7-Day Itinerary for Traveling in Nice, France

Pack sandals you don’t mind getting wet, because the first thing every guidebook forgets to mention about Nice is that its beaches are made of stone. Not sand. Smooth, ankle-testing pebbles that photograph beautifully and hurt like nobody’s business if you try to walk across them barefoot. That single detail sets the tone for a week here: gorgeous surfaces, small inconveniences, and a city that rewards people who show up with the right gear and low tolerance for tourist traps.

Day 1: Landing and Getting Your Bearings in the Old Town

Skip whatever taxi driver offers you a “special price” the second you clear customs at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport. Tram Line 2 runs straight from the airport to Jean-Médecin in the city center, roughly thirty minutes, every ten minutes or so, from 5:30am until nearly midnight. A single ticket is 1.70 EUR, or grab the 10 EUR round-trip fare at the machine if you know you’re flying back out of the same terminal. Just make sure you board toward Port Lympia, not the Centre Administratif branch, or you’ll end up somewhere you didn’t intend to be. The Grand Arenas stop, where most people fumble with ticket machines, is also a known pickpocket zone, so keep bags zipped and in front of you, and have one person watch the luggage while the other buys tickets.

If you’d rather skip the tram entirely, the flat taxi rate into central Nice is officially 32 EUR for up to four passengers with luggage. Say that number out loud before the car moves. Left unchecked, some drivers let the meter run and quietly land on 45 or 50 EUR instead. Uber tends to sidestep the whole negotiation and, in my experience, comes out cheaper anyway.

Once you’re checked in, spend the afternoon wandering Vieux Nice on foot. This is the pastel-baroque old town everyone pictures when they think of the French Riviera, and it’s entirely walkable, no tram required. Cours Saleya sits at its southern edge and hosts a flower and produce market every morning except Monday, when it flips to an antiques and brocante market instead. By afternoon the same square fills with café terraces, though I’d steer you away from eating directly on the square itself. The restaurants right on Cours Saleya lean overpriced and underwhelming; walk one or two streets back and the food gets noticeably better and cheaper.

For dinner, order socca if you haven’t already. It’s a thin chickpea-flour pancake cooked in a wood-fired oven, a genuine Niçois classic rather than a tourist invention, and it costs next to nothing. Chez Pipo at 13 rue Bavastro has been doing it since 1923 and stayed in the founding family until the 1980s. Chez Theresa runs a stall right on Cours Saleya if you’d rather eat market-side. Either way, expect to pay somewhere between 5 and 8 EUR.

Day 2: The Promenade, Castle Hill, and a Proper Salade Niçoise

Start along the Promenade des Anglais, the seven-kilometer seafront walkway that costs nothing to enjoy and comes with free blue chairs if you want to sit and watch the water for a while. It’s the kind of view that makes you forgive the pebbles.

From the eastern end of quai des États-Unis, either ride the public elevator or climb the free stairs up to Castle Hill. Here’s the thing nobody tells you: there is no castle. It was demolished back in 1706, so what you’re climbing toward is a hilltop park with ruins and, frankly, one of the best panoramic views in the entire city. My honest opinion is that this free viewpoint beats any paid attraction in Nice for the hour it costs you. Bring water; there’s little shade on the climb.

For lunch, order a proper salade niçoise and pay attention to what lands on your plate. The traditional version uses raw vegetables, tuna or anchovies, hard-boiled egg, and olives. It should not include cooked potatoes or green beans. If your plate arrives with either, you’ve been served the tourist-menu interpretation rather than the real thing, which happens constantly around the Promenade. A pan bagnat, essentially the same salad stuffed into a round bun, runs 6 to 9 EUR from any decent boulangerie and travels well if you want a portable lunch instead.

In the evening, head to Lou Balico or Acchiardo in Vieux Nice for genuinely Niçois cooking: daube, ratatouille, stuffed vegetables, the kind of hearty regional food that doesn’t show up on generic bistro menus. Mains run 15 to 25 EUR.

Day 3: Cimiez, Matisse, and Chagall

Cimiez sits on a hillside north of the center and is not walkable from downtown, so hop bus 5, 16, or 18. This is where the Matisse Museum lives, inside a seventeenth-century villa, open 10am to 6pm and closed on Tuesdays. Give yourself real time here rather than rushing through.

