The Cote d’Azur is France’s third biggest economic region, and being framed by both the Mediterranean Ocean sparkling beneath the sun, and by the snowy Alps also glistening below the cloudless blue sky, this visually stunning region of France remains a hotspot for tourists and business travellers alike.

In fact given the Cote d’Azur’s economical attractiveness – being France’s leading region for business outside Ile-de-France – which contrasts delightfully with its immense natural splendour, the province remains one of the world’s top tourist destinations, attracting approximately 35 million tourists each year.

The region’s economic success and prosperity is reflected through the excellent transport infrastructure the Cote d’Azur boasts, including three international airports – Marseille, Nice and Toulon.

Cheap flights to South of France have now been made more feasible than ever with the announcement that Easyjet has opened a new base in Nice. In March this year the budget airline opened two new bases in the south of France, one in the airport of Nice and one in Toulouse Airport, meaning Easyjet is well on its way to becoming a pan-European airline.

Easyjet’s arrival to Nice and Toulouse has meant that travellers now have access to 12 new routes, including eight daily flights from Paris to both the southern France airports.

Increasing the number of flights to and from Nice is part of the development of Nice’s infrastructure and promises to give both the tourist sector an even bigger boost in the Cote d’Azur, as well as those travelling for business purposes, by increasing the number of travellers being able to reach this particularly beautiful and exclusive region of France relatively inexpensively.

Talking about the cheap flights to South of France and the benefits of Easyjet being based in Nice and Toulouse will bring to the regions, Herve de Place, President of Nice Cote d’Azur Airport said in a press conference:

“Nice still has development potential and Easyjet can serve what Cote d’Azur passengers expect, not just for leisure but also business.”

Asides its rapidly expanding transport infrastructure, the Cote d’Azur is also home to one of the largest pools of technologically resources in Europe.

It is this unique blend of natural beauty, excellent transport infrastructure and the being among the best in Europe for technological innovation, which makes the Cote d’Azur a truly world-class place to visit.

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If you are visiting the Cote d’Azur sometime soon you are likely to be busy planning your holiday budget. As this region of France is notoriously pricey, you may be grateful to hear about how to make some savings on your holiday to the Cote d’Azur.

One saving can be made by travelling by train, which is one of the most budget-friendly ways to explore this stunning French region. The scenic train route links most of the major cities on the Cote d’Azur, including Cannes, Nice and Antibes, as well as the small, quirky and interesting towns and villages in between which are well worth stopping off and exploring.

The rail network in this region is quick and reliable, although can sometimes get a little crowed during high season. Although you can buy your train tickets at the station, it is advisable that you book in advance to avoid disappointment and so that you are guaranteed a seat! We recommend that you use Rail Europe and plan your rail itinerary ahead of your holiday. Although booking in advance online is not any less expensive than buying a ticket at the train stations on the Cote d’Azur.

Another good tip when travelling by train around the Cote d’Azur is to always validate your train tickets in one of the yellow validation machines at the station before you board the train. Failure to do so can result in passengers ending up with getting a hefty fine on the train!

To get a sense of how much train journeys cost on the Cote d’Azur, a direct train from Cannes to Monaco costs approximately £8 return, whilst shorter journeys between, for example, Villefranche and Monaco, usually cost less than £4 for a return journey. Prices that certainly aren’t synonymous with the Cote d’Azur!

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Asides the glamour, glitz, lavish shops, cosmopolitanism and affluence, there is a lesser known, more cultural side to St Tropez.  In fact, if you are after a touch of art and culture, you need to track down the St Tropez Museums.

The Naval Museum

The first of our St Tropez Museums was once a famous naval port during the 18^th century, the Naval Museum is located within the walls of the old citadel, in the heart of St Tropez. This intriguing museum is home to a fine selection of naval-related artefacts and documents, providing visitors with fascinating insight into the naval history of the small fishing harbour.

Asides the paintings, artefacts from famous ships and letters written by some of the most highly acclaimed names in French naval history, the Naval Museum also has a section dedicated to the Allied landings on the Cote d’Azur made in 1944 to liberate France.

The Art Museum

The Art Museum is another of St Tropez Museums located in St Tropez. Displayed in a disused chapel, the Art Museum of St Tropez – known locally as the Musee de l’Annonciade – is home to a unique and extensive collection of artwork by some of the greatest artists the world has ever known.

These include Dufy, Bonnard, Matisse, and Signac, who, being enthralled and inspired by St Tropez, set up his home and studio in the town.

This outstanding museum is also home to Charles Camoin’s ‘St-Tropez, la Place des Lices et le Café des Arts’ (1925), which is one of the most famous images ever created of St Tropez.

Winters on the French Riviera are never that harsh, in fact compared to much of Europe; winter on the Cote d’Azur is mild, blessed with cloudless blue skies and star-studded nights.

Given its privileged winter climate, a trip to the French Riviera early next year would be a wise move, particularly if you combine it with visiting the ‘hottest event on the French Riviera’ – the Nice Carnival 2012.

