Sights in Antibes — 11 of Our Favourites

The lighthouse rises to an altitude of 103m, although the height of the building itself is 29m. From its situation you can enjoy panoramic views along the Riviera and looking back towards Antibes and over towards the area of Cannes.

Open to public.

The Graillon Tower was part of an old fort with origins in the 15th century, and occupied during the Thirty Year's War in 1635. Napoleon recognised the fort's strategic importance and restored it in 1794 as a defence post renamed Graillon Battery. He would further strengthen the small fort with artillery weapons in 1860.

Previously a museum dedicated to Napoleon, is was turned in 2014 into a didactic space where you can learn about the underwater worlds. They offer exhibitions, conferences, workshops and visits to natural spaces walking, snorkelling and kayaking, all revolving around maritime ecosystems.

It is surrounded by a beautiful park with Mediterranean trees and bushes, perfect for a stroll.

Guided visits are available in French and in English, at 15:00 and again at 17:00, and last approximately one hour.. The museum is open every day from 14:00 to 18:00 (except Monday).

The museum is located inside the Saint-André bastion, a fortress built in 1698 after the conflict between the monarchy and the count of Nice. The history of the collection began in the 16th century, with the discovery of Roman-Gaul inscriptions in the area.

It was founded in 1963, combining objects from archaeological sites both on land and under the sea that retrace the history of Antibes from the 7th century BC to the 5th century AD. The exhibition was extensively renovated in 2006, adding new objects and lots of information.

The collections include Etruscan ceramics, vases, mosaics and marble, housed in two vaulted gallery spaces. Among the most interesting, there is the first inscription in Antibes, on the Terpon stone, as well as ceramics ranging from the creation of the town in the 7th century BC to the Greek colony in the 1st century AD. There are also Roman and early medieval pieces, including mural paintings and mosaics.

The views from the museum's terrace are wonderful.

Really more of a bar with a gallery and exhibition, the museum is in the Old Town, set within the ancient Roman foundations. There are plenty of different samples to try if you are brave enough!

The green, anise-flavoured spirit is associated with many of the country's most famous and esteemed artists and writers - like Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec and Paul Verlaine - but it was banned in France in 1915 for its alleged harmful effect.​

Distilled with the leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, which contains the drink's "special ingredient", thujone, which reputedly has mind-altering effects. Later, the rule was relaxed, allowing the drink to be sold as long as it was not called absinthe, and instead labelled "a spirit made from extracts of the absinthe plant". At height of popularity, there were more than 1,000 distilleries of absinthe in France.

It has been restored and today unveils a rich set of frescoes from the 16th and 19th century, and a magnificent wooden altarpiece of the 18th century. It was declared an Historic monument in 1989.

Admission is free and the church is open on a Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 09:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 until 17:00.

The botanical gardens at Villa Thuret were built in 1856 and are free for visitors to walk around. The gardens cover an area of over 3.5 hectares and house over 1,600 different species of exotic trees and shrubs.

Thuret's collection offers the chance to view and study a diverse range of cultivated ornamental species on the Mediterranean coast. The estate was passed on to the INRA (National Institute for Agricultural Research) by Thuret's heirs and is now managed by the INRA and open to the public.

Guided tours of the garden are available by expert botanists, these are also free.

This grand neoclassical church stands in the same place as a Roman temple dedicated to Diana and Minerva, where an early medieval cathedral was built. It is also said that Saint Paul stopped here on his way to Spain in 63 AD.

Antibes was an important episcopal town from the 5th to the 13th century, when the diocese moved to Grasse, and later to Nice. The first bishop was Saint Armentaire, who consecrated the building to Saint Mary. It has been destroyed and reconstructed many times, first in 1124 after an attack by the Saracens, and then in 1608.

The current cathedral was built in 1746, after the town was bombed during the Austrian succession wars. Louis XV helped financially with the construction of the new façade. The sculpted tympanum over the door was made in 1710 by Joseph Dolle, a local sculptor, and represents Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian, protectors of Antibes.

Inside, you can see a magnificent altarpiece painted in 1515, a marble Virgin statue from the 19th century, a 15th-century wooden Christ and an organ made in 1860 by master Jungh, among many other things.

Set within a protected four acre park surrounded with Mediterranean plants, Fort Carré was originally built in the late 16th century by King Henry II of France. Perching on the edge of the Saint-Roch peninsula it was originally built for strategic defence purposes, and later became used as military barracks, and a military training centre.

Its star shape was designed by Henri de Mandon, while the Marquis de Vauban redeveloped it in the 17th century, strengthening its structure to withstand ricochet fire. During the French Revolution, Napoleon was briefly imprisoned at the fort, and it also played an important part in 1860, when Nice was annexed to France.

This five hectare park is open to the public and is located in Juan les Pins. With free entry, it's a lovely place to come and sit quietly with a book and relax. The park is full of a wide variety of different trees and flowers. There are also water features, fountains, ponds and waterfalls. An olive grove is adjacent to the gardens.

Much of the architecture within the park is also representative of the various cultural influences in the area, from Greek and Roman to Italian.

The park surrounding the villa is planted with traditional species of the Mediterranean landscape. At the heart of this conservation area, a public rose garden offers the fragrances and essences of its thousands of varieties, mostly created in Antibes Juan-les-Pins, the capital of roses.