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Start after breakfast from the unassuming town of Castellane (see Castellane), gateway to the canyons, and drive west on D952. The landscape becomes progressively more awe-inspiring as you enter the gorges and wind your way through towering walls of rock to Point Sublime . This is one of the most impressive viewpoints; savour it while enjoying a coffee or a cold drink at the pleasant Auberge du Point Sublime (see Auberge du Point Sublime, Rougon).

From here, drive for about 15 minutes and turn left on to the vertiginous Route des Crêtes, which winds past a series of ever higher viewpoints. Don’t rush this part of the drive, but stop at each for five or ten minutes, as the views vary all the time. Finally, the road swings around the shoulder of the massif, and far below you is the Verdon and the plateau country around the little village of La-Palud-sur-Verdon (see La-Palud-sur-Verdon). It will take you another 30 minutes to get there, so relax when you do with another coffee at one of the village restaurants.

From Le-Palud it’s a less daunting drive until the gorgeous turquoise waters of the Lac de Ste-Croix (see Lac de Ste-Croix) come into sight. The road runs high above the lake, bringing you to the delightfully pretty village of Moustiers-Ste-Marie. Reward yourself with lunch here: the village has two of the region’s best restaurants, La Treille Muscat and Les Santons (see Les Santons, Moustiers-Ste-Marie).

From the Quai des Belges on the Vieux Port (see Vieux Port) walk up La Cane-bière, the commercial hub of the 19th-century city where you can still sense the Second Empire grandeur – almost immediately on the left, the Palais de la Bourse (Stock Exchange) is a monumental expression of trading confidence; it now contains the Musée de la Marine detailing Marseille’s sea-going history (Open Tue–Sun Adm). A little further on, at No. 11, is the Musée de la Mode, one of France’s best fashion museums (Open 10am–6pm daily Adm). At the Neo-Gothic Eglise des Réformés, cross to place Stalingrad and enjoy a drink by the fountain at Brasserie Danaïdes.

Take the leafy cours Joseph Thierry, then blvd Longchamp to the Musée Grobet-Labadié and Palais Longchamp (see Palais Longchamp), then wander the lush Longchamp park to place Maréchal Foch. Take the blvd de la Libération, left into rue St Savournin to cours Julien, a lively centre for musicians and artists.

Wriggle down to the place du Marché des Capucins, heart of the city’s souk market area, then up the style with the designer shops of rue St Ferréol. Place de la Préfecture and rue Edmond Rostand have further galleries, antiques shops and bric-à-brac stalls.

End your morning stroll at place Thiars, a hive of galleries, restaurants and bars. You will have more than deserved your lunch at Le Caribou (see Le Caribou).

Start this walk around the oldest part of Monaco, where the Grimaldis founded their principality. Visit the state apartments and the Prince’s Palace (see Prince’s Palace, Monaco), taking in the lavish salons, throne room and 17th-century chapel.

From place du Palais it is a short walk along rue Basse, one of the most picturesque streets in the old quarter, to No. 27, the Wax Museum of the Princes of Monaco (Open Oct–Feb: 11am–5pm daily; Mar–Sep: 10am–6pm daily Adm). Here tableaux act out episodes from the history of the Grimaldis. Carry on along rue Basse to the Museum of the Chapel of the Visitation, on place de la Visitation (Open 10am– 4pm Tue–Sun Adm). Housed in the Baroque chapel are works by artists Rubens and Zurbaran.

At the end of rue Basse, turn right and double back along avenue St-Martin to the Oceanographical Museum (Open Oct–Mar: 10am–6pm daily; Apr–Jun, Sep: 9am–7pm daily; Jul & Aug: 9am–8pm daily Adm). You’ll need at least 90 minutes here to view the tanks of marine fauna from all over the world. Don’t miss the aquarium with its fearsome sharks. Lunch in the museum’s restaurant and savour the view of the Riviera and the Esterel hills from its terrace, before rounding off your day with the 30-minute ride on the Azur Express tourist train. This leaves from the museum on a round trip past the port, the palace, casino and ornamental gardens.

