Visiting Antibes on foot: in Picasso’s footsteps, from the ramparts to Fort Carré
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In the autumn of 1946, Picasso painted for sixty-nine days in the Château Grimaldi, facing the sea. This route follows his town: the ramparts, the museum that bears his name, the market where he cycled to buy sardines, and the fort where Napoleon spent two weeks in prison.
Where to start
The route starts on the ramparts of Antibes, at the water’s edge. Antipolis, “the town opposite”, was founded by the Greeks of Marseille in the fourth century BC, facing the future Nice. Vauban redesigned these walls for Louis XIV, when Antibes was still the last French town before Savoy. The Murmure audio tour begins on the ramparts.
The Château Grimaldi, now the Picasso museum, is two minutes away. The stops that take place there assume you go into the museum: check its opening hours before coming.
What you will see on the way
In the Picasso museum, the route pauses in front of La Joie de vivre, painted in 1946 on fibre cement with house paint, for lack of canvas in post-war Europe. The painter left the municipal museum twenty-three paintings and forty-four drawings: one of the first museums in the world to bear the name of a living artist.
Just opposite, the cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-la-Platea stands on a Greek temple, a Roman temple and a Romanesque church; its altarpiece by Louis Bréa has survived every war. Cours Masséna hosts one of the oldest markets on the coast, then Rue Sade crosses old Antibes and its coloured render, ochre, terracotta and sand yellow, inherited from Genoa.
The route then follows the harbour north to Fort Carré, a four-bastioned star built around 1550, where a young Corsican officer named Buonaparte was held for two weeks in August 1794. It ends at Port Vauban, founded by the Greeks and now the largest marina in Europe for large yachts.
How much time to allow
The published route is 2.5 km long with eight stops and no significant climb: old Antibes is flat, and the walk to Fort Carré follows the harbour along a path just under a kilometre long. Allow an hour and a half, plus the time spent in the Picasso museum, which can easily take another hour.
The Picasso museum (12 € per adult in 2026) is closed on Mondays, except from 15 June to 15 September when it opens daily; outside summer it closes between 1 pm and 2 pm. Fort Carré can be visited for 5 €, every day except Mondays and public holidays, until 5 pm outside July and August; the walk views it from outside. The cathedral publishes no guaranteed hours: go in if it is open.
The Provençal market on Cours Masséna runs in the morning, every day in June, July and August, and every day except Monday the rest of the year: leave before 1 pm if you want to see it alive.
Practical tips
Old Antibes is easy on foot; the stretch to Fort Carré is more exposed to sun and wind. Bring water and a hat in summer.
The Picasso museum is accessible to people with reduced mobility; the inside of Fort Carré, with its stairs, is not. The rampart walk, Promenade Amiral-de-Grasse, is fully accessible and pedestrian. This route is one of the easiest on the Riviera: few steps, except at the entrance to some buildings.
To listen on site, bring headphones and battery; the ramparts are windy, so in-ear headphones help.
Getting there and parking
Antibes station is two kilometres from old Antibes, a twenty-minute walk along the harbour, or a few minutes on the free electric shuttle of the Envibus network, which serves the old town every day.
By car, the Pré-aux-Pêcheurs car park at the foot of the ramparts is the closest to the start; it is paying. Fort Carré has a free car park, ten to fifteen minutes’ walk from the fort entrance.
The eight stops of the route
- The ramparts of Antibes
- The Château Grimaldi, Picasso museum
- La Joie de vivre, inside the museum
- The cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-la-Platea
- Cours Masséna and its Provençal market
- Rue Sade, in old Antibes
- Fort Carré
- Port Vauban
Listen to “Picasso’s Summer”
The Murmure audio tour follows Picasso through Antibes in eight stops over 2.5 km, from the ramparts to Port Vauban. Listen to a preview, check the itinerary and the museum’s opening hours before you leave.
Listen to a tour previewPlan your visit
Information checked in September 2026 with the town and tourist office of Antibes Juan-les-Pins: Picasso museum, hours and prices · Fort Carré · the markets of Antibes · getting there and around. Opening hours and prices may change: check them before you leave. The Murmure audio route is an independent offer.