Things to see/do in Nice, France

cynder

im doing a keycamp holiday were about 20 mins from cannes, we got the car hire sorted €429 for 3 weeks for a ford cmax.

looking forward to the heli trip a bit dear for 5 of us but its the only chance we will get to do it.

Unless of course were on a boat and it sicks and we need to be saved by the raf!!!!!! (happened to my dad)

eze gardens are supposed to be out of this world views.

flahers

Do you mind telling me what company you got the c max with for that kind of money, great price for three weeks.

Aard

grindelwald wrote: »

Monaco including helicopter ride 55€ per person. http://www.heliairmonaco.com/home.html

!!!

Heli Air Monaco is not cheap. Their website says it's €55 for a child from Monaco to Nice. Adults are €105. As this is a public flight, it's first-come first-served, so there's no guarantee that your whole family would be on the helicopter. If you want the five of you together, it's €705.

cynder

hertz car hire, through ryan air website - booked on a 30% off offer. they still have offers on but its only for June.

also heli air does 10 min trips over Monaco and up to Italian border for 55€ per person. has to be booked for min of 4 people.LA PRINCIPAUTE DE MONACO excursion.



http://www.heliairmonaco.com/page-decouvertedelaprincipautedemonaco-langue-fr.html

lucylu

The beach in Nice is very stony and a lot of hotels have sectioned off areas to allow their guests access to sun loungers, umbrellas and walk ways to the waters edge.
Old Nice is nice. At the time when we visited, Nice City didn't float our boat after a week walking in the Swiss alps - it was a bit of a come down ( pardon the pun)
We stayed at the Splendid hotel under a beach package..I just checked it has practically doubled in price since we stayed there a few years ago. :eek:

Any chance we got we used the Train to access both Monaco and Cannes. Excellent, cheap and quick

In Monaco, To access the Monte Carlo Casino you must be half respectable no stringy tops, shorts and flip-flops, no shoulders or knees showing too.

The Monaco Aquarium is fantastic. Nearby there is the Cathedral of St. Nicholas where Grace Kelly is buried and I think Prince Rainer III
There is a train Azur Express that will take you around Monaco following the F1 route you can hop on and hop off.

Cannes has the most fantastic beach and found the food and drink cheaper than in Nice.

rebel105

I'm heading to Nice soon for a week, hoping to just chill out, relax and do a little day tripping around the coast. I'm just wondering about two things, firstly someone already said the beach in Nice itself isnt the best or most accessible, is there any other beach nearby? Also we're hoping to maybe do 2 or 3 day trips during the week....any recommendations for what should be top of our list or places that we could see together in the one daytrip? we will be taking buses/trains!
Thanks!

mikedragon32

rebel105 wrote: »

I'm heading to Nice soon for a week, hoping to just chill out, relax and do a little day tripping around the coast. I'm just wondering about two things, firstly someone already said the beach in Nice itself isnt the best or most accessible, is there any other beach nearby? Also we're hoping to maybe do 2 or 3 day trips during the week....any recommendations for what should be top of our list or places that we could see together in the one daytrip? we will be taking buses/trains!
Thanks!

Beaulieu sur Mer, the next town along the coast, has a nice beach. You can get busses pretty easily from Gare Routiere or from the port.

As for daytrips, there are loads of places to see, Monaco and Cannes, if you want to see how the other half live are easy trips... Head inland to Grasse by rail or road, very scenic. Arles is a bit of a trek but worth it. Antibes is just down the road and the old town and harbour are pretty, as is Eze. You can combine Monaco and Eze into one day easily by going to Monaco first then from there you can get a bus to Eze then another back to Nice.

If you're into markets, Ventimiglia has a huge on on Wednesday and Friday mornings until about 1pm. Trains are frequent and pretty cheap.

edgy

The beach in Beaulieu is lovely, great scenery there too with the hills and cliffs and is a much better beach than Nice. There are small shops and restaurants/cafes beside the beach. There is another lovely beach in Antibes, there is also a shop there and benches to sit on if you didnt fancy sitting on the beach itself. There is also a beach at Villefranche, which is the next town to the east of Nice, its very small but the train stops right beside it. If you are planning on going to Monaco the train trip along the coast is great and its only 15-20 mins on the train to get there. Another place which is lovely is the village of Eze which is on a hill top. Its full of old winding streets and small shops and there is an exotic garden at the very top of the village. You can get a bus up there from Nice. Im going back to Nice this week, for the third year in a row, I just love the place and the areas around it. Hope you enjoy it there too!

cynder

flash floods in cote d'azur

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0616/france.html


l

Mosiki

Myself and the girlfriend are planning 6 days or so in either Nice or Cannes, is there much of a difference between the two places for prices, things to do, etc ?

