Antibes sits on Franceâs famous C´te d'Azur on the Mediterranean Sea, near to the Italian border. It is twenty kilometres from Nice and twelve kilometres from Cannes. Due to its location, Antibes basks in a typical Mediterranean climate of long hot summers and mild winters.
The peak summer season in Antibes is an uncomfortable affair. In July and August the weather is idyllic with blissful, bearable highs of 27ºC, minimal rainfall and around twelve hours of sunshine a day. As such, tourists from all over Europe and beyond flock to this little town to enjoy its beautiful parks and manmade beaches, fascinating museums and yachting harbours; prices soar and crowds thicken. June and September see fewer tourists, though still very many, and the temperatures are still delightful. Daytimes see temperatures around the early 20s while night times cool off to around 16ºC. The sun shines for around nine hours a day, rain is rare and the sea is pleasant at around 20ºC.
It is clear why it is the choice of so many to visit Antibes in the summer months, but it is perhaps preferable to visit in the months of late spring and early autumn when the crowds and prices are more amenable. However, this could mean an entirely different type of holiday. While visitors at this time of year will be blessed with some beach weather, it is cooler; museum visiting and walking might be more suitable activities to the weather, especially in early spring and late autumn. May and October can receive temperatures in the low 20s during the day, but nights can get quite chilly, dropping down to around 13ºC. May sees more sunshine than October and it is marginally less likely to rain, but in October the sea temperature is still warm from the summer and still swim-able at 19ºC. April and November receive average highs of 17ºC with chilly nights under 10ºC.
Winter time sees average highs around 13ºC which many will agree is still quite pleasant. However, it can often be cooler and the nights see average lows around 4ºC. Sunshine can be expected for a respectable four or five hours each day and the beaches are usually pleasant, if the sea too cold at 12ºC for swimming. Rain is most likely from October till April, but is does not fall heavily or for prolonged periods. Even in the months of highest precipitation only nine days on average per month will see any rain. Antibes still sees visitors at this time of year as it is only sunbathing and swimming that are ruled out by the weather, which is still vastly more pleasant than the English winter. The scenery and cultural attractions remain.
Antibes owes its climate to its location between the Mediterranean Sea and the Alps. The Alps serves as protection, blocking winds carrying bad weather, and the Mediterranean moderates the temperature on the coast with breezes in the summer and warm currents in the winter. Antibes is sometimes subject to the cold Mistral wind in the winter.