a sculpture of letters at the end of the bastion, with Fort Carré across the harbour.

Fort Carré above the masts of Port Vauban. Photo: Tangopaso, Wikimedia Commons.

What to skip: the combined ticket unless you will visit more than one municipal museum in the week. The order that works: the market before 13:00, the Picasso Museum after lunch, then the ramparts and the harbour.

Practical information

• By train: Antibes takes 23 to 28 minutes from Nice-Ville, and Juan-les-Pins 26 to 31. Check the last train back before an evening in Antibes. Day trips from Nice has the passes.
• In town: Envibus buses are €1 by app or at the bus station and €1.50 on board, valid for 1 hour, and a day pass is €3.50.
• From the airport: the tourist office routes it by the free tram from the terminals to Grand Arénas, then the train from Nice Saint-Augustin, a 3-minute walk away.
• The one thing that ruins a day: a Monday. The Picasso Museum is closed and so is the covered market from September to May; only the Thursday and Saturday flea market and the old town are left. The museum is also closed on Sunday 1 November 2026.

Day trips from Nice compares every trip, and Cannes is about 15 minutes further along the same line. Saint-Paul-de-Vence is the other art stop. What to book in Nice lists the closed days in the city, and Nice public transport has the fares. Where to stay in Nice compares the areas.