Where to Go in 2026: The French Riviera’s Last Stop Before Italy—and Its Best-Kept Secret

This month on Unpacked, we’re diving into Afar’s just-released ⁠Where to Go list⁠—but this year’s picks are different. In 2026, we want to lessen the burden on overtouristed destinations and expand visitation to other parts of the world. Our editors carefully selected 24 emerging regions and overlooked locales that will inspire your next great adventure.

For Menton, that means looking beyond Cannes and Nice to discover a quieter corner of the French Riviera—one with candy-colored buildings, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant, and lemons so sweet you can eat them like apples.

In this episode, host Aislyn Greene talks with Jenn Rice, a food and travel writer who fell hard for Menton after a birthday dinner at Mirazur. Jenn shares why this town of 30,000—perched where France meets Italy—deserves a spot on your list. From a subtropical microclimate that produces IGP-protected citrus to affordable hotels with sea views and a culinary scene shaped by one very busy chef, Menton offers all the glamour of the Riviera without the flash.

Transcript

Aislyn: I’m Aislyn Greene and this is Unpacked, the podcast that unpacks the world’s most interesting destinations and the deeper stories behind travel. This month, we’re diving into Afar’s annual Where to Go list, and this year’s list is a little different because in 2026, we want to lessen the burden on overtouristed destinations and help expand visitation to other parts of the world. And that’s why our editors carefully selected 24 emerging regions and overlooked cities that, I promise, will inspire you to start planning your next great adventure. We released the full list on December 4th and on Unpacked over the next two months, we’re going to be exploring 15 of those destinations by talking with the writers who traveled to and shared our favorite new places.

Writers like Jenn Rice, who today is sharing her love of Menton, France. The French Riviera is a pretty easy sell, but we usually talk about Khan and Nice. Menton is a Riviera town as well, but it’s farther up the coast. It’s actually the last town before you hit Italy, but that does not mean it’s any less magical.

As Jenn shares, the subtropical climate means you can find ingredients here that you won’t find anywhere else. So it’s home to some incredible restaurants, including the 3 Michelin starred Mirazur and lemons so sweetly delicious you can eat them like apples. It’s gorgeous and glamorous, with candy colored buildings and lots of Italian nods given the border proximity. But as Jenn shares, Menton isn’t as flashy as its neighbors, which means you can still find affordable hotels, walkable streets, and plenty of quiet places to call your own.

Welcome, Jenn. So we’re here to talk about Menton, France, which is apparently the appropriately French way to pronounce it. So what brought you to that part of the world? And can you paint us a picture of what it’s like to be there?

Jenn: When I turned 41 last year, so that would be 2024. I was meeting friends in Cannes and Antibes for my birthday, and I kind of like to wander when I go around Europe by train. It’s just more romantic that way. So I had a couple of extra days after my birthday, and I’d always wanted to go to Mirazur. And so I started looking at Menton and decided to stop through and continue my birthday celebrations. And I got a reservation at Mirazur, and it was one of the greatest dinners and nights of my life. And that kind of put Montana on my map for like, why is everyone not going here? Not just for Mirazur, but it’s just kind of a slower pace of the Riviera. And I thought it was just so romantic.

Aislyn: What was it about that meal that was so exceptional?

Jenn: The dinner starts with a tour of Marco Greco’s, one of his many gardens across from the restaurant, and it was a lemon that kind of wowed me, which sounds so basic because I talk about this story and I think my friends think I’m crazy, but I’m going around the garden and you’re seeing all these things and you can, like, look across to the sea, and the mountains are on the other side of the backdrop. So it’s this very like beautiful landscape. And it is literally the last town in France before you hit Italy. So I think it’s kind of lost in the shuffle of, we need to get to Cannes. We need to get to Nice. We need to get to these areas. It’s just so beautiful.

So you finish the garden tour and then go sit in the restaurant. And I think the restaurant could probably run without any kind of power. It’s one of the most sustainable restaurants I’ve ever seen. And they have like a fermentation lab, and they have an anthropologist and archaeologist, and that’s her full time job to study the land of Italy meets France. And like the history of it. So everything is just very simple and you can really taste the flavor.

