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This monument to belle époque splendour is also the heart of the region’s famous gambling industry – well worth a look whether you want to play the stakes or simply soak up some glamour (see Casino de Monte Carlo).

A bishop’s palace during the Dark Ages, this building then fell into the hands of the Grimaldi lords of Monaco, before becoming the seat of the royal governors of the region. Today, it is one of the finest art museums in the world, housing 300 works by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (see Pablo Picasso), who worked here in 1946 and donated 25 of his drawings and paintings and more than 100 ceramic pieces. Work by other artists, including Léger, Ernst, Modigliani and Miró, is also on exhibition (see Musée Picasso, Antibes).

Built on the site of a 13th-century Genoese fortress, the seat of the Grimaldi princes of Monaco, flanked by centuries-old cannons, is even more imposing inside than out. Not to be missed are the superb frescoes of mythological scenes by 16th-century Genoese artists, the opulent blue-and-gold Louis XV Salon, the finely crafted woodwork of the Mazarin Salon and the gorgeous Throne Room. The main courtyard, the Cour d’Honneur, with its geometrical pebble patterns, is a wonderful setting for summer concerts. The Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince, in full dress uniform, changes the guard daily at 11.55am.

The most palatial of all the villas built in the Riviera’s plutocratic heyday was the dream of Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild (1864–1934), a daughter of the wealthy banking family. Its lavish Neo-Classical façade conceals an opulent interior of arcades surrounded by a covered courtyard hung with magnificent tapestries. Superb antiques and sketches by Fragonard also feature, while the gardens are as sumptuous as the interior (see Jardin de la Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat).

Built as a Grimaldi fortress in 1309, this castle’s battlements dominate the landscape of Hautde-Cagnes. Inside the walls, however, is a wonderful surprise: a sumptuous palace, built in 1620 by Jean Henri Grimaldi. Today it houses a clutch of museums and art collections including a museum of modern Mediterranean art, a museum dedicated to the olive tree, and a collection of portraits of the renowned 1930s chanteuse , Suzy Solidor.

Killer whales, sharks and dolphins are all inhabitants of Marineland. There is also a farm, a petting zoo, a butterfly and reptile jungle, and the largest water park on the Riviera, with 12 giant chutes, a wave pool, a large swimming pool, as well as three miniature golf courses.

The former home of artist Auguste Renoir has been preserved almost exactly as it was at the time of his death in 1919. Ten of his paintings are on display, including Les Grandes Baigneuses (1892), along with works by his friends Raoul Dufy and Pierre Bonnard. The house is surrounded by olive groves (see Venus Victrix).

The Château de Roquebrune, perched on its hilltop above CapMartin, is said to be the oldest feudal castle in France. Built more than 1,000 years ago, it has been remodelled more than once, by the Grimaldi clan and, in the early 20th century, by a wealthy Englishman, Sir William Ingram, who added a mock English tower. Down at sea level, a lovely coastal path leads all the way to Monaco, passing 19th-century villas set in luxurious gardens (see Roquebrune-Cap-Martin).

Jean Cocteau decorated this room in Menton’s town hall in 1957, adorning it with colourful pictures of a fishing couple and the tragic story of Orpheus and Eurydice. More of his work can be seen in the Musée Jean Cocteau on the seafront (see Musée Jean Cocteau, Menton).

Theodore Reinach (1860–1928) conceived this remarkable building, constructed between 1902 and 1908, as a perfect Classical Greek villa, in imitation of the palace of Delos in Greece, dating from the 2nd century BC. Copies of ancient mosaics and frescoes evoke the world of the Greek city states.