Grasse or Mougins: which should you choose?
Quick answer: Pick Mougins for its reputation, good restaurants, international schools and a short drive to Cannes, at the top of the hinterland market (€10,073/m² in 2025, DVF median for houses sold for €1M or more). Pick Grasse for much better value (€6,212/m² on the same basis, with Mougins about 62% higher per m²), a working town with real character, and more house or garden for your money. The trade-off is a longer drive to the coast.
Grasse and Mougins are about twenty minutes apart in the hills behind Cannes, yet they sit at opposite ends of the hinterland market. Mougins is the sought-after address: a perched old village surrounded by golf courses, restaurants and gated estates. Grasse is the world’s perfume capital and, at about 62% of the Mougins price per square metre, the lowest median €/m² of the seven villages measured at this price level. Each one suits a different buyer, and the 2025 figures put numbers on the gap.
How we compare them
The prices below are full-year 2025 DVF medians for houses sold for €1M or more, all of 100 m² or more (the latest complete year, see the Hinterland Price Index). They are medians for the whole area, not valuations. Sector, view and condition push individual prices well above or below them. Last updated 2 July 2026.
The numbers
On DVF medians for houses sold for €1M or more, Mougins costs about 62% more per m² (€10,073 vs €6,212), and its median sale price is about 37% higher (€1.75M vs €1.28M). Grasse moved −9% in 2025 and +13% since 2021. Mougins moved +14% in 2025 and +33% since 2021.
Source: La Reserve analysis of DGFiP DVF data (data.gouv.fr, April 2026 release), houses sold for €1M or more (houses of 100 m² or more), full-year 2025 medians. Drive and beach times are rough off-peak estimates.
Character and daily life
Mougins has been a sought-after address on the Riviera for a long time. The hilltop old village is closed to cars and full of galleries and restaurants. Around it lie gated domaines and two of the region’s best-known golf courses, Royal Mougins and Cannes-Mougins. The village has a long history of fine dining, a large international community and Mougins British International School (British curriculum) close by. Picasso spent his final years here. Life feels polished and private, and Cannes is ten to fifteen minutes away.
Grasse is another kind of place. It is a working town of 50,970 people (INSEE, 2023) and the world capital of perfume, home to the Fragonard, Galimard and Molinard houses, with a perfume-making tradition on the UNESCO list. Its medieval old town has more atmosphere than most historic centres on the Côte d’Azur, and it costs less than almost all of them. The hills around it hold everything from village houses to villas with views. Grasse is less international than Mougins, higher up, cooler, and further from the sea.
The choice comes down to reputation and convenience in Mougins, or character and value in Grasse.
Who each town suits
Mougins suits buyers who want a sought-after address near the coast, with golf, restaurants and international schools, and who have the budget for it. Grasse suits buyers who put value first and want character, space and a real town, and who are happy to live further inland.
- Choose Mougins if you want a well-known village, a short drive to Cannes, golf and strong international schooling, and you are buying at €1M or more. Its DVF median for houses sold for €1M or more moved +14% in 2025 and +33% since 2021.
- Choose Grasse if you want lower prices (Mougins costs about 62% more per m² at this level), a working town with its own culture, and more house or garden for your budget. Its median moved −9% in 2025 and +13% since 2021.
- Still deciding? Compare all eight villages in the Hinterland Price Index and what your budget buys, or look at the top price tier in Mougins vs Valbonne.
Buying in either town
The process and the costs are the same everywhere in the Alpes-Maritimes. Start with the guide to buying in France as a foreigner, then budget for notaire fees and the full cost of buying. If you are relocating, read our relocation guide. For a figure on a specific property, use the online estimate tool or talk to our team.