Not only is this the one of the most highly attended and anticipated festivals on the French Riviera’s bursting events calendar, but it is also one of the largest carnivals in the world. Taking place in February each year, this two-week festival proves to be possibly the region’s most popular winter event year after year.

Flower parades dominate the scene in Nice throughout the fortnight, with colourful arrays of almost every flower you could care to image, contrasting vibrantly with the stark late-winter sky.

Alongside the many flower parades there are carnival processions, sporting huge papier mache characters with giant heads, concerts, fireworks, prestige soirees, marching bands with their music blasting out from every street, promenade and avenue, accompanied with twirling majorettes.

As musicians, dancers, performers and actors gather here during February from around the world, this cosmopolitan French city becomes even more multicultural and pleasurably diverse whilst its biggest social calendar is taking place.

To conclude this spectacular event, on the last night the carnival king is carried down to the beach on his throne and ceremonially set alight, whilst a backdrop of fireworks flurry into the night sky, mesmerising the thousands of spectators.

So if you want to shake off the winter blue, Nice, in February, is certainly the place to do it!

Visit nicetourisme.com for further details.

Nice’s annual Christmas swim (Bain de Noel), takes place on Ruhl Beach on December 19.

Both locals and visitors alike brave the chilly water, which have usually dropped to an icy 12 degrees Celsius, to participate in this popular event.

Whilst some of the more sensible winter bathers come kitted out in a wet suit, for the majority, their Christmas plunge into the Med is executed in trunks or a swimming costume and nothing more!

If you feel like joining in with the local traditional Christmas customs, or would prefer just to watch those revelling in the attention this endurance event gives them, then head on down to the Promenade des Anglais and Ruhl Beach for 11.30.

Ruhl Beach is one of the 15 private beaches in Nice. Laid out in 1920, this immaculate beach lies between the stunning views of the Baie des Anges and the Promenade des Anglais.

One of the most celebrated promenades on the Cote d’Azur, the Promenade des Anglais was built in the latter half of the eighteenth century when the rich Englishmen who had taken to spending the winter in Nice decided to give the influx of beggars to the region a ‘useful project’ and construct a walkway along the sea.

The promenade proved popular in Nice and authorities gradually built it up and improved it. Today, the Promenade des Anglais is a popular place to walk and take in the sensational views of Nice, to contemplate the azure water of la Baie des Anges and the landscapes surrounding this magnificent city.

‘La Prom’, as it is often referred to, is also particularly popular with cyclists and skateboarders, and, of course, those watching the daredevils jump into the ocean on December 19!

If you are not a smoker and are enjoying a restful day on the beach, doing nothing in particular except sunbathing and swimming, a waft of cigarette smoking weaving through the air and into your nostrils, is off-putting and slightly irritating to say the least.

This sentiment is widely advocated by the French public, who, if they had their way, would see smoking being banned from beaches.

According to a recent survey conducted by the French polling agency ifop, three out of four French citizens would be in favour of a ban of smoking on beaches in France. 42% of the survey respondents said they were strongly in favour of the ban, whilst only 9% of participants strongly opposed it.

The town of La Ciotat in the Bouches-du-Rhone department of the Cote d’Azur province is the first town to implement the first non smoking beach in Europe.

This small and picturesque village attracts a steady stream of visitors throughout the summer months, although since the ban came into effect earlier this summer, the beach at la Ciotat, known as “Plage Lumiere”, has attracted a larger crowd than usual.

The new legislation came as a result of the local council receiving requests for more ‘child-friendly’ beaches.  Talking about the smoke-free beach, Noel Collura, La Ciotat’s deputy mayor for the environment, said:

“We don’t stop smokers from going elsewhere, but this one we want to reserve for nonsmokers, for mothers and children so they can make sand castles and not cigarette butt sand castles.”

Anyone found to be ignoring the ‘no smoking’ signs on the beach are liable to receive a 35 euro fine.

Plage Lumiere on the Cote d’Azur is the first beach in Europe to implement a smoking ban, with the only other place in the world to have similar legislation being in New York, which, earlier this year, banned smoking from all public areas.

Judging by the popularity of the first non smoking beach in Europe and the fact that three-quarters of French people are in favour of banning smoking on beaches, long gone are the days when France had a notoriously “laissez-faire” attitude to smoking.

For the majority who stay in Saint Tropez, a visit to the vast, visually stunning and crowded beaches, with equally as stunning and glamorous bodies, of Pampelonne is too tempting to avoid.

There are however several beaches in the St Tropez vicinity that are less well known, more secluded and unaffected by mass tourism. Take a look at France’s most glamorous region’s more ‘wilder’ side and 3 of the best beaches of St Tropez.

Plage des Salins

To the south of the Plage des Canebiers, a beach famous for being overlooked by the villa owned by Bridget Bardot, is the Plage des Salins. This picturesque and refreshingly tranquil beach that is bounded by a forest of pine and bamboo trees is a fantastic spot to lay your towel on the fine, pale pink sand and enjoy its surprisingly peaceful setting.

