With ideas from travel writer and Nice resident, Jon Bryant, along with a few suggestions from our owners, we’ve put together a five-day itinerary that’ll have you strolling, swimming and sipping up and down the riviera.
Day 1:
Settle into your surroundings with a slow day of people watching and taking in the sights. A morning coffee at Marinette behind the cathedral in the old town, followed by a wander down the Promenade des Anglais. The name, in case you’re wondering, derives from the fact that it was originally funded by English members of the Anglican Church and it’s a great place for people watching and views of the harbour. You’ll also see the colourful Pointu, brightly painted traditional wooden boats that are a feature of the city.
Nice is a keen cycling town and there are numerous companies that will rent you bikes. If you brought all your lycra and energy gels, you might want to take on one of the Corniches, Nice’s famous hill climbs, but for normal humans a trundle along the coast is probably enough. Whether on wheels or on foot, a great place to complete you orientation is Observatoire de Nice. There are fabulous of the city and the coast outside, and some interesting exhibits inside. It’s a bit out of the centre, so it’s probably worth planning your day around it if you do want to go. For dinner, ask the locals and find something simple and classic. We’ll save the big one for later in the week!
Day 2:
It seems odd that on your second day in France, you should leave it, but there’s a good reason. Just over the Italian border in Ventimiglia is the Hanbury Botanical Gardens, where citrus trees run down green slopes to the sea and an incredible array of plant life is vibrantly displayed. Trains from Nice to Ventimiglia take about an hour, then the bus (towards Ponte S. Luigi on LINEA 1 to the stop La Mortola) takes about 20 minutes. We recommend leaving early to give yourself plenty of time and allow for a stop on the way back at another great location, the village of Roquebrune Cap Martin.
The historic village, about halfway back on the same train line, feels as if it got stuck in time somewhere in the 1500s. It’s a beautiful place to wander but also has an exceptional dinner spot – La Grotte & L’Olivier (the cave and the olive tree). The restaurant, open all day every day except Tuesdays and Wednesday lunchtimes, serves great lunches cocktails, but the setting is the big draw. It sits half in and half out of a cave created when drilling through the hard rock for a railway tunnel proved too difficult, making it a great place to end the day before you hop on the train back to Nice.
Day 3:
Some people love it and some hate it, but if you haven’t been to Monaco it’s worth dipping a toe in, just to see how the 1% live. As with most places near Nice, it’s best to get the train, which only takes an hour or so and means you don’t need to worry about where to moor your super yacht. It’s also possible to cycle the 21km distance, but it’s mostly on road and can get busy. If you’re going to ride, go early, before the traffic picks up.
Your main activity once in town will be simply strolling and staring but one particular stop worth making is the Princess Grace Irish Library, in which a huge selection of rare books, including first editions and rare copies of Irish literature is housed. You might spend the whole day in Monaco, but it can be a pricey place to hang out, so for dinner it’s worth heading back to Nice and making this your treat night at L’eau de Vie. The Japanese-French fusion restaurant near the museum of modern art is small (you should definitely book) but serves some of the most ingenious and delicious food, French with a few surprises, that you’ll ever taste.
Day 4:
The temptation, with so much in the area to take in, is to fill every day with excursions, but by this time you won’t have spent much time in town, plus there’s a cracking day trip coming up. We recommend making this another strolling day. Perhaps lunch on the waterfront at Le Galet, named for the pebbles of the beach and open year-round, unlike most of the other beach clubs.
There are several parks (Colline du Château with its waterfall, Parc du Mont Boron with its fort) that are lovely to idle around, as well as the walk out to Phare de Nice, the tiny lighthouse in an incredibly photogenic setting on the harbour.
Day 5:
For the final day, you’ll need to get up early, as we’re back on the road, or rather the rails, once again. This time we’re heading for Cannes before taking a short boat trip, but what we’re looking for isn’t in the city, or even on St Martinique and St Honorat, the islands off the coast. It’s in the sea between them. In a specially protected area, artist Jason deCaires Taylor’s has created an Underwater Ecomuseum, where you can scuba dive or snorkel around giant submerged stone heads. They’re only about 3 to 5 metres deep, access is free and gear can be hired if you haven’t brought your own.
The train to Cannes takes less than an hour and boats to the island run regularly, taking just a few minutes. A short walk takes you to the site of the statues and then you can swim and bask on the beach for as long as you like. It’s a spectacular, unique and surreal experience to round off the trip. Dine in Cannes or head back up the coast for one last stroll on the promenade in Nice and dinner in some little place in the old town’s cobbled streets before you have to reluctantly head home.
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Christopher Wilson-Elmes
Sawday's Expert
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