Start at the Tourist Office (5 Promenade des Anglais), then turn left along avenue de Verdun to place Masséna, the city’s central square. Take in the glorious red façades, gardens and ornamental fountains before crossing to enter Vieux Nice on rue Alexander Mari. Turn right into rue de l’Opéra and left into rue St-François-de-Paul, an old-fashioned street with long-established shops, notably Auer for confectionery (No. 7) and Alziari for olive oil (No. 14). Proceed to Cours Saleya for the celebrated flower market, then turn into tiny rue Gaëtan to soak up the old town atmosphere. Before leaving the old town, don’t fail to take in the cathedral, the magnificent Palais Lascaris, place St-François fish market and the narrow, shop-filled rue Pairolière.

Emerge into the relative peace and 18th-century harmony of place Garibaldi, then take rue Dr-Ciaudo to the splendid MAMAC (see Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain (MAMAC)), where you can spend an hour or so admiring the museum’s wonderful modern art. Back in the fresh air, stroll along Boulevard Carabacel with its elaborate mansions.

At place Magenta, forget culture and start shopping. For designer fashion proceed into rue Paradis then avenue de Suède. Rue de Rivoli then brings you to the legendary Hotel Negresco (see Le Negresco, Nice). If you’re feeling rich, lunch in its Chantecler restaurant (see Le Chantecler); if watching the pennies, have a look anyway: its interior abounds in ornate treasures.

A giant ash tree, Le Frêne (The Ash) is your landmark for the beginning of this two-hour stroll through the old quarter of Vence (see Vence), with its stone-paved streets and medieval houses huddling inside a ring of 13th-century battlements. Before entering the walls through the 16th-century Porte de Peyra, visit the Château de Villeneuve, which hosts a changing programme of contemporary art and design exhibitions.

After walking through the gateway, turn right, and allow half an hour to walk along the rue du Marché, where the rows of shops selling herbs, fruit, fresh pasta and fish will make your mouth water. At the end of the rue du Marché, turn left and walk across place Surian and place Clemenceau to the cathedral – look out for Roman inscriptions dating back almost 2,000 years on the masonry of the buildings either side of it, carved when Vence was the Roman settlement of Vintium. Also look for the oak choir stalls carved with little satirical figures, commissioned by a witty 17th-century bishop.

Leave the square by its north side, through the arched Passage Cahors, then walk up rue du Seminaire and turn left to follow the old walls along rue de la Coste. Leave the old quarter by the Portail Levis, which takes you back on to place du Frêne. There are several cafés and restaurants here, such as Auberge des Seigneurs (see Auberge des Seigneurs, Vence) where you can enjoy a drink and snack.

The extraordinary abbey of Montmajour was built on a rocky island amid the Rhône marshes. It was an important pilgrimage site and became wealthy on its sale of pardons for sins. The cloister is decorated with mythical and Biblical scenes (see Abbaye de Montmajour).

This massive, fortress-like abbey, built by Benedictine monks in the 10th century, can be seen from a great distance. When it was built, the low hill on which it now stands was an island surrounded by pools and marshes and is still, appropriately, known as Mount Ararat. Damaged by fire in 1726, the abbey was restored during the 19th century, and its Eglise Notre-Dame is one of the largest Romanesque buildings in Provence. Below the church, a 12th-century crypt and chapel have been carved into the hillside (see Abbaye de Montmajour).

Silvacane, along with Sénanque (see Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque) and Thoronet, is one of the three great sister-abbeys constructed in the 12th century by the Cistercian order as it rose to prominence in Provence. Its plain, austere architecture reflects the rule of the order, which was founded by St Bernard in protest at the luxury and corruption of other monasteries. The church has a high, vaulted transept and the cloister arcades and refectory were added in the 13th and 14th centuries. Abandoned by its monks in the late 14th century, it became a living abbey once again in the 20th century.