Updated September 2026 · 7 min read
By Centre International d’Antibes
A French winter camp in Antibes combines morning French lessons with activities, excursions around the Côte d’Azur and a full day in the Southern Alps each week. Teenagers aged 12–17 can experience the Mediterranean and the mountains in the same stay, and no, they don’t need to know how to ski before they arrive.
Say Antibes and most people picture July.
Blue water. Sunglasses. Beaches. Someone carrying a baguette dangerously close to a scooter.
Winter probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind.
But that is exactly what makes spending winter here interesting.
Antibes doesn't suddenly disappear when summer ends. The old town is still there. The Mediterranean is still very blue. People are still drinking coffee outside when the weather allows it. The difference is that the huge summer crowds have gone and everyday life becomes much easier to see.
And then there are the mountains.
From the Côte d'Azur, you can be looking at palm trees and the Mediterranean one moment and heading towards snow-covered Alpine landscapes the next.
Official Côte d'Azur tourism information describes winter on the Côte d’Azur as generally mild, with January daytime temperatures typically between around 5°C and 15°C.
So no, we're not going to tell you to pack three swimsuits and live in flip-flops.
Bring a coat.
But winter here doesn't mean spending three months hiding indoors either.
This is probably the more useful question.
Our Premium Winter programme is for teenagers aged 12 to 17 and runs from 10 January to 6 March 2027. The programme combines French lessons, accommodation, full board, activities, excursions, supervision and eligible weekend transfers.
But a list of inclusions doesn't really tell you what being here feels like.
So let's break the week down.
Mornings: French first
Students have 20 French lessons of 45 minutes each week, with classes taking place in the morning at our Le Château school.
And yes, the school overlooks the Mediterranean.
There are worse views while trying to remember whether chaise is masculine or feminine.
Classes are available from beginner to advanced level. Our approach to teaching French places communication and oral expression at the heart of learning, combining structured language work with situations in which students actually need to use French.
And then, after lunch, the programme changes gear.
Afternoons: definitely not hibernation
One of the obvious questions about a winter language camp is:
What do teenagers actually do when it isn't beach weather?
Quite a lot, as it turns out.
Depending on the week's schedule and conditions, activities can include things such as paintball, escape games, sports tournaments, creative workshops, cooking activities, visits and excursions.
There are also trips around the Côte d'Azur, with places such as Nice, Monaco, Cannes and Èze featuring among the possible winter excursions.
Which means learning French doesn't stop when the morning class ends.
Suddenly students are ordering something in French, listening to instructions during an activity, trying to understand their new friend's accent or figuring out what exactly an activity leader just shouted across the room.
That's where a language stay becomes very different from simply taking more lessons at home.
Evenings: the actual camp part
Teenagers don't generally travel to France dreaming of going to bed at 7:45pm after completing a grammar worksheet.
Luckily, that's not the plan.
Evenings can include karaoke, quizzes, Just Dance, casino nights, games, parties and other organised activities. Supervised outings can also form part of the programme, depending on age and parental permission.
It's also often during these completely ordinary moments that students start using more French without thinking about it.
Someone needs the charger.
Someone stole the last biscuit.
Someone needs to explain the rules of a game.
Essential French vocabulary, basically.
And this is where our winter programme gets a little unusual.
Every week includes a full day of skiing at Isola 2000, one of the ski resorts in the Southern Alps. The CIA mountain day is suitable for all levels, from complete beginners to experienced skiers.
So you get a combination that doesn't happen in many language camps:
French Riviera + French Alps. Same week.
Monday: Mediterranean.
Later that week: ski goggles.
France is showing off a little.
Never skied before? That's absolutely fine
This is important because we don't want someone looking at a photo of a ski slope and immediately thinking:
Well, that's not for my child.
Previous skiing experience isn't required.
The mountain day is open to students from beginner to experienced level, so a teenager can arrive having never put on skis before. Equipment and supervision are organised as part of the programme.