InTheTrees

We've stayed a few times in Villefranche.

Beautiful little town just outside Nice before cap ferrat on the way to Monaco.

Its always seemed to be a little less thronged with tourists. maybe more french there.

http://www.welcomehotel.com/index.php?lang=en

Aard

ATM in Nice things are very quiet. Far fewer tourists than other years. Also, it's not crazy-hot. Very enjoyable!


@Mosiki:
Price-differences aren't great between Nice and Cannes, in general. As far as things to do, I'd recommend Nice. Also, Nice is more accessable from the airport, which will allow you make the most out of your days there.

ingen

well yeah is a great spot alright, Nice is ok, they have cleaned up the place a lot over the last few years, you used to get the aroma of dog ****e at 2am on the way back from the pub... all the french come down from paris July and Aug, so it does be busy and they bring their dogs.. but its improved a lot lately,

of late it has been cloudy a fair bit.,


ok well you have everything really, there in the area , in Biot, you have seaworld ( Marineland) near Antibes, its worth a visit!

erm, also in Monaco, cafe Sass , is worth a trip , its where all the famous people go, its expensive, **** expensive wine list €3000+ for some bottles, food good, it doesent really kick off until late, better to book a table in advance too... 24hr car parking close by.

beach at Eze sur mer is nice, very stoney, but very nice to spend an afternoon there, train stop there too or plenty of parking too..

its worth getting a car too; visit the grand canyon of france, gorges du verdun, roads are dodgy so be careful!!


Monaco, well erm , theres a good place for drinks accross from hotel de paris where you can sit out in the sun and enjoy a few drinks.. also up by the palace there is the Jacques Cousteau, aquarium , worth a visit too.



also from the airport the number 98 bus gets you to the central bus station in about 15-20 mins, and your ticket works for 24 hrs too in buses of the same line. if you are into sailing its a great place to sail, tides there are very very small compared to here, it rises a tiny bit, between high and low...

also if you like seafood, Cafe De Turin, at place garibaldi worth a visit, choose carefully,! food is good..

also public transport is good, either by train or bus.. if its busy at airport get the 98 bus into the city, and get a car there, hertz have a place round the corner from mcdonalds, at the promenade des Anglais beside Le Meridien hotel, can be cheaper to get a car there too, also you can return the car anytime , just park in the underground car park and post the keys and parking ticket into the box..



i go there a lot any Q's just ask,

Qwerty27

Loads of great tips here but can I ask where you booked accomodation?

Looking at booking an apartment in August for 2 people and doesnt seem to be many decent, clean places for about €600-€700. Preferably looking for a place with a pool although some of the sites show pictures of pools that are tiny and also be wondering who clenas them!

Any advice on even a particular, trustworthy website appreciated!

ThunbergsAreGo

Hi,

Very helpful thread so far

Thinking of nice for 6 nights over Easter

However budget would be tight, how much do you think you could get by on spending a day while doing all the touristy stuff?

Aard

Don't go on a tight budget, trust me.

ThunbergsAreGo

how much around would you need a day?

Aard

Train to Cannes or Monaco is roughly 15 euro return for two.
Dinner of a pizza and drink is 35 euro. Three course meal would be 50+ euro. Coffees and croissants for two would be 8 euro. Taxi from the airport to city centre is at least 30 euro. Accommodation roughly 100 euro per night. Basically anything bought in any kind of convenience store is expensive.

You're looking at at least 70 a day on food. Clothes are more expensive than Dublin generally. Monaco and Cannes are naturally even more expensive. Booze in bars or cafes is higher than Ireland, about 8 euro a pint for non-crap beer. Wine in supermarkets is ridiculously cheap, whereas in bars is also overpriced.

Unless you live there, prices add up very fast. It's designed to rip off the tourist.

ingen

Aard wrote: »

Train to Cannes or Monaco is roughly 15 euro return for two.
Dinner of a pizza and drink is 35 euro. Three course meal would be 50+ euro. Coffees and croissants for two would be 8 euro. Taxi from the airport to city centre is at least 30 euro. Accommodation roughly 100 euro per night. Basically anything bought in any kind of convenience store is expensive.

You're looking at at least 70 a day on food. Clothes are more expensive than Dublin generally. Monaco and Cannes are naturally even more expensive. Booze in bars or cafes is higher than Ireland, about 8 euro a pint for non-crap beer. Wine in supermarkets is ridiculously cheap, whereas in bars is also overpriced.

