Bormes-les-Mimosas

Mimosa was brought to the Riviera from Australia in the nineteenth century and took to the acid soils of the Massif des Maures, flowering from January into March when nothing else does. Bormes added les Mimosas to its name in 1968 to make the association official, and it holds a mimosa parade each February. The village itself is medieval, built on a steep slope with stepped lanes called cuestes running between the houses, a ruined castle at the top and around ninety species of flowering plant used in the public planting. A Route du Mimosa runs along the coast from Bormes to Grasse.

What you actually see

• The winter mimosa - yellow flowering from January to March.
• The stepped lanes - narrow cuestes climbing the slope between houses.
• The February parade - the mimosa corso through the village.
• The planted village - dense flowering planting through the streets.

When to go

January to March for mimosa, which is the point of the place and falls outside the normal Riviera season. Summer is hot, crowded and mimosa-free apart from the foliage.

Honest expectations

Visitors arriving in summer find no mimosa at all. The village is very steep with many steps and no easy route through. Parking is outside and limited.

Nearby

Le Lavandou lies below on the coast; the Massif des Maures is inland.