France, Menton

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Hard by the Italian border, Menton is the civilised person's Riviera. Perched where the Alps plunge into the Med, the setting is the stuff of arias. There are decent beaches out front and a sinuous old town stacking up the hill behind. Leave the beach and you're 600m up in minutes, in among ridges, gorges and stone-built hill villages. Back down, a few more minutes will get you to Monaco. But you'll soon retun to Menton, to be reminded that the French Med can still dissolve moneyed flash in culture class.

The sun: Menton's two big beaches fringe the sparkling briny. Naturally, there are bronzed, beautiful bodies but none of the jet-set hipness to be found further along the coast. The tack-free promenade mixes bars and grand buildings from the wedding-cake school of seaside architecture. Equally aristocratic is the Cap Martin headland further along, holiday spot for the vastly privileged since the 1890s.

We mortals may walk the lovely coastal path below, ogling rocky coastline and sumptuous villas. But leave time for the gardens. Menton has so much horticulture that it comes on like a park. The official gardens are bewtiching: start at the Serre-de-la-Madone, created by Anglo-American Lawrence Johnston in the 1920's 8/10

The countryside: This is where the Alps surrender to the sea. Walk up from Menton, through groves of olives and citrus fruits, to Castellar, nearest of the perched villages. Alternatively, drive the snaking roads up to Ste Agnes, Castillon, Gorbio or Peillon. The views are outstanding. Push further up country to Sospel, Saorge and on to the mighty Mercantour National Park - the Vallee des Merveilles is a remote zone of glacier lakes and great slaps of schist rock on which Bronze Age man crafted engravings. It's a stunning, haunting site. 9/10

The culture: Every Riviera town has its artists, tempted here by the light, soft living and debatable morals. Menton's main man was Jean Cocteau, whose works fill what was the port bastion, now a museum. He also decorated the Town Hall's wedding room. Grahame Sutherland was another Menton habitue, as you may see at the Fine Arts Museum in the Palais Carnoles.

Walk up to the St Michel basilica and Church of the Penitents Blancs, among the most magnificent Baroque ensembles in France. Then wander up into the old town, for Menton's real culture is in this steep warren of twisting alleys. At the top is the cemetery, where William Webb-Ellis (the world's first rugby player), Aubrey Beardsley and other Brits rest in peace. 8/10

The activity: Menton offers most water sports. If that's not enough, take to the hills. Aside from the trekking, there's first-rate climbing and Via Ferrata. Add on canyoning and otherwise exploiting the mountain rivers and you'll not even have time for lunch. 9/10