Hi, Have you driven the coastal route between Nice and Cassis or Marseille? We are arriving in Nice, driving to Cassis for our first night. ViaMichelin says the "recommended route" mainly on A8 takes 2 hours and the "discovery route", mainly along the coast takes 4 hours. Do you know whether the sights on the discovery route are worth the extra 2 hours in the car? We love beautiful views, and know that the coastal route just before we get into Cassisis is wonderful, and plan to take that no matter what, but wonder if the views along the rest of the "discovery" coastal route are worth all the extra time in the car. Thank you very much.

I gave you my opinion via e-mail, but I'll also post it here so oters can critique it

Most of that "discovery" route is not scenic at all - downright ugly at times. Lots of highrise overdevelopment and some "warehouse" type buildings (on the coast road between Cagnes & Antibes). The traffic through Cannes can be very slow also. Cagnes is not scenic at all, IMO.

The only scenic portion is the Cote de l'Esterel from La Napoule to just east of St Rafael. We explored this section in the 90s, but when we were there last year, it seems that development had consumed a little more of it.

You could drive that section (Cote de l'Esterel), but I think I would head straight to Cassis & explore that region instead.

Stu Dudley

I'll second Stu - save the two hours and when you get to Cassis, take the coastal drive(s) from Cassis to either La Ciotat or Marseille (or both). Either drive would be about 15-30 minutes without any stops, which you will want to do as the scenery there is quite spectacular.

If you only do one of the drives, I prefer the Cassis - La Ciotat.

-Kevin

The coastal drive gives you some beautiful scenery (woods and the sea) in parts, but it can be VERY slow going. We drove from Aix to St-Tropez and then went north to the autoroute. You could do the same, but in reverse.

If you do choose part of the coastal route, be sure to take the time to go up to Bormes-les-Mimosas, a really charming village.

Thank you all so very much. I will take the more direct route as you all suggested. Merci!