CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A proper escape from Nice with roads worth waking up for. Out of Antibes and back again: 759 km, roughly 12 h 05 in the saddle. The stops in between: Scenic stretch near Montferrat, near Seyne-les-Alpes and Finale Ligure. Ramatuelle is the high point. It tops out at about 2,000 m. It crosses from France into Italy - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 83 km this is Route Napoleon, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Old ramparts rise straight from the sea at Antibes, and behind them a tight knot of lanes, markets and ochre houses climbs toward a castle on the shore. The town sits between Nice and Cannes on the bay of the same name, facing the snowy line of the Alps on clear winter days, with the long wooded peninsula of Cap d'Antibes to the south and the jazz town of Juan-les-Pins on its western flank.
Read the complete Antibes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Next is Vésubie and Tinée Valleys high point.
Above the beaches of Saint-Tropez, Ramatuelle coils around its hilltop like a snail shell, its houses forming a wall around the old village, with narrow lanes and arches leading up to the church. Below it, the long sweep of Pampelonne beach curves for kilometres along the bay, and the vineyards of the Côtes de Provence climb the slopes between.
Read the complete Ramatuelle write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Scenic stretch near Montferrat.
about 176 km into the recorded legs you reach Scenic stretch near Montferrat. Next is Photo stop near Seyne-les-Alpes.
Photo stop near Seyne-les-Alpes, about halfway. Next is Nice / Côte d’Azur return.
Finale Ligure is a seaside town with two personalities. On the coast, Finale Marina is a classic Ligurian resort, with a long beach, a palm-lined promenade and colourful houses. A few hundred metres inland, Finalborgo is a medieval town enclosed by walls, with narrow streets, old churches and the ruins of Castel Gavone on the hill above. The two are linked by a short road, and it is worth visiting both.
Read the complete Near Finale Ligure, on the way back write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Nice / Côte d’Azur return sits at 397 km, about halfway. Next is Vésubie and Tinée Valleys food stop.
In the grottoes of Borgio Verezzi, the limestone has been stained by iron, copper and manganese, and the stalactites glow in shades of red, yellow and green, some of the most colourful caves in Italy. They were found in the 1930s and are now open on guided tours. It is a cool, otherworldly escape on a hot day.
Read the complete Borgio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Vésubie and Tinée Valleys food stop is where this day stops to eat. Next is Vésubie and Tinée Valleys checkpoint 8.
Vésubie and Tinée Valleys checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Back to Vésubie and.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Antibes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Back to Vésubie and. That is the ride.
Scenic stretch near Montferrat → Photo stop near Seyne-les-Alpes is the technical section. Hairpins, gradients and mixed traffic can stack up quickly; use low drama inputs, stay wide of centre lines and expect buses or riders appearing exactly where optimism says they will not.
This Photo stop near Seyne-les-Alpes → Near Finale Ligure, on the way back stretch is for rhythm and scenery. Keep your head up, let the view breathe, and resist turning every open bend into a target. Stop once properly rather than half-stopping everywhere.