Be sure to keep a look out for a sculpture of Bridget Bardot as the Little Mermaid here, as it was after all the legendary French actress who, almost single-handedly, glamorised St. Tropez.

La Ponche

Hiding at the head of the old fishing quarter of La Ponche, between the fascinating Portalet Tower and the Tour Vielle, lie the small, gravel beaches of La Ponche.

These delightful and interesting beaches are almost literally a ‘stone’s throw’ from the quirky boutiques and bars of La Ponche, providing visitors with the perfect break from a busy day’s sunbathing.

Plages des Graniers

Not far from the beaches of La Ponche, after about a 20-minute walk, Plages des Graniers can be stumbled upon. And if you do stumble upon the Plages des Graniers you will not be disappointed.

This 40 metre long, pebbly beach is surrounded by natural rock and, in holding on to an authentic character, has remained pleasantly unspoiled by the effects of mass tourism.

With its mighty rivers making their way to the Mediterranean Ocean that laps its beautiful and varied shoreline, its metropolitan cities, rich in culture and history, and some of the best cuisine in the world, the Cote d’Azur certainly is a remarkable and utopic region.

There is however one less favourable feature of the French Riviera, which visitors to the area should be aware of – jellyfish. Here, we outline the best tips on how to deal with Jellyfish on the Cote d’Azur.

In response to the high number of jellyfish living in the waters on the Cote d’Azur, local councils have set up jelly-fish free zones to help protect bathers from being stung.

If you are wanting to spend a day on the beach on the French Riviera but are put off by the jellyfish then check the colour of the flag on the beach – A orange flag usually denotes jellyfish have been detected there, whilst a green flag usually means it is a jellyfish-free zone.

It is also important to remember that jellyfish look lifeless and dead when they have been washed up on the shore, although they can still sting out of water so avoid going near them and tell children to stay away from any lifeless jellyfish on the beach.

Certain jellyfish are more dangerous than others. The most common breed of jellyfish in the Mediterranean is the ‘mauve stinger’, which are usually mauve in colour but can also be pink, tan or yellow.

If you are stung by a jellyfish avoid washing the sting with fresh water and only use salt water, as this will help clean the affected area and alleviate the pain.

Freezing spray is also an effective relief from jellyfish stings and is something you can buy from a local pharmacy.

Here’s some great Cote d’Azur money saving tips.

Pass Isabelle (ter-sncf.com)

Travelling around the Cote d’Azur can be pricey. If you are wanting to explore the area and the beautiful mountains of this region – and it is advisable that you do -  a good way of doing so is by Pass Isabelle, whereby a day’s unlimited riding on local rails costs just 12 euros. The Cote d’Azur’s bus network is also surprisingly inexpensive, with 1 euro allowing you to travel anywhere within the Alps Meritimes region for 74 minutes – be sure to take advantage.

Eat at lunchtime rather than dinnertime

For the duration of your holiday, it is advisable that you adopt the Mediterranean-style of dining and eat your main meal at lunchtime rather than dinnertime, for the purposes of saving money that is. Many of the restaurants have ‘plat du jour’ menus available at lunchtime and not at dinnertime. Often these menus can be as little as 10 euros, whereas the same meal in the evening could cost up to three times as much.

Stock up at supermarkets

Whilst wandering around the quirky markets and village shops on the Cote d’Azur is a delightful experience, markets and independent shops can be expensive. If you are on a self-catering holiday and want to keep the costs down, stock up on groceries and essentials at the large supermarkets, such as Aldi, Lidl, Dia and Netto – it will save you a fortune.

Obtain a French Riviera Pass

Obtaining a French Riviera Pass from frenchrivierapass.com will enable you to have free or reduced-price entry into many of the monuments and museums in the area. Although several of the museums and attractions have free entrance anyway, so planning your sightseeing itinerary around the ‘freebies’ may be worthwhile.

Like everything on the Cote d’Azur, the transport network on this stretch of idyllic French coastline is amongst the best in France and even Europe. Although in a commitment to maintain its position as having an enviable transport network, the Cote d’Azur has a master transport plan in operation for the next 20 years.

As part of a tram network planned by the Nice Cote d’Azur master transport scheme that is planned to be finished by 2030, an extension of Line 1 of the tram network from Pont Michael to Trinite via the Ariane district is scheduled to be operational in the spring of 2013.

This 4.3 kilometre extension is to include nine stations and is estimated that it will increase the number of travellers using the network by 5,000 a day so the overall number of people using line 1 daily will be 105,000.

The new extension will provide greater service for the Pasteur district of the French Riviera, which has been described as being a “sensitive urban area” that will also make the new facilities at the Pasteur Teaching Hospital more accessible.

Although the extension of line 1 will not come without a hefty price tag and the total cost of the project is 23.9 million euros.

For the first time ever, the Nice Cote d’Azur has received a significant European loan of more than 3 million euros to help fund the extension of the tram network within the area.

The multi-million euro project will be subsidised by the Government, the Alpes Maritimes Departemental Council, the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur Region and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).