As soon as we arrived in Nice I totally fell in love! Everything about Nice is just beautiful and I loved how relaxed and laid back it feels. Visiting in October I always thought it would be warm but I didn’t expect to be wearing my summer wardrobe!
It was 23oc and the perfect temperature to explore and sunbath if you wanted to. I would highly recommend visiting at the beginning of October. It is far quieter than in the summer months and getting the last of the summer sun in October was ideal.
There is so much to do in Nice that I thought I would write a city guide! We had our own tour guide as my cousin and her family have lived in Nice for the past 5 years so we were able to almost live like locals for the weekend.
We got an Uber from the Nice airport which was super easy and meant we got dropped right outside the door to our air bnb. You can also get the tram which is such good value only costing €1.50! You can get the tram all the way into town as well and it is currently in the process of being extended to the Port!
Location/ where to stay
We stayed in Les Baumettes which was around 3km from Nice Old Town. This was a perfect location for us as it was just around the corner from my cousin and also just a stone throw away from the promenade. There was a local Boulangerie at the end of our road that I visited every morning after my run. We also tried their pan au chocolates and baguettes which were just divine!
Our air bnb was so adorable and super cheap and if you don’t mind a bit of a walk into town I would highly recommend it! It was also only 12 minutes from the airport which was ideal!
Nice Old Town
Nice Old Town is so quaint a pretty and you could spend an entire day exploring (if you like shopping and eating). We wondered around dipping in and out of all the beaut shops and basically just spending our afternoon getting lost! We also visited the flower market and picked up some flowers for my cousin.
From Nice Old Town you can walk up to The Nice Chateau (Castle Hill) or get the lift up if you don’t fancy walking up lots of steps. We got the free lift up as we had a pushchair but walked back down! At the top there are some beautiful view points!
Antique District
On the way back down from Castle Hill we walked to the Antique District and wondered in an out of lots of different independent shops! There was one shop were a mother and daughter make all of the clothes they sell in the shop and they are incredible!
There is also an antiques market which we didn’t actually visit but my sister has visited previously and said it’s worth a visit! There are plenty of bars and restaurants in the antique district as well if you fancy a bite to eat or an afternoon beverage!
Promenade de Anglais
We walked along the Promenade de Anglais every day to get to Nice Old Town. There are plenty of restaurants along the promenade which we visited and you can read more about below. It was lovely being able to eat on the beach with the sea in view!
There is a cycle lane on the Promenade and lots of people make use of it. They have a similar system to the Santander bikes in London were you can pay as you go.
Food & Drink
La Galet was the best restaurant we visited on the Promenade but if you want traditional french cuisine this isn’t your restaurant. La Galet serves Italian food and it is so so tasty! Oh and the portion sizes are huge! I ordered a chicken Caesar salad which was incredible. Some of the others ordered a poke bowl which also looked fab, intact everything looked delicious.
The owners own two other restaurants in town. You cannot book it is that popular so expect to queue if you are visiting at the weekend!
Lido Plage- was the first restaurant we visited when we first arrived in Nice! It is located on the promenade! We walked past Lido Plage on our way to Nice Old Town and wanted some lunch! We didn’t want anything huge so we shared two pizzas and they were incredible! We also had a glass of Cote de Provence!
Bistrot d’Antoine– French brassiere- on Saturday evening our cousin took us to the cutest French Brasserie as we really wanted to try some of the local cuisine! The food was all homemade and so fresh. I honestly couldn’t recommend this restaurant enough if you want homemade authentic French food.
Glacier Fenocchio- this ice cream parlour literally has every single flavour of ice cream you can imagine! We spotted a couple of strange ones including cactus flavour. I played it safe and went for a Nutella flavour because I am obsessed with Nutella!
Saint Jean Cap Ferrat
On our final day in Nice we drove out of town to Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, which is a beautiful Port just 20 minutes away from the centre of Nice. We wondered around the Port admiring the yachts and sailing boats before starting the circular coastal walk.
We started the walk at …. and stopped off for a picnic overlooking a beautiful bay. I really did feel like I was living my best life! The walk is along a coastal path and then ended at paloma beach were we walked back round to the port and had a drink!
Running
Of course I went for a couple of runs whilst in Nice (it would be rude not to!) on my first run I ran down the Promenade to Nice old Town, around the Port and continued onto Plage de Coco beach were I had to stop for a few minutes to admire the incredible views. This beach is much quieter than on the Promenade and it is meant to be a great place to go for a swim!
I always find you get to see so much more of a city if you go out on a run, so the next day I decided to run in the opposite direction and actually made it to the airport!
We literally had the most beautiful weekend in Nice and I am already wanting to go back ASAP! It was just the most beautiful place and so relaxing!