So, you know, when I went into the fermentation lab and the and the lab where they R&D, everything is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. They encourage you to, like, bite the lemon and the rind. And I was like, no, no chance. And it was so sweet. And you can eat the whole lemon. It’s like candy. It’s like an apple. So I was eating a lemon like an apple. And I couldn’t stop thinking about this lemon. And I just kept talking about it, and I was like, this sounds so crazy. And then you eat the dishes. But they explain everything in a way of like, this is how I want to eat. Like this onion is just perfectly prepared and raw in a in a broth, and it’s just a rose onion. And I think a lot of chefs around, around France try to get these lemons. And I’ve seen them on a menu in Paris. And every time I see the Menton lemons, um, because they’re protected, they have their own IGP. So they’re really special when you can find them on a menu. And I, I know I sound crazy when I only talk about the lemons, but that prompted my second return because I heard that Mauro Colagreco has a lemon panattoni for the holiday season, and it has the lemons and the panettone. And I was like, ah, how do I get back for Christmas?

Aislyn: And so that’s what you did, you went back for Christmas?

Jenn: So I went back a second time last year.

Aislyn: I love that the lemon is like the celebrity of all of this. Like this is what drove you to travel.

Jenn: It is.

Aislyn: So you mentioned that this is like the last place that you can visit before you hit Italy. So I imagine you have a lot of French and a lot of Italian inspiration. So how do those kind of dual cultures manifest?

Jenn: So when you go to Menton, it has like everything you want from I think France and Italy in one. And I feel like it’s a little more Italian when you get to the old town because you like if you’re walking into the old town, you just see, like all the beautiful candy colored buildings on the sea, it looks a little like Cinque Terre. So it’s a really cool area. It’s not just one thing or the other. It’s like a blend of cultures.

Aislyn: How big is Menton as a whole?

Jenn: I think it’s around 30,000 people, so it’s not too big and you can pretty much walk everywhere and it’s not so grand in your face with, like, yachts and like super, super luxury hotels. So I think it’s more chill in terms of a Riviera destination. And that’s, I think, why it’s kind of been under the radar as compared to other places with the glitz and glam. And they have like beach clubs and a beautiful promenade that’s brand new for last year. But it’s not like it’s on the beach with your like, rosé parties. And I think that’s one of the things that’s so special about it.

Aislyn: And do you stay primarily in I’m like picturing kind of traditional hotels or B&Bs that have been around for generations. Is that the lodging vibe, would you say?

Jenn: Yeah. So the lodging, this is why I wanted it to be pitched for a place to go next year, because there aren’t tons of hotel options in the sense of its neighbors, like 5 star luxury hotels. Both of the times that I’ve stayed in summer and winter. Hotel Napoleon it is right across from the sea, kind of right outside of the old town, so you can walk everywhere, and even in summer you can still get a room for around $200 a night, which is crazy. So if you go in off season, it’s even more affordable. And if you book a room high up, you get a view of the candy colored old town and the sea. So you have like these beautiful views and the rooms have, um, terrace patios. So it’s just you wake up, have your coffee. Look out. It’s very quiet.

Aislyn: If you grab your lemon.

Jenn: Yeah, you can grab your lemon and eat it with your coffee. And they have a newly renovated Villa Genesis, which is an older villa that they refurbished a little. So it’s beautiful. And then Hotel Gabriel, which is newly renovated for this year and it’s more boutique. So it’s like more cool and hip, like Hotel Napoleon. It’s very modern and it has everything you need, but it’s not like. Over the top luxury, which I really appreciate.

It’s so hard to describe because I feel like it’s smashed in between these, like, very glamorous places, and it is glamorous in its own. But it’s not like, here’s a 5 star hotel and everyone’s going to cater to you. It’s kind of like, come as you are and see what we have.

Aislyn: What are like the people like there?

Jenn: They’re very friendly. I the last time I was there, I befriended a woman who worked at Hotel Napoleon, and she drove me across the border to this beautiful Italian town.

Aislyn: Oh my God.

Jenn: With her partner. It was just, it was very different from what I expected. It’s very much like you can talk to everyone and it’s just very chill, like you can have new friends in an instant after going out to a restaurant, and everyone’s very happy because they get 300 days of sunshine as well.

Aislyn: You mentioned that you, you know, summer is obviously a peak time that people probably want to visit or can visit. But you went back during the holidays, so what was it like to be there in? Is that an off season, would you say?

Jenn: It definitely was off season. I believe it was in November that I went. Everything is still open and the hotels are exceptionally more affordable in a lot of these towns, like the restaurants and hotels closed, but everything is still open here, so you can still go to Mirazur, you can still go.

