Cote d’Azur shares allure for a winter getaway in France

The joys of low-season vacationing come to life in a part of France that offers access to both Alpine winter sports and summer beach activities.

Winter season daytime temperatures on the Cote d’Azur’s Mediterranean beaches hover around 15 degrees C, and sunshine is generally plentiful. This attractive climate may not be hot, but it provides a warm relief from chilly conditions elsewhere.

Meanwhile, not far from there are the ski slopes of the Southern Alps, with 62 ski resorts available for high-season bookings, including 15 major resort mountains. Encompassing them both is the storied region of Provence, whose name, scenery and culture is often associated with the works of artists like Cezanne, Chagall, Matisse, Van Gogh and others.

Winter fun in France

The three areas are marketing their tourism attractions under the umbrella of the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. Recently completed was an international tourism promotion mission by tourism stakeholders and regional reps from these three attractive parts of the nation. The mission made stops in Vancouver, Seattle, Phoenix and Austin in January with 30 reps on the trip, ranging from hoteliers to tourism boards and inbound tour operators. They welcomed Vancouver travel advisors at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.

There, they emphasized the winter-season potential of the triple destination, with taglines like “Winter is the new Summer,” and “Tourism is born on the French Riviera in Winter!” The Cote d’Azur has an average of 300 sunny days per year.

“We have many new products and new tours that are available through the whole year, to avoid having too many people at the same place, at the same time,” said Beatrice Manzato, the PR/Media rep for Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. “We know these will appeal to Canadians because they like to roam and explore.”

Upcoming events in Provence

The attractions of Provence can easily fill the itinerary of a France vacation – upcoming are events that will have particular appeal to art lovers.

The “Cezanne At Home” exhibit will take place at Cezanne’s family home, Bastide du Jas de Bouffan, which will open to the public for the first time in 2025. Also, the Musée Granet exhibition “Cézanne au Jas de Bouffan” will present more than 100 paintings from international collections, from June to October 2025.

Also on the art front will be three Marc Chagall exhibitions in Nice, Vence and Saint-Paul de Vence, from February to November, 2025. As well, an exhibit by Alberto Giacometti will be held at the Cantini Museum in Marseille, June 6 to Sept. 28, 2025.

Further afield, the Southern Alpes await those who wish to add a ski adventure to their holiday on the Mediterranean coast. The best known of these is Montgenevre, which rates #4 worldwide in terms of terrain size. The ski resorts in the region have all been upgraded with high-speed lifts and these mountains have peak elevations of about 2,400 metres.

But maybe the most attractive aspect of skiing at these resorts is the cost of lift passes as compared to those sold at Whistler, BC. Delegates from the mission took a trip to Whistler while in Vancouver, and were shocked by how expensive the lift passes were.

“The ski passes cost much less in France as compared to Whistler,” said Loic Chovelon, the CEO of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Tourism Board.

Skiers and other sports enthusiasts can look forward to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games that are scheduled to take place in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in 2030. Participating cities in the region include Nice. Nice will be the skating sports hub, hosting hockey, curling and skating race events.

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