They do not need to secretly train for the Winter Olympics first.
Antibes isn't a resort built exclusively for July and August.
It is a real French town.
That matters during a language stay.
The narrow streets of the old town, the ramparts, Port Vauban, the Provençal Market and the Mediterranean are all still part of daily life outside the summer season.
The official Antibes Juan-les-Pins Tourist Office recommends exploring the old town, Provençal Market, Picasso Museum, waterfront, shops and historic streets, with guided visits varying according to the season.
Winter simply gives the town a different atmosphere.
There are fewer holiday crowds. Walking through the centre feels more local. And you're seeing the Côte d'Azur as a place where people actually live rather than only as somewhere Europeans migrate to the second their annual leave starts.
For students learning French, that's not a bad thing.
Another advantage of staying here is geography.
Nice is nearby.
So are Cannes, Monaco, Èze and Grasse.
Head in the other direction and you've got the Alps.
That means the programme doesn't depend on finding five different ways to entertain teenagers in the same small seaside town every afternoon.
Some days are about Antibes.
Others are about discovering a completely different place.
The winter programme includes regional excursions alongside the activity schedule, with destinations such as Monaco, Nice, Cannes and Èze among the possibilities.
A teenager could therefore spend the morning working on French conversation, the afternoon walking through a Riviera town and another day surrounded by snow.
Not a bad geography lesson either.
We run French language camps for teenagers in summer too, and winter isn't supposed to imitate them.
Summer has its own energy.
The beaches are busier, days are longer and there are more classic Mediterranean activities.
Winter gives teenagers another version of France.
The coast is quieter.
The programme mixes Mediterranean and mountain experiences.
And students experience more of ordinary French life outside the peak tourist season.
Neither experience needs to be declared the winner.
They're simply different.
If a teenager already thinks a French language stay means July, sunshine and spending every spare moment near the beach, winter can be a very good way of showing them that France has a few other tricks up its sleeve.
For parents, this understandably matters considerably more than whether their child wins karaoke night.
The Premium Winter programme includes 24/7 supervision and support, with the activity team present throughout the stay. Weekend transfers from Nice Côte d'Azur Airport and Antibes train station are included under the programme's stated conditions.
Students stay in supervised accommodation, follow an organised daily programme and have rules regarding outings and free time according to their age and parental permissions.
In other words, they have independence appropriate to a teenage language stay, but this is not a “here are the keys, see you Saturday” situation.
The winter programme can be a particularly good fit for a teenager who:
And because French courses are available from beginner level upwards, students don't need years of French behind them before joining.
A winter language stay doesn't have to mean choosing between learning French, discovering the Riviera and spending a day in the mountains.
Here, all three can happen in the same week.
The Centre International d'Antibes Premium Winter programme welcomes 12–17-year-olds from 10 January to 6 March 2027, with French lessons, full-board accommodation, activities, excursions, a weekly mountain day and supervision included.
So if your idea of Antibes has always been summer, beach, repeat, it might be time to see what happens when the temperature drops.
Ready for a different kind of winter in France? Discover our Premium Winter programme in Antibes, with French classes, activities, Riviera excursions and a full day in the mountains each week.
Yes. Antibes is quieter outside the summer season, but the old town, port, museums, shops, cafés and Mediterranean waterfront remain part of everyday life. The Côte d'Azur also has a relatively mild winter climate compared with many other European destinations, while the Southern Alps are close enough to make a coast-and-mountains experience possible during the same stay.
No. The weekly skiing day at Isola 2000 is suitable for participants from beginner to experienced level. No previous skiing experience is required, and equipment and supervision are organised as part of the programme.
The Premium Winter programme includes 20 morning French lessons per week, full-board accommodation, organised activities and excursions, a weekly skiing day, supervision and eligible weekend transfers. For 2027, the programme is available for students aged 12–17 from 10 January to 6 March.
16 September 2026
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