Villeneuve Loubet is located between Nice and Antibes and for tourists it may not seem instantly appealing with less restaurants and accommodation than other French Riviera towns.
However, there is plenty to see and do with lots of free activities and paid attractions that will keep your family happy on a weekend or holiday.
Villeneuve Loubet is divided into 2 main areas: Marina Baie des Anges on the coast, and Villeneuve Loubet Village situated 10 minutes drive inland. The town also takes care of Parc Vaugrenier and Parc Natural Rives du Loup.
Family-friendly activites in Villeneuve Loubet
One of the best reasons to visit Villeneuve Loubet is because the town has a great network of walking and cycle paths. You can walk beside the sea at Baie des Anges, cycle beside the river closer to the village or wander through Parc Vaugrenier or Parc Natural Rives du Loup.
We usually park at Baie des Anges and walk along the seafront boardwalk to Cagnes-sur-Mer. The boardwalk at Villeneuve Loubet is wide enough for baby strollers and wheelchairs, and there are accessible toilets at a few stops along the length. You can also find GPS navigation to this itinerary via GPSmyCity.
There is a beach volleyball court near the Fighière carpark on boulevard Eric Tabarly, and always ducks and birds at the far end of the boardwalk where the bridge for the River Loup starts.
The beach itself is large pebbles and drops off quite steeply so I don’t recommend it for swimming (in warmer weather!) for families with toddlers but for older kids who are water confident it’s fine. There is also a sailing school where you can take sailing classes or windsurf; recommended for older kids and adults.
There are a handful of beach restaurants – most are only open in holiday season or summertime. Yesterday, the beach restaurant beside the port at Marina Baie des Anges was open and they serve hot and cold drinks, crêpes, ice creams, paninis etc and have a big outdoor deck with tables and chairs. The view reaches across to Nice and is a great location if you have kids who love watching planes because you can see Nice Airport runways so lots of take-off and landing action! This restaurant is accessed across the stones; it’s manageable with a baby stroller but not possible if you are immobile or in a wheelchair.
The beach restaurants are good if you have kids who like beach combing for stones and driftwood, plus you get a view of the planes landing at Nice Airport
At the carpark, La Fighière is a cute beach restaurant with funky tables and chairs and is accessible via a small ramp. They have a big outdoor deck area with seating inside also, and have transparent awnings so you can even sit there in bad weather and enjoy your meal or coffee. The menu includes salads, burgers, foie gras, snacks, hot and cold drinks and cocktails. I couldn’t take a photo yesterday as they were fixing the awnings but here is one from TripAdvisor:
If you have bikes, you can cycle from Marina Baie des Anges to Villeneuve Loubet village via a well-marked cycle path named ‘La Villeneuvoise’. It is 10 kilometres return and recommended for children 6 years upwards.
Or, the cycle pathway extends all the way to Nice from Marina Baie des Ange; the distance is 15 kilometres.
Walking & Cycling Tips
- There is a free booklet with clues to solve along the ‘La Villeneuvoise’ pathway; it is called ‘Rallye Vélo Famille’ and you can download it here (in French): http://villeneuve-tourisme.com/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/roadbook_rallye_velo.pdf
2. For a general map of the walking routes and cycle pathways in Villeneuve Loubet, click on this link: http://villeneuve-tourisme.com/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/plan_velo_2014.pdf
3. I highly recommend all of the family-friendly walks along the River Loup, download a map here: http://villeneuve-tourisme.com/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/fiche_balade_loup_2016.pdf
4. For bike rental, Holiday Bikes at Marina Baie des Anges offers a 20% discount on day rental between April and October if you tell them you are doing the Family Cycle Pathway to the village, called ‘Rallye Vélo Famille’.
Other Things to Do in Villeneuve Loubet:
- Visit Parc Vaugrenier for nature walks, playgrounds and picnics
- Visit the Château at the village; they have guided tours regularly that can be booked via the Office du Tourisme
- Take the kids to the fun parks in the Rive du Loup (entry fee applies): Les Bois du Lutins, Village des Fous, Canyon Forest. All of them have play equipment, climbing activities, inflatable structures and in summer they turn on water jets and water play zones. Click on each link above to see opening hours and admission prices.
- Visit the cultural and artistic sites of Villeneuve Loubet including Musée Escoffier de l’Art Culinaire (entry fee applies), Espace Cultural André Malraux (Free entry), Musée d’Histoire et d’Art (free entry) and La Maïoun des Granouïe
If you enjoyed this blog post, it is published on iTunes and can now be downloaded via the GPSmyCity iOS app. You can read the downloaded article offline and upgrade it to obtain GPS navigation to the sights described in the article. To access it, you can download it here at GPSmyCity – Villeneuve Loubet. (Disclaimer: I appreciate you reading my blog post and I will receive a small commission if you upgrade to the GPS navigation option on the app).
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