Corniche d'Or: Saint-Raphaël to Cannes

About this drive

The Corniche d'Or — "Golden Corniche" — follows the N98 along the Esterel massif coastline between Saint-Raphaël and Cannes. The Esterel is an old volcanic massif whose red porphyry rock has been worn into jagged headlands and sea arches; the contrast between the rust-red cliffs and the vivid blue of the Mediterranean is unlike anything on the Côte d'Azur's more famous sections further east. The road passes through a sequence of small harbours — Agay, Anthéor, Le Trayas — with the rail line and the motorway pushed to the inland side, leaving the coast road to a more intimate scale. The section around Cap Roux and the Pointe de l'Observatoire gives the best views along the coast: looking back west toward Saint-Raphaël and east toward the Îles de Lérins and Cannes. Summer traffic can be very heavy; the road works best on a weekday morning in May, September, or October. The beach at Agay, sheltered inside a red-rock bay, is among the most beautiful on the whole of the Côte d'Azur. The drive pairs well with the Corniche des Maures to the west, which covers similarly dramatic coastline on the other side of Saint-Raphaël.