Menton day trip from Nice: 35 to 40 minutes by train, the €5 Cocteau museum shut on Tuesdays, the Lemon Festival from 13 February 2027 and the Italian border

💡 The Short Version: Menton is 35 to 40 minutes from Nice-Ville by train. The Jean Cocteau museum in the Bastion is €5 and closed on Tuesdays; it is free on the first Sunday of the month. The Lemon Festival runs 13 to 28 February 2027, with parades on Sundays at 14:30 and Thursday nights at 21:00; the grandstands for 21 and 28 February are full, and standing places are €16. Ventimiglia in Italy is 51 to 60 minutes from Nice, and France checks the Italian border from 1 November 2026, so carry a passport or national ID card. Prices are in euros. Or book a tour: the Riviera from Nice to Menton tourad is from €142 (GetYourGuide); the train needs no booking.

Tickets and prices

Sources: the Cocteau museum and the festival’s own site, fete-du-citron.com. The first Sundays are 1 November and 6 December 2026, 3 January, 7 February and 7 March 2027.

Tours worth paying for

Menton is one direct train from Nice, so a tour buys a guide and a car, not a connection.

The Riviera from Nice to Menton

From €142 · 4.5 hours · 5.0 stars from 151 reviews

The tourad is titled “Between Pearls and Palm Trees” and takes 4.5 hours from Nice to Menton. The listing does not say which stops or entries the price includes, so read it before you book.

What to see

The old town and the bell tower of the Saint-Michel basilica, seen from the harbour. Photo: Claire2595, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

1. The Jean Cocteau museum. The Bastion is a 17th-century fort at the end of the jetty between the old harbour and the Promenade du Soleil, on Quai Napoléon III. Cocteau noticed it in 1957 while he was decorating Menton’s wedding hall, and the museum opened in 1966, three years after his death, with 102 works from his own list. The floor of the ground level is a pebble mosaic of a lizard, which Cocteau chose as a symbol of Mediterranean laziness. The fort is not wheelchair accessible.
2. The Marché des Halles. The covered market stands between the fishing port and the Baroque old town, at the foot of the Campanin bell tower, at the bottom of the cobbled steps that run down from the Saint-Michel ramps to the quai de Monléon.
3. The old town. Steep lanes and cobbled stairs, including the Saint-Michel ramps, run down to the sea.
4. The Lemon Festival. In February the Jardins Biovès are filled with citrus designs, and the Promenade du Soleil carries the parades.

A corner of Menton’s old town looking out over the bay. Photo: Tangopaso, Wikimedia Commons.

What to skip: a Tuesday, when the Cocteau museum is shut. The order that works: the market in the morning, the museum before 12:30 or after 14:00, then the old town.

A cheese counter in the covered market. Photo: Iswoar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Lemon Festival, 13 to 28 February 2027

The festival is the Fête du Citron, now in its 93rd edition, themed Douce France, and the organiser reports more than 250,000 visitors a year. It has been on France’s inventory of intangible cultural heritage since 2019. It overlaps the Nice Carnival, which runs 9 to 28 February.

• The parades: day parades are on Sundays 14, 21 and 28 February 2027 at 14:30, and night parades on Thursdays 18 and 25 February at 21:00, with fireworks at 22:30, all on the Promenade du Soleil. The grandstands for 21 and 28 February are full; standing places remain.
• The Thursday package: a grandstand seat for the night parade with the exhibition is €37 for an adult and €18 for ages 6 to 12.
• The exhibition: the €12 ticket also admits to the Orchid Show and the Winter Garden at the Palais de l’Europe. The craft market is free.
• The rules: be in Menton before 11:00 for a Sunday parade and before 18:00 for a Thursday one. Nobody enters 15 minutes after a parade starts. Everyone needs a ticket, free entries included, and no animals are allowed at the exhibition or on the route.
• Getting there: the organiser tells visitors to take the train: a Zou! train every 15 minutes between Cannes and Menton, with extra trains for the night parades.

Ventimiglia, in Italy

Train · 51 to 60 minutes from Nice-Ville

The line runs on from Menton across the border to Ventimiglia, where a market runs along the seafront every Friday from 7:00 (Visit Ventimiglia). The Pass Sud Azur Explore stops at Menton-Garavan, so the ticket to Ventimiglia is separate. France checks its borders with Italy from 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027: carry a passport or national ID card.

Practical information

• By train: Menton takes 35 to 40 minutes from Nice-Ville and Menton-Garavan 39 to 45; Menton is the stop for the old town. Day trips from Nice has the passes. Check the last train back before an evening here.
• By bus: Zou! 600 runs from Nice port to Menton at €2.20 a trip, and the airport’s bus 80 serves Monaco and Menton.
• On the way: Monaco and Èze are between Nice and Menton, so the three make one long day.
• The one thing that ruins a visit: a Tuesday at the Cocteau museum, or arriving in Menton on a festival Sunday after 11:00.

Day trips from Nice compares every trip. Nice Carnival 2027 has the dates of the festival it overlaps, and Nice public transport has the fares. What to book in Nice lists the closed days in the city, and where to stay in Nice compares the areas.