Nice Travel Guide | Bust on the Nicest Holiday

The city of Nice is located on the French Riviera in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. The south-east coast of France. 

The best way to getting to Nice is using the Eurostar/TGV high speed, if you are travelling from Europe.For many who are travelling from other continents consider Paris as the port of entry. After their Parisian sojourn they move to quieter Nice to bask in the sun. Either ways Train is the best way forward in my opinion.The trains are quite convenient and don’t have storage regulations and there is no better way to enjoy the picturesque Riviera than a large train window.The booking should be done three months in advance.

Flights though seems convenient but you need to consider the to and fro travel to airports. As airports are located on the outskirts of the city. If you a are thinking a bus then I would say “Are you insane”.

The destination station is Nice Ville which is at the heart of the town so all attractions are at a walking distance. The journey from London is 10 hours 42 minutes with a change over at Lille Europe. The train fare is in the range of 200-250 pounds.

Nice is blessed with nice mild weather around the year. (Somehow I am using nice every time I mention Nice 🙂 ) It is open to the sea, the surround hills, Estérel Mountains to the west, and Mercantour Alps to the North help shield the city from the wind, while a sea breeze provides a mild summer that reduces the intense heat. It has the best sun in the world. The temperatures varies in the range of 12-26 degree centigrade in the summer months. This is the time you find the tourists swell up the coastline. November is mostly the wet month.

Weather and best time are directly proportional to each other. I targeted the off-peak season of Easter Holidays. Nice always has a good streaming of sun and sand seekers.

But July/August is when all the schools have their summer holidays and Mercury is just apt.That also being the peak season you will notice the prices soaring and a 6 months planning is needed for targeting the peak season.

The highlight of Nice is the Mediterranean stroll along the turquoise coastline.It truly celebrates the Rivera lifestyle with palmed lined walkways, age-old edifices mingled with modern-day architecture.There is a lovely pebbled beach so it might crush the dreams of your tiny tot if he had a sand castle building kit. My cherub is a water baby so keep her out of the cold water was a task in itself. You meet lovely people from various parts of the world. I had a german boy scribbling up A-Z on a rock and gifting it to us. An Italian couple practising their songs with their guitar. A man lost into the sea and the rich and the famous lounging at the sea-side cafes.You have the classy hotel Le Meridian overlooking the Mediterranean sea.

The central outdoor market of Nice is full of interesting sights, sounds, smells and colours.With long trestle tables displaying exotic spices, shiny fruit and veg, pastries, fruits glacés (glazed or candied fruits such as figs, ginger, tangerine and pears).On Mondays, it’s antiques and bric-a-brac. And it’s not super-chic, either – you can find some great deals on vintage purses, kitchen ware, silver, Art Deco prints, original paintings.You know already I am a sucker for antiques.(Antiquing in Netherlands). I would come up on a detailed post about shopping tips and tricks in Cours Saleya for now I will keep it short.

Flower Market – Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 6am to 5:30pm – Wednesday, Saturdays & Sunday: 6am to 1:30pm

Fruit and Vegetable Market – Every day but Monday: 6am to 1:30pm

Antiques Market – Mondays: 7:30am to 6pm (except for holidays or eves of holidays)

Niçoise cuisine

The cuisine of the French Rivera is called the Niçoise cuisine. It is also the most difficult to master as the technique is the most simple. There are few ground rules for Niçoise cuisine simple and fresh ingredients, execution flawless, honest cooking. For example you can never mess up with a Zucchini flower, artichoke or fresh seafood. Nice is Italian at heart because 150 years ago Nice was an Italian city.Their Olive oil is just fragrant of its local the best in the world. A key lesson to understand between the extra virgin olive oil and the full-bodied olive oil can be sensed by your platter at this place.You will find ample amount of basil,rosemary,thyme and chives ion their food. I strongly recommend La Petite Maison and Cafee de Turin.My personal recommendations is the roast lamb tenderloin served on a bed of sautéed onions baby potatoes and tapenade and the French mussels tossed in Crème fraîche.Niçoise cuisine

Salade nicoise (tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes and steamed green peas, all laid on a layer of lettuce and topped with tuna and canned anchovies).

Socca (flat unleavened pancake is made of chickpea flour and olive oil, and it is served hot and heavily seasoned with pepper).

Ratatouille (intricate melange of thyme, bay leaves, marjoram, carrot, onion, garlic, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes).

Soupe au pistou (bean soup enriched with pistou).

Viuexe Nice
This is where the focal point of Nice happens the old nice. Comprising of narrow, shadowy streets, cozy squares, colourful markets, baroque churches and jumble of pastel house.I just loitered around the narrow galleys seeing the locals drying their clothes and stopping by for a friendly banter. The old world charm totally takes you back into time. This also houses several vintage and retro boutiques which sell edible lavender, soaps, chintz-print tablecloths and 19th century clockwork music box.My Lavender ice cream is a byproduct of this time travel.

Ice creams

You can hardly miss in between the alleys the most beautifully gooey and melt in mouth ice cream at Fenocchio , family owner and operated business that has been making ice cream since 1966. To name a few there is violet, lemon verbena, guava, swiss chard, beer, lavender, riz au lait, maple-pecan, rosemary, and pain d’épices ice creams and sorbets.After tasting ice-creams in many cities and towns, this was hands down the best of the lot for me. We estimated that they had whopping 150 flavours to choose from! Beautiful intense flavours, many of them original and unique. The only place I tasted a cactus ice-cream . Highly recommended!

Address : 2, place Rossetti (Old Nice)and 6, rue de la Poissonerie (Old Nice)

Night walk

The most awesome part of Nice is the night walk.Go on a night out in this city and it won’t be forgotten for a while.It was like my full circle I did the entire day path in the night again to see the whole place transform into a Black beauty. You will notice this very evidently in my photographs as if Nice has become a nocturnal paradise.  The air is calm, scented and still warm along the Promenade des Anglais. A band may be playing somewhere in the distance. The promenade lights make a necklace for the sea.This is the place to fall in love.

Afterward, a wee-hours gay-straight dance party erupts.Nice is a leading destination with a large number of gay friendly establishments.

When you are finally winding up the day and dine at the effervescent Rue Masséna bustling with restaurants.I had my little sparkle wrapped around me like a hallow while I slowly sipped my red wine.

Note : I confess I am not a museum person so you might want to read up the lonely planet or other online guides for recommendations on the same.I hope you enjoyed my Nice travel guide and found it informative and entertaining. Please drop me a query or leave a comment below  if you have additional doubts or queries. I read a lot Trip advisor before finalising on the itinerary. The recommendations are my personal choice and not sponsored.