The Esterel Mountains in France - a spectacular drive along the Corniche d'Or

Writer: Helena Bergström

The Esterel Mountains (Massif de l'Esterel) are located on the Mediterranean Sea in France and offer spectacular views. This wild and dramatically beautiful area offers a stark contrast to the rest of the French Riviera, which is generally very densely populated. You can also follow the Corniche d'Or tourist trail here - an extraordinary experience!

Esterelbergen (Massif de l'Esterel)

The Esterel Mountains (Massif de l'Esterel) are a massive and dramatically beautiful mountain range, which turns red due to the volcanic rocks. The area is popular for outdoor activities and many people come here to hike or cycle through the scenic landscape, or perhaps to dock their boat just outside.

You can also drive the beautiful tourist route by car or motorhome Golden Corniche, which roughly translates to "Golden Mountain Road".

The Esterel Mountains (Massif de l'Esterel) are located on the French Riviera. To the west, the range ends just before the town of Saint-Raphaël and to the east it ends at the town of Mandelieu-la-Napoule. The tourist route Golden Corniche runs from Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël in the west to Cannes in the east.

Frejus

We started our motorhome journey along the Corniche d'Or and the Esterel mountains by visiting the town of Fréjus. Parking the motorhome in the centre was a bit of a challenge, but we managed to park a short distance away, and then walked into the town centre. Fréjus turned out to be a nice town, with historic and beautiful houses.

When we arrived (on a weekday in July), there was a market everywhere on the streets, with everything from clothes to fruit and vegetables. Very nice!

Just outside Fréjus, you'll find Saint-Aygulf with its popular beaches.

Saint-Raphaël

We then continued with the motorhome to the town of Saint-Raphaël, which today has grown together with Fréjus. This town also looked nice, but as it is always a challenge to park in towns with a large motorhome, we chose to just drive through.

Corniche d'Or - the tourist route along the Esterel mountains

Now it was time for us to really experience the Corniche d'Or tourist route.

From Santa Lucia to Agay

Soon after leaving Saint-Raphaël, we arrived in the town of Santa Lucia, and as far as Agay it was still relatively densely populated. We could see the dramatic mountain range in the distance, and we saw many beautiful beaches, but we could not yet experience the wild and undeveloped landscape that we had seen in pictures of the coastline and the Esterel Mountains.

Viaduct of Anthéor

After a while we came to the conclusion Viacuc d'Anthéor, which is a really cool train bridge. Because yes, you can also travel by train along this beautiful stretch of coastline!

Road and viewpoints after Anthéor

Soon after we crossed the bridge in Anthéor, the really beautiful landscape started to reveal itself. Now the touristy and built-up French Riviera was replaced by a part of the Riviera we had never seen before: a wild and beautiful landscape, with dramatic red mountains, intense greenery and blue sea.

Parking along the route can be challenging, especially with a large motorhome, but just after the bridge in Anthéor, two overlooks with large parking areas appeared, where we could fit without any problems.

The views here are unrivalled, whichever way you look.

Some tourists arrive by car, camper van, motorbike or bicycle. Others come by boat and drop anchor just off the dramatic cliffs.

In some places, you can follow trails to different viewpoints, or ruins of former military bunkers. Above all, it's great to just soak up the wild nature, while listening to the sound of the crickets.

Bathing areas along the road

Are there swimming spots along the way? Yes, there are, but it can be a bit challenging both to find them and to manage to park near them. The bathing areas are located well below the road and sometimes you can't see them until you lean down the slope.

The next challenge is to find a staircase, and a parking bay. But in the end we did! It was by inches that our campervan fit, but it was fine and we put on swimwear and packed towels and a water bottle. A bath was really needed on this hot day!

Théoule-sur-Mer and Mandelieu-la-Napoule

At the end of the Corniche d'Or tourist route, we could turn back and see what we were leaving behind: a wild and fascinating landscape, almost completely devoid of buildings.

Now the densely populated towns of Théoule-sur-Mer and Mandelieu-la-Napoule await instead. Both looked nice, but we chose not to stay here, but rolled on in search of a night place.

Cannes

If you continue a little further, you come to nice Cannes. We didn't visit Cannes this time, but this is a city we like with a nice and cosy old town centre.

Where can you stay or park your motorhome?

If you want to stay in a hotel, there are plenty of accommodation options in all resorts. If you're travelling by motorhome, there may be some fricamping options along the Corniche d'Or route (check the "Park4Night" app!) If you want to camp, there are many different options, both west and east of this beautiful stretch of road.

West of the tourist road we were at the campsite Saint Aygulf Plage west of Fréjus, a nice holiday campsite with a large swimming pool and both beach and restaurants nearby.

East of the tourist road we chose to stay at the small campsite Les Treilles, in the neighbourhood of Antibes. This family-run campsite is very simple, but the services you need are there, the staff are very friendly and you can walk to the beach.

Short video from Esterelbergen

More to see and do near Esterelbergen

There is of course more to see and do near the Esterel Mountains in France. For example, you can head to Nice, which is a very nice city. If you head east instead, you can visit Saint Tropez and if you head inland you can discover the stunning area Gorges du Verdon.

Have you seen Esterelbergen?

Have you seen the Esterel Mountains? Did you know this area? Do you like to do road trips when travelling?