A common mistake is assuming the Chagall Museum is somehow attached to the Matisse or sits downtown near Vieux Nice. It’s neither. The Musée National Marc Chagall is a completely separate building on avenue Docteur Ménard, also near Cimiez, also closed Tuesdays. Entry runs 12 EUR during temporary exhibitions or 10 EUR outside of them, and it’s free on the first Sunday of every month if your dates line up. Bus 5 connects the two museums, and Cimiez also holds Roman ruins and the Regina Palace if you want to extend the afternoon into ancient and Belle Époque history in the same walk.

If you’re doing multiple museums across your stay, look into the municipal four-day multi-museum pass before you buy individual tickets one at a time.

Day 4: Villefranche-sur-Mer and the Port

Take the train to Villefranche-sur-Mer, which is barely seven minutes away and costs 2 to 3 EUR, making it the easiest day trip on this whole itinerary. It’s a deep natural harbor town with a completely different pace from central Nice, worth a slow lunch and a swim if the weather cooperates.

Back in Nice, spend the late afternoon at Port Lympia, the working and leisure harbor just east of Castle Hill. The facades here are painted in warm ochres and reds that photograph better at golden hour than almost anywhere else in the city, and it’s also where ferries to Corsica depart if that’s on a future itinerary. It has a different rhythm from Vieux Nice: fewer tourists, more actual boat traffic, quieter cafés.

Day 5: Èze, Properly

Èze is worth the effort, but only if you time it right. The train only gets you as far as Èze-sur-Mer, about fifteen minutes from Nice; from there it’s a genuinely steep uphill walk to the perched medieval village itself, or you can catch bus 83 if your legs aren’t feeling it. Do this one in the morning, and ideally outside of July and August. Climbing that hill at midday in high summer is miserable, and I say that as someone who found out the hard way. Cooler months or early mornings turn the same walk into one of the best short hikes on the coast, with views that justify every step.

Once at the top, wander the village itself before the tour buses arrive in force, then head back down in time for a late lunch in Nice.

Day 6: Monaco or Antibes, Your Call

Two easy train options today, and you genuinely can’t go wrong. Monaco and Monte-Carlo are 20 to 25 minutes away for about 4 to 6 EUR, offering the casino, the palace, and a level of polish that feels like a different country entirely, which, technically, it is. Antibes is a similar 20 to 25 minute ride for around 5 to 6 EUR, and gives you an old town, the Picasso Museum, and the Marché Provençal, arguably a calmer and more authentic alternative to Monaco’s glitz.

If you’d rather cover more ground, the Ticket Azur, at 2.50 EUR, covers one trip within Nice plus an onward bus connection to Monaco, Antibes, Cannes, or Saint-Paul-de-Vence within a two-and-a-half-hour window, which is a genuinely good deal if your day involves hopping between two of these towns.

Day 7: Last Market Run and Departure

Spend your final morning back at Cours Saleya, assuming it’s not a Monday, for one more pass through the flower and produce stalls before you head to the airport. Pick up socca one last time, or a jar of local honey or herbes de Provence if you want something that survives the flight home.

For the return trip, reverse Day 1: Tram Line 2 back to the airport, or Uber if you’re carrying too much luggage for a crowded tram car. Either way, budget extra time if you’re flying during peak summer, since security lines at NCE get long fast in July and August.

Tips for the Whole Week

• Wear water shoes or sturdy sandals for the beach; the stones are no joke.
• Confirm the 32 EUR taxi flat rate out loud before the car starts moving, or just use Uber and skip the conversation entirely.
• May, June, September, and October are the smartest months to visit: same sea, half the crowds, noticeably better hotel prices than July and August.
• Watch your bag closely at Grand Arenas tram stop, in crowded Vieux Nice alleys, along the Promenade, and at the market. These are the four spots pickpockets actually work.
• Skip beach-club restaurants along the Promenade unless you’ve checked prices first; many don’t post a menu, and drinks especially can sting.

Where to Stay

Vieux Nice puts you closest to the market, the food, and the walkable core of the city, though rooms book up fast and can run noisy at night. Jean-Médecin, near the train station and tram lines, trades some charm for convenience and tends to be a few euros cheaper per night. Wherever you land, book ahead if your trip falls in July or August; the good places sell out weeks in advance during peak season, and last-minute options thin out quickly along the coast.