The addresses I give my own passengers in Menton: Mauro Colagreco's three-star table, the gardens the town is famous for, an old town that looks more Italian than French, the beaches at Les Sablettes and the evenings out. Each one with its phone number, its website and directions.
Nothing here was picked from online ratings. Three families only: the 2026 MICHELIN Guide distinctions, the addresses of Mauro Colagreco — the chef who turned Menton into a town people travel to for the food — and the local taste, built around the Menton lemon and the savoury specialities you buy and carry off.
Menton has only one starred restaurant — but it holds the guide's highest distinction.
The Bib Gourmand rewards good cooking at a fair price. This is the first one ever awarded in Menton.
Together with Mirazur they form the chef's Menton quartet: three far simpler places you can walk into without having booked months ahead.
The Menton lemon carries a protected geographical indication. These are the houses where you actually find it, plus the savoury counters around the covered market.
🚕 I'll drive you there — and I'll come back for you when the meal is over. Mirazur sits high up in Garavan: it is not an address where you park.
+33 6 58 27 93 12This is what makes Menton. The microclimate of the bay allowed English plant collectors, a Spanish novelist and a French illustrator to create gardens found nowhere else in the country. ⚠️ Four of them can ONLY be seen on a guided tour, on fixed days at fixed times: you must book, and you must be there on time.
You go in, you wander, you leave when you like.
Guided tour only, on fixed days at fixed times, booking required. Information and bookings on +33 7 49 18 29 16 or jardinsdexception@ville-menton.fr.
🚕 I'll drive you there. The gardens are scattered across the hillsides and several can only be seen by appointment: with a taxi you can fit three into one day.
+33 6 58 27 93 12Menton belonged to Monaco, then to the Kingdom of Sardinia, and only became French in 1861 — and you can see it in the old town, which looks far more Ligurian than Provençal. The whole thing sits on one slope, between the harbour and the cemetery at the top.
Once you are at the top it is all done on foot. The easy way round is to be dropped at the cemetery and walk back down.
⚠️ The museum bearing his name, holding the Séverin Wunderman collection, has been CLOSED since storm Adrian in October 2018 and will not reopen for some years. What you can see of Cocteau is this — and the Bastion, under Museums.
Menton is the last French town before Italy: the border is three kilometres from the centre.
🚕 I'll drive you there. The old town is walked, not driven — I can drop you at the top, by the cemetery, and you stroll down to the harbour.
+33 6 58 27 93 12All of Menton's private beaches sit on the same stretch of shore, Les Sablettes, right below the old town. Three operators share it in 2026. The prices below are the 2026 season rates, parasol included.
Prices checked for the 2026 season. All three include the parasol in the price of the sunbed.
🚕 I'll drive you there. Dropped off at Les Sablettes, picked up whenever you like, and no parking to hunt for in August.
+33 6 58 27 93 12⚠️ Two of Menton's four museums are closed in 2026: the Jean Cocteau museum holding the Séverin Wunderman collection, flooded by storm Adrian in October 2018, and the Palais Carnolès museum, under restoration. Here is what you can actually visit.
The three below are running normally in 2026.
🚕 I'll drive you there. The Bastion is on the harbour, the prehistory museum is in town: two ends of Menton, one single trip.
+33 6 58 27 93 12Menton is not a nightlife town — for that, Monaco is ten minutes away. What it does have is the casino, the casino's club, and two small theatres.
Both are in the same seafront building, but the club has its own separate entrance.
Check what is on before you come: these are small venues and they do not play every night.
🚕 I'll bring you home. The casino closes at 4am at weekends and the Brummell at 5am — call me before you go out and I'll note the time.
+33 6 58 27 93 12