Nice is pretty nice – relaxing in the French Riviera

Growing up in the UK, France is one of the closest and easiest countries to visit. Within an hour or two you can be in a completely different cultural environment with different food, a different language and a different look. That being said I had always stuck to Northern France. Paris as the main choice and some more northern towns and cities like Rouen where I spent a week living and working on a school exchange. But I had never really thought about Southern France until my Canadian friend and I decided to travel around the UK a bit and were looking at some cheap flights to Europe. We went to Paris, but then decided to check out what Nice had to offer.

A different kind of France

Arriving into Nice by plane I realized this was not the France I knew well. The airport is almost in the sea and from each direction there are just miles of sun-kissed golden beaches. Nice was somewhere I’d only read about in celebrity magazines. Famous people flocking to the city for their summer getaway, or neighbouring towns like Cannes and Saint-Tropez. I expected the city to be crawling with movie stars, and was sure I’d bump into Brad Pitt by the end of the week.

Northern France is not too dissimilar to the UK in some ways. The buildings are usually made of brick, sometimes a little dirty looking. Paris, similar but add in a few more pastel colors to the buildings and some ornate decoration. Then there’s Nice. It’s completely different. The buildings are mostly a deep, dark terracotta color and very Mediterranean looking. I felt more like I was in Italy than France. We’d left a pleasant fall-temperature Paris, and landed in a sun lovers paradise in Nice.

Beware of budget accommodation on the Continent

I’ve been burned a couple of times when traveling in Europe is looking for cheaper accommodation. It seems the standards are not quite regulated as much as they are in the UK or North America. That could just be my bad experience and luck, but Nice definitely fit the pattern.

Since my friend and I were traveling on a bit of a budget we decided to book a hostel for our few days in Nice. I chose one that seemed central enough in the city, walkable to most of the points we would want to see, and the pictures looked good. Rule #1: Pictures don’t always tell the truth! My first clue that I’d regret this purchase came with my confirmation email. The email gave the address of the hostel and told me to ask for “The Pink Lady”. Oh dear. I felt like this stay was either going to make or break our vacation.

The Pink Lady

Unperturbed we showed up at the hostel. It turns out “The Pink Lady” were the only English words that were known and my good old Grade 10 French came out again. She explained that the hostel was full, and they didn’t have the room available that we had booked. Awesome!

“But don’t worry”, we were told, “we have an apartment just a short walk away where you can stay”. Sounds shady doesn’t it? We also had no other option so may as well check it out. Following The Pink Lady down the street, dragging our luggage and sweating up a storm from the heat, we walked a block or two until we came to the front door to a building where the plaque read “Psychiatrist”. The plot thickens. We entered the building, dragging our luggage and our tired selves up three flights of stairs of this creepy old building. We were shown to a huge, yet sparsely decorated apartment.

Our Nice accommodation

As the Pink Lady bid us farewell and we put bets on who would be murdered first, we explored our new digs. There were about 8 beds in 3 rooms, a kitchen and bathroom. Just for us. All of it looked like minimal upkeep had been done over the years, plumbing included. The beds were effectively fold up camp beds with questionable mattresses, and even more questionable stability. The first night we could have stayed in separate rooms and spread out, but decided it was safer to stick together.

Halfway through one night my bed collapsed from under me as the rusty legs finally gave way. We rarely met any other people in the building, and those that we did also seemed like silent characters from a low budget horror movie. This was our accommodation, a run down, most likely haunted asylum. You get what you pay for I guess. At least Nice was a beautiful place during the day to make up for it.

Out and about in Nice

We didn’t have a bad day of weather while we were there. The sun shone almost perpetually. That made up for the slasher-flick setting of our hostel and made us feel better about our choice to visit Nice. We were surrounded by tanned, sun-worshiping individuals at every corner of this almost too perfect city. We took the tramway around the town up and down the main street between our hostel and the beach throughout our trip. It was also just beautiful to walk around.

The first day we headed straight for the promenade, lined with palm trees and beautiful beaches. We probably walked for miles that first day, down the promenade and back up. Onto the beach and into the bars and cafes all around. The beaches are beautiful, but not sandy. They are made up of tons of tiny pebbles, but are a great place to hang out.

The back streets of Nice

As I mentioned before, the beautiful terracotta colored buildings of Nice make for some wonderful viewing. There are dozens of smaller side streets and alleyways that lead to magnificent courtyards filled with people sipping wine and beer at little tables. There are amazing little shops that sell local produce such as olive oils and Provençal lavender and soaps. I managed to find some cheap accessories like sunglasses and handbags, as well as clothing items.

We found a big courtyard during our rambles through Nice and came across Nice Cathedral, a gorgeous 17th century cathedral. There was yet more outdoor patio seating taking up any available space. With weather this nice, why wouldn’t you always sit outside.

Relaxing in Nice

Nice was a very laid back place. We found a lot of great places to just hang out with a drink, a cocktail or a bit to eat. Most people go out later for dinner, but sit outside a lot during the day at many of the patios that the cafes and restaurants had. There are some great restaurants and cafes along the main road opposite the promenade. A great place to sit and watch the world go by with a drink.

We found a lot of street entertainment too, especially on the beach and into the evening. The beach was a popular hang out for a lot of people. Taking a few drinks and some snacks down and sitting on the beach was the way we spent a couple of our nights there. We came across musicians entertaining those who were sitting relaxing, and even a fire juggler. There are a couple of cafes and restaurants on the beach so you can’t get much closer to the water than that. The people were all very friendly in Nice, and it was easy to get chatting to people on the beach.

Castle Hill viewpoint

We were feeling particularly adventurous one of our days in Nice, and decided to visit the Nice Chateau. Doesn’t seem like an adventurous move until you realize it’s built at the top of a pretty steep hill, and with 30 degree heat it can be quite the challenge. For us the main highlight of the walk was not the ruins of the old castle, but rather the views over Nice.

We passed a cemetery which was actually quite nice to walk through, and there was also a waterfall which seems to be the biggest highlight for a lot of people. For me though, it was looking out on Nice, the sea and standing at the highest point in the city taking everything in. Apparently there is an elevator which I found out about after. Clearly I missed that, but the exercise was good – but not as good as the view.

Day trips from Nice

We were in Nice a few days, so decided on a couple of day trips. Mostly because I’m never happy just going to one place, I always have to see what else is out there. But also because there were so many other places so close by that it would just be wrong not to visit them. Check out more about these day trips here.

The first day trip we took was to Monaco. A day in Monte Carlo, which is only a 30 minute train ride away (and easy to get to from Gare de Nice Ville). The second day trip we took was to San Remo in Italy. I’ll admit, at the time I’d never been to Italy before, and I just wanted to say I’d been. San Remo was the first big place on the map that I could see we could stop in Italy. From the same train station in Nice it was only about an hour and a half to get to San Remo. Worth it for a day trip, especially if you’ve never been to Italy before.

Would I go back to Nice?

I loved that Nice was very different from other parts of France I’d been to. It was more laid back, beautiful weather and beaches, and a wonderful city to explore. I would definitely go back and stay there again, perhaps checking out some other places along the Riviera nearby. I wouldn’t say you need more than a couple of days to see the sights, but if you want to relax and take in the sun then it’s a great place to visit. Just make sure you stay away from hostels, or at least the one owned by The Pink Lady.

If you’ve enjoyed this post please share using the social media buttons below, or leave a comment. Have you been to Nice or other places in the Riviera? What’s your favorite place to visit in France?