The perfume capital of the world, 350 metres above the sea: three perfume houses that open their doors for free, the largest perfume museum on earth, three Rubens in the cathedral, and an old town that smells of jasmine in August. The addresses I give my own passengers, each with its phone number, its website and directions.
Nothing here was picked from online ratings. One MICHELIN-starred table and two more held in the guide's selection. ⚠️ The speciality of Grasse is called LE FASSUM — a stuffed cabbage the town has handed down for generations. The restaurant that bore that name, out on the Route de Plascassier, changed hands and name in 2018: today it is called Lougolin.
All three are outside the historic centre, among the olive trees and the flower fields. All of them need booking.
🚕 I'll drive you there — and I'll come back for you when the meal is over. The two best tables in Grasse are outside the centre, in the countryside, at the end of narrow roads: nobody walks there.
+33 6 58 27 93 12Grasse has been making perfume since the 16th century, and the town's three great houses open their doors FREE OF CHARGE, with a guide. It is the only town in the world where you can do this. Only the perfume-making workshops are paid — from €25 to €189 depending on the formula.
All three can be visited freely and for nothing, with a guide, without booking. Allow an hour for each.
The museum is in town; its gardens are at Mouans-Sartoux, in ANOTHER COMMUNE, five kilometres away.
🚕 I'll drive you there. The three perfume houses and the museum fit into the same half-day, but they are not in the same place: the historic factory is in town, the others are out on the Cannes road.
+33 6 58 27 93 12Grasse is a medieval town built on a slope at 350 metres. Everything is done on foot, everything climbs, and all of it is free.
Narrow lanes, stairways, not one parking space. The historic centre carries the Ville d'art et d'histoire label.
🚕 I'll drive you there. The old town is a maze on a slope with not one parking space: you get dropped at the top and picked up at the bottom.
+33 6 58 27 93 12Three more museums, all in the old town, all five minutes' walk from one another. Two of them are free.
The Costume museum and the Fragonard museum belong to the house of Fragonard and are free.
🚕 I'll drive you there. The Grasse museums are all five minutes' walk from one another, inside the old town. One morning, one single trip.
+33 6 58 27 93 12Twice a year Grasse transforms itself: the rose in May, the jasmine at the end of July. Both are free, both are popular, and both close the centre to traffic.
On those days the old town is closed to cars and all the parking in the centre disappears.
Both venues are at the bottom of the old town, five minutes' walk from one another.
🚕 I'll bring you home. The Jasmine Festival closes the whole centre for three days and ExpoRose fills the town for a weekend in May. Call me beforehand and I'll note the time.
+33 6 58 27 93 12