Featured Destination: Côte d'Azur, France

Culinary Explorations: Discover the Food + Wine of the Côte d'Azur, France

September 30 - October 6, 2025

Spend a week in the countryside and small towns of the Côte d’Azur, surrounded by groves of olive trees, rows of cypresses, field-after-field of grapevines, all while basking in the culinary magic of this award-winning and coveted region.

We’ll have an introduction to the culinary culture of Nice, where the flavors of the city showcase both traditional French Riviera cuisine and Mediterranean flavors, influenced by the city’s proximity to Italy and its coastal location. We’ll wander the historic town of Nice, visiting the abundant street markets, while seeking out our favorite boulangeries and fromageries and dining at several unique, local restaurants.

We’ll explore a variety of Provençal and Maritime Alps regional wines with a visit to some of our favorite Côtes de Provence wineries. In Nice, you’ll enjoy a guided wine tasting with a sommelier where you can learn about regional wine history, how to better evaluate the quality of wines, and features to consider when selecting and enjoying French wines on your own.

Further a field, we’ll journey to a number of small towns to experience and breadth and depth of the culinary scene in this region. We’ll visit an island of monks, where they cultivate olive trees and produce high-quality wines of their own. We’ll head east towards Italy to learn about the famous Menton lemons before we have time to wander the medieval town of Dolceacqua nestled in the heart of Liguria. In Cannes we’ll meander through the stalls of locally grown produce at a food market known to be one of Julia Child's most notable haunts. We’ll ascend into curious hilltop towns above the sea and explore a variety of historical and charming villages with spectacular vistas across this beautiful region of the world.