Travel Guide: Nice, France

At the end of September me and Sam finally set off on our first proper holiday together!

I live for holidays and had spent weeks trying to persuade Sam that instead of saving our money that month we should splash out on a relaxing holiday in the sun. And what can I say the sun won!

Deciding where to go was hard, trying to balance a modest budget but not ending up in some all inclusive hell was a struggle. I love France and Sam hadn't really been before and flights from Bristol to Nice are really reasonable plus there are so many places to visit along the Côte d'Azur, it seemed like the perfect option!

After a couple of hours of deciding on accommodation we booked a beautiful apartment through Airbnb, located in the Cimiez neighborhood.

Just three weeks later we were off!

Arriving into Nice Nice Côte d'Azur International Airport

So the stress began! We had been given instructions from our host to get on the number 52 bus from airport car park, however unknown to us we had arrived at the Terminal 2 and we needed to be at Terminal 1. Eventually we realised this, hopped on the very easy terminal transfer bus and found ourselves at terminal 1! Pheww.

Bus number 52 leaves from the main road at the back of the airport carpark. It is the local bus meaning you only pay €1.50 per person, rather the €5 you can expect to pay for the tourist bus!

Upon arrving at our little apartment we were overwhelmed by how fabulous it was! This place was small and perfectly formed, complete with a cute balcony, beautiful kitchen and bathroom, a huge smart tv and a Dyson cordless hoover (don't judge me I was excited!). Everything we could need!

The Nice Life 

We had heard that Nice was beautiful but we couldn't imagined quite how much we were going to love it!

The architecture is beautiful - I wanted to take a photograph on every street we walked along! And the sea, wow. Between us, me and Sam have been to fair few tropical beaches but neither of us had seen water quite this colour before!

These are a few of our recommendations for anyone thinking of visiting Nice...

 First up get your butt over to the Promenade du Paillon.

It's a beautiful park that runs through the middle of Nice. It's just as beautiful by day or by night when the fountains are lit up.

It is also home to the most central tourist centre. We visited a couple of times to find out bus times, pick up a map or two and to find our their recommendations for our visit. They were really helpful and helped to make the most of our week in Nice. Such a great first stop.

Much of Nice's charm can be found walking through the old town also known as "Vieille Ville"...

The buildings are a real mix of French and Italian architecture and are honestly so beautiful. You could quite easily spend a whole afternoon getting lost amongst the pedestrianised streets or relaxing in one of the many cute bars enjoying an Aperol Spritz and a bit of people watching!

A walk up to the Parc de la Colline du Chateau should be on every Nice visitor's list...

From the bottom you can only see the viewing points along the edge of the cliff, which in themselves are pretty beautiful but the view from the park at the very top is incredible. From one side you can see the whole of Nice, the old town and along the promenade as far as the airport and from the other the view of Nice port is like an Italian painting.

The port has a completely different vibe to the rest of Nice...

As soon as you walk round the corner you are greeted with the colourful traditional buildings and more super yachts than you could count on two hands! With many pretty bars just back from the edge of the water, the port makes for the perfect place to sit back and have (another!) drink and watch the world go by.

Walking back to the main city via the backstreets leading onto Place Garibaldi is arguably just as beautiful route as walking along the coast.

We loved it so much we would consider going at the end of September every year just to stretch the summer out that little bit further - such a great city/beach/sun break.

More posts on the stunning Côte d'Azur to come!

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