Villa & Gardens Ephrussi de Rothschild

Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild, daughter of the banker Alphonse de Rothschild, built her dream house on the narrowest point of the Cap Ferrat peninsula between 1905 and 1912, and she spared nothing. The villa is a rose-pink Italian Renaissance-style palazzo, set on a ridge with the Bay of Villefranche on one side and the Bay of Beaulieu on the other, so that from its terraces you see the sea in two directions at once. Inside, the rooms are arranged around a covered patio and filled with her collections: eighteenth-century French furniture, Sèvres and Vincennes porcelain, Gobelins and Beauvais tapestries, paintings, Far Eastern objects and curiosities, displayed as she lived with them. On her death in 1934 she bequeathed the estate to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, which still owns it, and it is now one of the most visited villas on the Riviera. The real star is the garden. Béatrice laid out nine themed gardens across seven hectares — French, Spanish, Florentine, stone, Japanese, exotic, rose, Provençal and Sèvres — with the long French garden as its centrepiece, a formal canal and pool running toward a little temple of love on the hill, and musical fountains that dance to classical music at regular intervals. The rose garden blooms from spring, the Japanese garden is serene year-round, and the exotic garden of cacti and succulents is at its best in winter sun. A tearoom with views over the bay serves lunch, cakes and tea. Tiqets sells entry tickets that include the audio guide (available in several languages), and the villa also runs combined tickets with the Villa Kérylos, the Greek-style villa at Beaulieu. In winter the villa keeps shorter hours, so plan around them.

Opening hours change with the seasons. From November to February the villa opens from 2pm to 6pm on weekdays and from 10am to 6pm at weekends and on public holidays; the rest of the year it is open daily from 10am to 6pm, extended to 7pm in July and August. Last admission is thirty minutes before closing. The villa will be exceptionally closed on Monday 14 December 2026. The tearoom follows the villa's hours from mid-February to October, but from November to mid-February it opens only at weekends and on holidays. Check the official site before you travel, as hours can change for events.

Getting there: from Nice, take the coastal bus toward Monaco and get off at the stop for the villa on the Cap Ferrat road, or take the train to Beaulieu-sur-Mer and walk about twenty-five minutes along the seafront and up the hill. Taxis and guided tours are other options, and there is free coach parking nearby. Allow two hours, more if you want to linger in the gardens or have tea. The garden paths include slopes and steps; parts of the house are on two levels.

Making a day of it: combine the villa with Villa Kérylos in Beaulieu (combined tickets are offered), the coastal path around Cap Ferrat for the walkers, and the pretty harbour of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat for lunch. Or pair it with Villefranche-sur-Mer's waterfront and its Cocteau-painted chapel on the way back to Nice. For couples, the villa is one of the most romantic places on the coast; for families, the musical fountains, the Japanese garden and the treasure-hunt feeling of the gardens work well. In winter, choose a weekend for a full day, or a weekday afternoon when the light falls golden across the bays.