These are the 3 roads going from Nice to Menton and the Italian border. All of them are worth your touring, offering very different points of view on the coast, which is very steep between Nice and Italy.
They are distinct when you leave Nice. The Medium and Low Corniches first meet a little after Monaco Monte-Carlo, then they are met by the High Corniche just before the Cape Martin.
If, on the contrary you leave Menton, there is but one road first. Then the High Corniche starts on your right. If you go further on the Low Corniche, a little further starts the Medium Corniche on your right.
To find a Michelin map .
The Low Corniche
It's the closest from the Sea. The most urbanized, too. You will almost never leave the city from one end to the other.
When leaving Nice you'll find Villefranche sur Mer, Beaulieu sur Mer, Eze (not the old village, Eze sea side), Cap d'Ail, Monaco Monte-Carlo, Roquebrune Cap Martin and finally Menton before you reach the former border post. It will also enable you to go to the Cape Ferrat and the Cape Martin.
If you ride a bicycle, do not imagine that it is flat all along. It tops 100m in Villefranche, then descends to the Sea level, climbs again in Cap d'Ail and once more in Monaco. Owing to the traffic it is not very nice to ride there.
If you enjoyed the "Persuaders" you'll maybe recognize, on the outskirt of Beaulieu and before you get to Eze (Eastward), the road where a car chase was shot for the first episode and was then used for the credits.
This is the road you'll want to use if you simply want to go to Monaco Monte-Carlo or beyond and not tour meanwhile. It's a 4 lanes road on a good part of the trip. The Moyenne Corniche does not enter Monaco. You'll get there by the top, which is perfect if you want to visit the Exotic garden.
It meets the Low Corniche East of Monaco. It offers higher viewpoints than the Low Corniche and leads into Eze's old village, which you maybe will visit. The highest point is is in the outskirts of Eze, on Menton's side, at more than 300m (1000ft) high.
Magnificent sightseings on Nice, St Jean Cap Ferrat, Monaco.
It avoids all villages between Nice and La Turbie and offers great panoramas on Nice, St Jean Cap Ferrat, the Cape Martin and Monaco Monte-Carlo. It leads to the Nice observatory, the old village of Roquebrune with its medieval castle and la Turbie with its Roman August's trophy.
This road was built on an order of Napoleon. The highest point is more than 500m (1700ft) high, a little after the Eze's pass, where often ends the famous cycling race Paris - Nice. Not far from there, Non loin de là, (labelled 3036 avenue des Diables Bleus on the map below), Pical, a place where the Pope Pie VII halted on his way to Notre Dame de Paris when he came to crown Napoleon.
At the Eze's pass cross road you have on your right (if you come from Nice) a road going to Eze village and the Moyenne Corniche. On the opposite side, a narrow road climbs further (stay on the right in the hairpin bend to keep going up) until the Revere fort, 700m (2350ft) high. The panorama*** is great with Nice, the Sea, the Italian Coast, Corsica when weather permits and North, all the Maritim Alps as far as the National Park of the Mercantour's mountains. You just have to walk a few meters to see the differents points of view. Make the detour, it's worth it. The fort can't be visited. While climbing, a few hundred meters before the fort you'll see on your left the Astrorama, a former annex of the fort, now turned into a place where astonomical animations take place. Further, just before the parking lot, on the right hand, the training center for guide dogs for blind people.
This road is a dead-end. Beyond the fort it meets again the High Corniche 1km before la Turbie but becomes a fairly bad track. Simply back track to reach again the High Corniche, it'll be easier.
From la Turbie, a road goes to Monaco Monte-Carlo (the road where Grace Kelly had her fatal accident). The High Corniche goes further towards the old village of Roquebrune and left a road goes to Peille and several villages of the Menton inland (Sainte Agnes..). It is very picturesque but also very narrow.
The road meets the Low Corniche a little before the Cape Martin.