The White Lotus Season 4 Is Filming on the French Riviera: How I’d Plan the Trip

If The White Lotus has you thinking about a trip to the South of France, I get it.

HBO has confirmed Season 4 is filming in Cannes, Saint-Tropez and Monaco, with the story set along the Côte d’Azur during the Cannes Film Festival. There will also be some filming in Paris.

Two of the hotels featured in the season have already been announced. Hôtel Martinez in Cannes will become the White Lotus Cannes, while Château de la Messardière in Saint-Tropez will become the White Lotus du Cap.

Yes, you can stay at the actual hotels from the show. If that sounds fun, we can absolutely work them into your trip. If you’d rather spend your budget differently, there are plenty of other beautiful hotels throughout the Riviera. We can make one of the White Lotus hotels the splurge, choose something completely different, or mix it up depending on what matters most to you.

The show gives us the starting point. From there, I’d build the trip around the places you actually want to spend time, how you like to travel and what you want to spend.

Cannes

Cannes will likely get a lot of attention once the new season airs. Hôtel Martinez sits right along La Croisette, the waterfront boulevard lined with beaches, restaurants, shops and hotels. The Cannes Film Festival is part of the Season 4 storyline, so this will likely be one of the places viewers recognize right away.

Cannes also works well if you want to see more of the Riviera. Monaco is a little over an hour away by direct train, and places such as Antibes, Juan-les-Pins and Nice are easy to work into the trip too.

That gives us some flexibility when deciding where to base you and how much time to spend in each area.

Saint-Tropez

Saint-Tropez feels a little different. You have the harbor, beaches, restaurants and that classic South of France summer atmosphere. Château de la Messardière will also be one of the major hotels featured this season.

Getting there takes a little more planning because Saint-Tropez isn’t connected to the same direct train route as Cannes, Nice and Monaco. Depending on when you travel, road transfers and seasonal boat service from Cannes and Nice are options.

If Saint-Tropez is high on your list, I’d usually give you a few nights there so you have time to enjoy it. If you’re more interested in Cannes, Monaco and the eastern side of the Riviera, I’d build the trip differently.

Monaco

Monaco is easy to add if Monte Carlo, the casino, harbor and hotels are part of what caught your attention.

You can visit for the day from Cannes, or stay a night or two if you want more time and want to experience Monaco in the evening. How much time I’d give it depends on what else you want to do and how important Monaco is to your trip.

Nice

Nice hasn’t been announced as one of the Season 4 filming locations, but I’d still consider it when planning the trip.

It’s one of the main gateways to the French Riviera and has plenty to do on its own. You have Old Nice, the Promenade des Anglais, markets, restaurants, beaches and easy connections to other towns along the coast.

For some trips, Nice makes the most sense as a base. For others, I’d rather use Cannes or spend more time in Saint-Tropez. I’d compare those options once I know what you want to see and how you want the trip to feel.

What about Paris?

Season 4 will have some filming in Paris too, and Paris fits naturally with the French Riviera if you want to make this a bigger France trip.

You could spend a few days in Paris and continue south, or do the Riviera first and finish in Paris. For travelers coming from the United States, I’d look at the flights, timing and the rest of your route before deciding which order makes the most sense.

If France is part of a bigger Europe trip, I’d look at the whole route before locking in the flights and hotels.

How many days do you need?

If the French Riviera is the main trip, I’d start around a week. That gives you enough time to choose one or two main places to stay, see some of the surrounding area and still have time to enjoy being there.

If you want to add Paris, I’d give the trip a few extra days.

Four or five days can work too. I’d narrow down the list and focus on the places you’re most excited about instead of trying to squeeze the entire coast into a short trip.

This is usually where I start asking questions. Do you want beach time, or do you want to be out exploring every day? Are the hotels a big part of the experience? Do you care about nightlife, food or shopping? Do you want to splurge somewhere? Is there one place you saw and immediately thought, “I have to go there”?

Those answers tell me a lot more than a list of cities does.

If you want to compare the Riviera with the show’s earlier destinations, I put Hawaii, Sicily, Thailand and France together in my White Lotus travel guide.

You can make this as White Lotus as you want

You can stay at the hotels from the show and lean all the way into it, or use the show as the idea and plan something completely different along the same coast.

You might splurge for a few nights in Saint-Tropez and stay somewhere more moderate in Cannes. You might decide one amazing hotel matters more than moving around. You might spend the week along the Riviera, or add Paris and turn it into a bigger France trip.

There are a lot of ways I could put this one together. The right version depends on what made you want to go in the first place.

If The White Lotus has you looking at the South of France, send me what you’re picturing. You don’t need to have the route figured out or know exactly where you want to stay. Tell me what looks fun, what you want to spend and how much time you have.

I’ll help you put the pieces together from there.