Villefranche is a tender port. Large cruise ships anchor in the harbor and transport passengers to a small terminal in the heart of town via smaller vessels, known as tenders.
Cruise lines arrange shuttle bus services between Port Nice and Port Villefranche (distance ~4 km / 2,5 mi), with travel time ~10 min. Town's limits extend to the bay's surrounding hills reaching up to 520 m (1750 ft) above sea level (at Mont-Leuze).
As it's pretty small, you can honestly see most of Villefranche-sur-Mer over the course of a couple of hours. However, if you wish to see all of the attractions, spend time relaxing in the square, and maybe even visiting the beach, you'll want a full day to soak up all of this dreamy destination's charms.
Traveling by train is definitely one of the easiest and best ways to reach the village. Since the distance from Nice to Villefranche-sur-Mer is around two miles, the train ride takes only about 11 minutes, on average. PRO TIP: Book your train ticket in advance to save money!
Villefranche is located in the French department of the Alpes Maritimes. It is quite a mountainous area encompassing over 140 beautiful medieval villages. It is such an historically significant area that it has been nominated as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Villefranche-sur-Mer is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located south-west of the Principality of Monaco, which is just west of the French-Italian border.