I mean, I went for a swim in November and with some other locals, and it was warm for that time of year when I went like it was sunny. And I loved each visit equally the same. Like, sure, it’s busier in summer and it’s warmer, but winter was magical too.

Aislyn: Wow! How was the lemon panettone?

Jenn: It was amazing. I took a whole panettone after her. I ate a couple of slices at Mitran Bakery with me on the train to my friend’s house in Tuscany for a party.

Aislyn: Guarding it with your life on the train?

Jenn: Yeah. So I got on the train with like, cheese cider because I was in Normandy previously and like two panettone stacked. And my friends were like, we’re gonna come pick you up closer because you cut a lot of things.

Aislyn: When you’re a food and travel writer, what else are you expected to do?

Jenn: Yeah.

Aislyn: Speaking of food, can we come back to your chef who has his fingers in many pies? How has he impacted the local culinary scene?

Jenn: So they’re coming up on their 20 year anniversary next year. So I guess they’re 19 this year. And through time, he has opened this amazing bakery, which is where the lemon I mean, there’s lemon cake. There’s there’s lots of lemon things there. And in summer you can get a sandwich and walk to the beach from each bakery, and it’s right in the old town. It’s super cute. And he kind of uses these, like, artisanal ancient grains. So it’s the same practice for Mirazur. So he’s kind of taken that same approach to like quality ingredients. And since it’s a year round destination, like you’ll see locals at these places too. And then he opened a pizzeria. Pecora Negra, which also goes back to the philosophy of like, good ingredients for the pizza dough. And I have heard that there is a lemon pizza. And then he also has an Argentinian steakhouse.

Aislyn: Wow. He is a busy guy.

Jenn: Yeah. So it kind of is. You know, when you think about chefs opening many concepts, you’re like, okay, it doesn’t make sense. But in Menton it makes sense because it just evolves the community in the area. So if you’re going, there’s a lot of great food that you can eat.

Aislyn: Yeah, and he sounds like he’s kind of like the local food celebrity in that way.

Jenn: Yeah. And he’s probably one of the nicest chefs I’ve ever met. Just hearing him talk about ingredients is next level for me. Like, people are obsessed with celebrities. I’m obsessed with gardens and chefs.

Aislyn: Well, and it’s so interesting that there is so much produce that’s so unique to the area. I’m assuming that has a lot to do with the climate, like the 300 days of sunshine, but is there a larger story around the produce or the citrus beyond the lemons?

Jenn: Basically, what I’ve learned is that it’s in an unusual position for the Riviera. So you’ve got the mountains and you’ve got the sea, and it’s like up in elevation, and it’s like this tropical, beautiful landscape that doesn’t exist anywhere else on the Riviera or in Europe. And then the sunshine. So when you add those together, they’re able to grow. And I think people have tried to grow these things in other climates. And that was the fascinating thing about talking to the archaeologist is that, like, they just can’t replicate these things like you can try. And that’s why they gave some of them their own IGP so they can protect them, because I think people have tried to regrow these things and they’re just not quite there. So it’s one of those places where you literally just have to go there to get a taste of these things, or hope that one of your chefs in Paris has a connection to these products when they’re available.

Aislyn: Okay, wonderful. Well, I’d love to close with what advice you would give people who would like to take a trip here, because I’m also going to be one of those people. But what should people know? How do you get there? Any advice for packing things like that?

Jenn: So you can easily get there? You can fly into Nice. It’s about 30 minutes by train. And so it’s so the train ride along the Riviera is one of my favorites in the world, because when you get to the coastline, you’re just like, wow, it’s so beautiful. And you know, if you stay in Menton, you can still hop to these more popular destinations, and I feel like it’s one of those places that doesn’t book out so quickly, so you can still get a like Hotel Napoleon. You can still get a hotel in peak summer and experience the Riviera. And then, you know, like, I think it’s one of those places where you don’t have to show off your flashy designerwear, you can just come as you are and okay, it’s amazing.

Aislyn: All right, well, we’ll keep an eye on your lemon musings. But Jen, thank you so much for being here today and sharing your love of Menton with us.

Jenn: Thank you so much.

Aislyn: Thank you so much for joining this special “Where to Go” episode. In the show notes, we’ve included links to all the places Jen recommended, as well as to her website and social handles. And if this is your first time listening to one of our “Where to Go” episodes in the show notes, you’ll also find links to our past and future episodes, which we will continue to roll out in the New Year. Happy travels!