Unless you live there, prices add up very fast. It's designed to rip off the tourist.

depends on accomodation, ie hotel, or self catering appartment.

if self catering appartment , then the market at marche au fleurs, is worth a vist, nice selection of fruit etc, on sale, fantastic ham, smell of spices, and herbs amazing, fresh bread, so if you are self catering then you can get a great selection of foods at a reasonable price.

bus from airport is €4 no 98 bus goes go central bus station with stops along the way.

some places meals are crazy money, along the promenade are a lot of touristy places to eat, which can be expensive, and crap food.

in some hotel bars, a barcardi and code / vodka and coke is €12!

some bars in the Cours Saleya do happy hours.. and pints of stella can be got for 4 to 5 yoyos.

if you venture as far as monaco, and visit cafe sass, be careful with the menu, as prices for fish are per 100/150 g portions. i once had to fork out €60 for sea bass......:eek::eek:

taxis are expensive, i once had to pay €75 for an 8km trip! had i known in advance i would have walked.

you can do a lot of the touristy stuff, relatively cheaply, by bus or train.

its not the sort of place to go on a tight budget, as its not the cheapest of places, hotels are generally cheaper out by the airport, or further east of nice, ( basically not in the city centre).

rates for april would be around €75-€120 for a standard hotel, along the promenade.


here is a good site for info on Nice, the local tourist office http://www.nicetourisme.com/

olaola

Love Nice - a great spot for a weekend away. One of my favourite places to visit is the Hotel Negresco, I think it's a must-see for all visitors. And dinner in the La Rotonde bistro is affordable, delicious and bizarre! Loads of great places to see around Nice, if you have the time. From inland to Paul de Vence, La Turbie (some great restaurants, and amazing views of Monaco) and along the coast, Beaulieu, Eze, Villafranche - there are so many places to explore. The last time we were there, we went to a beautiful beach - Plage Mala (Cap d'Ail) - you can't get to it from the road, you have to walk down. It's fabulous, and this restaurant is quite reasonable. And if you can get a table and look over the sea with a bottle of wine, it's really worth it.

Raedwald

Heading to Nice next month with the girlfriend and am looking for accommodation for the trip.

Two places that I have found are the Hipark Hotel and the Hotel Windsor. Have never been to the south of france before and was wondering if anybody could are these in good locations etc.

Many Thanks.

mikedragon32

Of the two, Windsor is in the better location, being only two blocks from the promenade, adjacent to a pedestrianised shopping street which leads to the main part of town and is also only about 10 - 15 mins walk from the old town.

Hipark is set too far back into the city and the only thing it's really close to is the port.

Aard

A friend of mine used to own the Windsor, and is still involved somewhat with it. It's a good hotel, certainly the one I recommend to people visiting the city. As said, handy for the prom, the beach, close to the centre of town, good restaurants nearby, and not too far from the train station.

garbanzo

Aard wrote: »

A friend of mine used to own the Windsor, and is still involved somewhat with it. It's a good hotel, certainly the one I recommend to people visiting the city. As said, handy for the prom, the beach, close to the centre of town, good restaurants nearby, and not too far from the train station.

Hey Aard. Re: the Windsor Hotel, do you know if they have designated car parking there. Just wondering as I am likely to be there in June with a hire-car with me. Is parking an issue/costly?

Cheers. Great thread by the way.

Aard

I don't think they do, but having said that I don't think most hotels do. There's loads of parking lots around, and I imagine that they can organise parking. There's one lot on Place Mozart, which wouldn't be too far away.

I don't know how much the car parks cost, but parking on the street is expensive (like most touristy stuff here!).

Also, for the rental car: make sure to get "06" plates. This is the code of the department that Nice is in. It should either be in the blue strip on the right hand side of the reg, or the last two digits of the reg number for older cars. Theft and burglary tends to happen on "foreign" reg'd cars. (Marseille would be 13, the Var 83.) A popular rental car code is "60" because that department has cheaper taxes or some such. Thieves target this "rental code" because they know that the owner likely has a camera or money inside.

garbanzo

Many thanks for that sage sounding advice Aard. Appreciate it.

amber m

Hi all,

Visiting Nice for one week in September with my boyfriend. Thinking on renting an apartment in the Port area. Good idea/bad idea? Would like somewhere relatively quiet but still walking distance to the beach, old town, bus/train station, etc.

Thanks.

Aard

The Port isn't likely to be particularly quiet, nor is it relatively close to the beach. It's also near Riquier station, which is a bit of a dodgy area (much like anywhere else in the world). When choosing somewhere to rent, get somewhere south of blvd Victor Hugo or blvd Dubouchage (basically the same street), east of blvd Gambetta, and west of place Garibaldi. Residential, and not likely to be too noisy.

amber m

Thanks for that. Ended up booking an apartment in the old town. Looks like a nice place and has good reviews. Roll on September!