Getting there

Planes

British Airways | BMI Baby | EasyJet and Air France cover the regional airports of Nice (in the east) and Marseille (in the west) between them (www.ba.com; www.bmibaby.com; www.easyjet. com; www.airfrance.com). As of Summer 2011, CityJet (www.cityjet.com) will offer flights from London City airport to Toulon.

Trains

From London, take the train via Lille to Marseille; from Paris, board the TGV. The coast-hugging track from Marseille to Menton – stopping at Toulon, Saint-Raphaël, Cannes, Antibes, Nice and Monaco – is spectacular, in some spots putting you closer to the Med than a beachfront sunlounger (www.tgv.com).

Automobiles

Driving to the south coast can be a cross-country epic. Instead | put your car on the train in Paris | courtesy of Autotrain | board a separate passenger train | and take to the road in Avignon | Fréjus or Nice (ring Rail Europe on 0844 848 4050).