Top Riviera Hideaways
By Rick Steves
For over a hundred years, celebrities from central and northern Europe and Russia flocked to France's and Italy's Riviera to escape the drab, dreary weather at home. Some of Europe's most stunning scenery lies along these beaches. Unfortunately, so do millions of sun-worshiping tourists. Even so, outside of July and August, the French towns of Antibes and Collioures and Italy's Vernazza offer a laid-back Riviera ideal for anyone working on a slower pulse.
Antibes' interesting old town faces its sandy cove. The fine Château Grimaldi, overlooking the beach and tiny harbor, was once the home of Monaco's ruling family and today houses a Picasso museum (reopening in spring 2008). Antibes's glamorous port glistens with luxurious yachts and quaint fishing boats. You're welcome to browse. The Old City of Antibes is quaint in a sandy-sophisticated way. The market hall bustles until 13:00 (closed Mon except June-Aug). 
Stay at the perfectly-located Hôtel Relais du Postillon, which has helpful owners and pleasant, comfortable rooms on a central square. A double room costs $66-$120, depending on amenities and the season.
The well-worn resorts of the French Riviera line the beach like floozies on bar stools, promising tourists a good time. But Collioure, just before the Spanish border, aims its charms at its own people. It's the ideal small-town-without-the-glitz antidote to condo-city Riviera. Like an ice cream shop, Collioure offers 31 flavors of pastel houses and six petite scooped-out beaches — sprinkled lightly with beachgoers. This sweet scene, capped by Collioure's winking lighthouse, sits under a once-mighty castle in the shade of the Pyrenees.
In Collioure, the Hôtel les Templiers is my choice, with thoughtfully appointed
rooms, wall to wall art, and an easygoing staff. You'll pay $86-$125 for
a double room, depending on the view. 
The Cinque Terre, meaning "five lands," is five villages clinging to the most inaccessible bit of coast on the Italian Riviera. Established as pirates' hideouts centuries ago, the towns are still hideaways, virtually inaccessible by car. The Cinque Terre, between Pisa and Genoa, is now government-protected. Few new buildings are allowed. Villagers have almost no choice but to go about their business as if the surrounding vineyards were the very edges of the earth.
Vernazza is the Cinque Terre village I call home. Its one street connects the harbor with the train station before melting into the vineyards. Like veins on a grape leaf, paths and stairways connect this watercolor huddle of houses with Main Street. Every day is a rerun in this hive of lazy human activity. A rainbow of laundry flaps as if to cool the old men who line the bench. Like barnacles filling ancient doorways, local grandmothers watch life drift by. Little varnished boats are piled peely everywhere and sailors suckle at salty taverns. Kids play soccer on the breakwater while the sun sets unnoticed — except by tourists.
My top choice in Vernazza is Trattoria Gianni, with 23 small but comfortable rooms and three new apartments just under the castle. Prepare for stairs. It's an uphill hike from the harbor to the hotel, but the views are Mediterranean blue and the only sounds you'll hear are the surf and the hourly ringing of the church bells. Double rooms range from $85-120.
Updated for 2008. For lots more information, check out our best-selling Rick Steves' guidebooks — or join us on one of our free-spirited Europe tours!