Nice Travel Guide

A few weeks ago, I hopped on a plane with my friends Ann and Alesa and headed to Nice for some much needed sunshine and warm weather. We spent six days at the cutest Airbnb and wandered the streets of Nice, eating and shopping the whole time. It was the perfect break from a hectic semester in London.

I had never been to the French Riviera, so I didn’t know what to expect from the beaches. The water was so, so blue and really warm, it felt like I was swimming in a giant bath. The rocky beaches, however, took some time to get used to.

We literally ate gelato every chance we could. Our favorite spot was Fenocchio. With locations all around Nice, we were never far from grabbing a scoop or two.

The marina was one of my favorite spots in Nice. I loved looking at all the boats. We each picked out of favorite boats and imagined renting one and sailing throughout the Mediterranean…one of these days…

Ignore my crazy looking hair with a million fly-aways… We snapped this photo after we had stayed up for 38 hours straight and couldn’t contain our excitement of finally being at the beach, so we kind of look like hot messes…

If you can make a trip to Nice, you have to, have to, HAVE TO grab a bite to eat at L’épicerie Georges. It was honestly one of the best meals I have ever had. I’m drooling just thinking about it. L’épicerie Georges is situated in the cutest little alleyway where you can lazily sit for hours, enjoying your food and soaking up the French sunshine.

I loved the color palette of the city. The reds, oranges, and yellows made the city feel even warmer. Be sure to stop by the marché aux fleurs cours saleya. It’s a little flower market that lines a strip of restaurants near the beach. Its open everyday and on Mondays it switches to an antique market full of every knick knack imaginable.

Castle Hill offers the best views of Nice. There are plenty of viewpoints to see over the city, the sea, and the marina. Its worth the hike up to the top, I promise. Also, funny historic story, a cannon is fired everyday at noon in Nice starting from a 1861 tradition when a Scottish Lord would fire a cannon at noon to summon his wife home to make him lunch. He started doing this because she was often late to make him food and had no way of contacting her when she was on one of her shopping trips, so a cannon was the only logical way to call her home to make him a sandwich.

We had so much fun over our week to Nice (with a day trip to Monaco that I’ll share snaps from in a later post). I can’t wait to go back. It was the perfect vacation for us to relax by the sea before heading back to the reality of essays, projects, and the never ending chill in London.