U2 will be sunning themselves in the South of France this summer, as they make it their base for their upcoming European tour.

The band and their families have holiday homes on the Cote D'Azur and will have a private plane at Nice Airport to jet them to gigs in Barcelona , Milan, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and London as their U2360 Tour kicks-off on June 30.

Claw

Their huge new stage, which has been nicknamed The Claw, is already constructed in the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, and rehearsals are due to get under way in the coming days.

"Nice Airport will be the hub," said a source. "They will fly in and out from there for each of the concerts and will be able to spend their down time with their families at their holiday homes as usual."

Bono and The Edge have been frequent visitors to Eze Sur Mer for nearly 20 years, with Edge buying the villa next door to Bono's after his first marriage broke up.

The two properties are only separated by their swimming pools, but Edge said the only reason he bought the villa was "timing".

"Possessions are a way of turning money into problems," he said. "I don't have a big car collection or anything that I'd miss if it got stolen. I bought the house because it was about timing."

The Edge married his second wife, long-term partner Morleigh Steinberg, in the nearby village of Eze seven years ago.

U2's other members Larry Mullen Jnr and Adam Clayton also own holiday homes nearby.

And the South of France also proved too much to resist for band manager Paul McGuinness , who bought a nearby villa in 2002 after attending The Edge's wedding.

Tight

The fact that all the band have holiday homes so close together has caused Larry Mullen to comment before on how the group never seem to be able to escape from each other.

"What kind of band goes on holidays to the same place?" he said.

"We are a tight family, with all the pluses and disadvantages of that."