I love the French Riviera and its frozen-in-time perched villages! After the beautiful Eze Village for many years in a row, I finally decided it’s time to write about it. After all, there are so many things to do in Eze Village! Why not let other people know about this charming village?
Table of Contents
Where is Eze Village?
Eze Village is one of the over 120 perched village on the French Riviera. The village sits about half distance between Nice and Monaco, which makes it an easy day trip from both these cities. The little village hangs on an impossibly steep peak, at about 1,500 feet above the Mediterranean. That makes it the highest seaside village in France.
How to Reach Eze Village
In order to reach Eze Village you have to drive the winding and narrow Moyenne Corniche. This is one of the three mountain roads that run somewhat parallel to each other, following the coast. The Corniche Roads stretch from Nice to Menton, creating one of the most dramatic views in Europe.
Moyenne Corniche is not a particularly difficult drive, but it’s an accident black spot. That is partly due to the tourists gazing at the tremendous views rather than the road itself. Therefore, if you are not accustomed to the narrow European roads, I would suggest taking the bus. There is bus service that runs from Nice and Cannes to each of the perched villages in the Riviera, so you may check the schedule here.
If you don’t have a car, you should take bus line 83 from Eze Station to Èze Village. The ride takes around 15 min and costs €2.
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Things to Do in Eze Village
One of the first things that will amaze you in Eze Village is the thickness of the fortification walls. Not only are the walls huge, but they also have a sheer drop of 60-79 meters. That makes the village look like an impenetrable fortress.
Walk Around the Streets
Walking around the narrow, cobblestone alleys is the best way to explore Èze Village. Souvenir shops, small restaurants and cafés, art galleries and boutiques, all cram into each other on the main street.
ut if you wander a little further away from this area, you’ll discover a unique world, completely frozen in time. Like most of these perched villages, Èze Village is small enough to walk along its every street without getting lost.
Visit the Boutiques and Art Galleries
The boutiques and art galleries showcase works of the local artists, mostly modern style paintings, art objects and ceramics. Most of the stuff they sell in these shops is outrageously expensive, but of excellent taste and very high quality. Whatever you buy here will surely turn heads later on.
Check Out the Fragrance Outlets
Two famous perfume factories have branch stores here: Galimard and Fragonard. They each offer free tours of their perfume factory with explanations of perfume-making techniques. Here is where my husband fell in love with his dear Eau de Hongrie, which since then we keep ordering from France.
Visit the Exotic Botanical Garden
The main attraction of Èze Village is an Exotic Garden (Jardin Exotique) located at the top of the village. The garden displays a wide varieties of succulents and cacti.
If there is one thing worth visiting in this village, it’s this beautiful garden. Not because you haven’t seen better cacti, but because you will rarely see such spectacular views!
The garden has a monopoly over this hill which is the only place from where you can admire this 360º panorama. Èze is the only perched village with a direct sea view. On a clear day, from this point you can see all the way to Italy.
Visit the Catholic Church
At the end of one of the little streets in the village you’ll find the Church Our Lady of the Assumption. It’s impossible to miss this baroque-style church with a yellow-cream façade.
The church has a tall clock tower that dominates the entire hill of Èze Village. The clock tower is very easy to spot from the Exotic Garden.
Walk the Nieztsche Path
If you traveled by bus and want to see some more of this beautiful area, you may skip the return trip and hike down the Nieztsche Path. The path will take you from Eze Village to Èze Bord de Mer.
Once you reach the main road you’ll see a bus stop that’ll take you back to Nice or other places. It takes about an hour to reach the bottom of the hill and the trail is very easy to follow. We hiked this path in reverse (uphill) and enjoyed it a lot. There were no crowds and the views were picture perfect!
Practical Information About Eze Village
The streets of the Èze Village are pedestrian-only. Parking is available only at the edge of the village. Most of the parking is metered, with some free spots that fill up quickly, especially in the summer months.
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Karen
We are staying in Nice going to Monaco for few hours, might stop of here on way back, is the village far from station or how fo you get to the cobbled streets please
Anda
It’s a serious uphill walk from the train station. We went to the village by car, but if you don’t have a car you should take bus line 83 from Eze Station to Èze Village. It takes around 15 min and costs €2.
Loretta Estrada
An we get a cab from the cruise terminal to take us right up the Eze Village? Several of my traveling partners have bad knees.
Anda
I’m almost sure you can. I saw tour busses and cabs at Éze Village very often.
Danik the Explorer
I still can’t believe I haven’t explored Eze yet and I been pass here countless time by road and train. WEll, I got my plane tickets booked for October (fingers crossed) to Nice and I am staying near the village so next time, I gotta put this on my list. I would love to check out the Exotic Garden but I think the views are controlling that one. Is it free to get in or a paying garden? It does look very charming to walk around and can see my misses doing some ‘perfume’ shopping here. 🙂
Anda
You have to pay an entrance fee, as this is a private garden, but it’s worth every penny. The view from up there is breathtaking! Hope you’ll get to visit Éze Village.
Haley
I’ve not been to this part of France before, but it looks beautiful.
Victoria @celebratetheweekend
Anda, I haven’t been to Eze but looking at your pictures it reminds me of St. Paul de Vence (20 miles east). same hilly pedestrian streets and artists’ galleries. (and yes, we also side tripped from the Reviera:)
Have you been?
Anda Galffy
It actually is very similar to St.Paul de Vence, Victoria.
Jessica @ Green Global Travel
Èze looks like a beautiful little village! The view from the Jardin Exotique is absolutely stunning. Definitely on my to-see list!
Aileen
Wow! It looks amazing! I would loooove to visit this place. Thanks for introducing it to us. It’s on my travel list now 😉
Emily Martinez
Beautiful place. I would love to travel there some day. It’s going on my must see list.
Esther
This town is like a dream! What a wonderful discovery.
Arnie
Have not made it to Eze, but when we were in Saint Siffret the evening light is some how so magical!
RobRob
What great pictures, and what a great village! Eze was definitely a highlight of our Cote d’Azure visit – though my personal favorite part was the lady with the little Cappuccino stand by the visitor’s center: It was good fuel for what our daughter called “the Medieval StairMaster” that lay ahead. We did take the bus from Cannes, and it was well worth it. As soon as we were back on the bus, we began making plans for a return visit. It really is the quintessential quaint hilltop village!
Anda Galffy
Côte d’Azur is absolutely beautiful, I agree Rob.
Connie Reed
What a fabulous way to spend a day. I hate to use the cliche term “quaint,” but that’s exactly what comes to mind when I look at your photo captioned “Street in Èze Village.”
Carmen | Carmen's Luxury Travel
Eze is a fun village with many shops along the streets. That’s where I purchased the tiles for my house numbers. We had lunch in one of the restaurants and the food was fantastic.
Anda Galffy
I have some beautiful souvenirs myself from Eze Village.
Ruth
What a place! Like you mentioned, I will conform with walking the streets and taking a look at the shops. In a place like this, you do not need things that can distract you from the main attraction.
Suze The Luxury Columnist
This brings back such great memories of my trip to Chevre d’Or restaurant in Eze, I need to write about it! We didn’t get time for the garden so I’d love to go back and see it
Anda Galffy
The Chèvre d’Or restaurant was such a rip off, Suze. I want to forget about it…