A Nice Day in Nice, France
Sure, Paris is amazing. Obviously. But one area of France that you definitely don’t want to miss on (especially in the summer) is the Côte d’Azur / French Riviera. It’s located on the Southeastern coast of France, and close to the Italian border. This is reflected through its gorgeous Mediterranean waters, amazing sunny climate, and Italian-influenced architecture. The main cities of the French Riviera are Cannes, Nice, and the sovereign state of Monaco. Although I did visit all 3 towns, I want to highlight my day spent in Nice (pronounced “niece”).
I’ve seen a few action / spy movies with parts occurring in the French Riviera, so I had a fantasized and idealistic idea of what it would look like. Because everything in movies is exaggerated-ly pretty and perfect, right? Well, I’m here to tell ya that Nice was just as beautiful, its waters were just as blue, and its city streets were just as picturesque as in the movies. Plus, there’s more than enough things to do in Nice to spend a whole day there! Although of course, if you can stay for longer, you definitely should!
We were actually staying in nearby Cannes. But, it’s very easy to visit Nice for the day by taking a 45 minute bus ride.
On the way, we passed by some gorgeous scenery of the coastline.
Our bus dropped us off right along the Promenade des Anglais, its famous promenade along the Mediterranean waterfront. As tempting as it was to rip our clothes off right then and there to jump into the crystal blue water, we had to pull ourselves away and head into town first. We wanted to get some shopping and browsing done before getting all wet.
I’m so glad we decided to explore Old Town instead of just laying out and swimming all day, because it was absolutely beautiful. There was not one corner of the town that was ugly or in bad shape. In fact, I don’t even think I saw anything under construction or anything! Seriously, not one imperfection. Like straight out of a movie.
So if you’re thinking of heading to Nice for a day JUST to spend the whole day on the beach, I would encourage you to wander around Old Town first. You won’t be disappointed!!
First, we headed to the main square where we really got to see for the first time the Mediterranean influences on this area of France through the colors and style of the architecture.
Since we arrived mid-morning, we got were lucky enough to catch the market at the Cours Saleya, a main road that runs parallel to the beach. There was a hustle and bustle of activity.
Of course, there’s a lot of restaurants on this street (mostly pricey, but some more reasonable). Since I’m a HUGE fan of people watching, we enjoyed a simple coffee and croissant for breakfast while observing passerby and taking in the gorgeous weather.
We wandered down some absolutely beautiful, winding, narrow streets for a lot of the morning and into the afternoon. We had no map and no destination, we were just taking it all in. One notable thing we passed was the Cathédrale Sainte Réparate, a baroque cathedral built in the late 17th century. It’s located on Place Rossetti. This charming square is perfect for relaxing if you need a break from all this walking I’m having you do.
Down a few of these narrow alleyway-type roads, we would randomly find a bustling street with lots of little shops and boutiques. YAAAAY because I love shopping!
We wandered through many narrow, alleyway-type roads. Several had lots of little shops and boutiques, with people walking in and out of stores. We shopped at Rue de la Boucherie.
We then continued walking, walking, and walking some more throughout the day. Notable streets that are definitely worth checking out are Rue de la Préfecture (especially at night because it has lots of pubs) and Place Garibaldi.
We roamed the streets and passed some many cute buildings and alleys. All the buildings had such beautiful facades, and they were so colorful. I noticed that Nice’s shutter game was SO on point. It was all just absolutely beautiful! (I know I keep using that same word a lot, but its so true!)
We actually got pretty lost at some point. We didn’t know where we were, but we did know where we were in relation to the beach. So we basically headed in that general direction. We eventually found a clearing near Castle Hill back to the promenade at the perfect vantage point to get amazing views of the beach. Then, we headed back down the promenade and FINALLY ended the day with a dip in the CRYSTAL CLEAR BLUE water! Of course, this is one of the main things to do in Nice – spend the day on the beach. And it was an absolutely glorious beach.
Although walking barefoot with wet feet on the rocks did somewhat hurt (which is why all experienced beach goers had on swim shoes, silly us) the pain was SO worth it because the water was so refreshing. And of course, the beach was crowded with sunbathers taking advantage of the sunny day.
Even though we did get somewhat lost I’m glad we decided to just wander blindly through the streets of Old Town. There are sooo many things to do in Nice for a day. There were so many hidden treasures we came across, from markets, to historical buildings to shops to cafes. We may not have hit every “must-see” in Old Town, but we roamed around, people-watched, shopped, ate, and had an all-around amazing day. And ending it with my first dip into the Mediterranean sea was just the icing on the cake gâteau.
I highly recommend spending a day visiting Old Nice and just doing a self-guided, spontaneous walking tour! You won’t regret it!
