Nice, France-7-day-itinerary

Nice, France: 7-Day Itinerary

Here’s an opinion worth stating up front: a week in Nice is best spent as roughly half city, half train tickets. The town itself rewards slow wandering, but the real value of basing yourself here is how easy it makes hopping to five or six genuinely different towns along the coast without ever renting a car. This version of the week leans into that.

Day 1: Landing and the Old Town

Tram Line 2 gets you from Nice Côte d’Azur Airport to the city center in about thirty minutes, running every ten minutes from 5:30am until nearly midnight, for 1.70 EUR a ticket. Board toward Port Lympia, not the Centre Administratif branch. If you’d rather take a taxi, confirm the flat 32 EUR rate before the car leaves the curb; some drivers try to run the meter up toward 45 or 50 instead, and Uber avoids that conversation entirely.

Once you’re settled, spend the afternoon in Vieux Nice, the old town, wandering its pastel baroque streets and stopping at Cours Saleya, where the market runs flowers and produce every morning except Monday, when it flips to antiques and brocante. For dinner, walk a street or two back from the square itself; the restaurants sitting directly on Cours Saleya are priced for people who haven’t bothered, and the food is noticeably better once you’re off the main strip.

Day 2: The Promenade, Castle Hill, and Correcting a Common Mix-Up

Start along the Promenade des Anglais, free and seven kilometers of seafront with free blue lounge chairs if you want to sit a while. From the eastern end of quai des États-Unis, climb Castle Hill via the free stairs or the public elevator. There’s no actual castle up there, worth knowing before you go looking for one; it was demolished in 1706, leaving a hilltop park and ruins with what might be the best free view in the city.

In the afternoon, head up to Cimiez by bus 5, 16, or 18, since it isn’t walkable from downtown. This is where a lot of trip planning goes wrong: the Matisse Museum and the Musée National Marc Chagall are two entirely separate buildings near each other in Cimiez, not one merged museum, and neither is downtown despite what some guides suggest. Matisse sits in a seventeenth-century villa, open 10am to 6pm, closed Tuesdays. Chagall is on avenue Docteur Ménard, also closed Tuesdays, 12 EUR during exhibitions or 10 EUR outside them, free on the first Sunday of the month.

Day 3: Villefranche-sur-Mer and the Port

Take the short train to Villefranche-sur-Mer, about seven minutes and 2 to 3 EUR, the easiest day trip on this whole week. It’s a deep natural harbor with a slower pace than central Nice, worth a swim and a long lunch.

Back in Nice for the afternoon, walk to Port Lympia, the working and leisure harbor east of Castle Hill, with colorful old facades and a different rhythm from the Promenade. It’s also where the Corsica ferries depart, useful to know even if it’s not on this trip’s agenda. For dinner, order a proper salade niçoise and check the plate: raw vegetables, tuna or anchovies, egg, olives, no cooked potatoes, no green beans. Plenty of places near the tourist strip get this wrong, so treat it as a small test of the kitchen.

Day 4: Beach Day

Set expectations before you head to the water: Nice’s beaches are stone, not sand, smooth pebbles that photograph well and punish bare feet. Water shoes fix the whole problem. Spend the day swimming, paddleboarding, or just sitting with a book, and use a slower afternoon to walk the waterfront near Quai des États-Unis, watching street performers if there are any out. For dinner, look for something with a sea view and take it slow; day four of seven is exactly the point in a trip where you should stop rushing between sights.

Day 5: Antibes

Take the train to Antibes, about 20 to 25 minutes for 5 to 6 EUR. It has its own old town, the Picasso Museum, and the Marché Provençal, and it runs calmer and less glossy than Monaco, which I’d argue makes it the better day trip if you only have one slot left for the coast. Wander the ramparts along the sea before heading back into Nice for the evening, and find dinner somewhere serving genuine Niçois dishes like daube or stuffed vegetables rather than a tourist-menu version of French food.

Day 6: Èze and Monaco, If You’re Ambitious

This is the most ambitious day of the week, and worth attempting only if you’re an early riser. Take the train to Èze-sur-Mer, about fifteen minutes out, then either climb the genuinely steep path up to the perched village or catch bus 83 if your legs object. Do this first thing in the morning; the same climb at midday in high summer is miserable, while cooler months or early hours turn it into one of the best short hikes on the coast.

From Èze, continue on to Monaco and Monte-Carlo, roughly another 20 minutes by train, for the palace, the casino exterior at minimum, and the polish that comes from being a different country entirely. If climbing Èze and touring Monaco in one day sounds exhausting, split them, do Èze on its own and save Monaco for a calmer half-day; there’s no prize for cramming.

Day 7: Markets and Departure

Spend your last morning back at Cours Saleya, assuming it’s not a Monday, for one more pass through the market before heading to the airport. Pick up something that travels well, honey or herbes de Provence rather than anything fragile. Reverse your Day 1 route back to NCE via Tram Line 2, and budget extra time if you’re flying out during peak summer, since security lines get long fast in July and August.

Transportation

Lignes d’Azur covers Nice’s trams and buses; a single ticket runs 1.70 EUR with 74-minute transfers in the same direction, and a day pass is 7 EUR. The Ticket Azur, at 2.50 EUR, covers one Nice trip plus an onward bus to Monaco, Antibes, Cannes, or Saint-Paul-de-Vence within a two-and-a-half-hour window, useful if you’re combining stops. The city center itself, old town, Promenade, and Jean-Médecin, is entirely walkable.

Tips and Tricks

• Try the local specialties properly: socca, pan bagnat, and a correctly made salade niçoise, not the tourist-menu versions.
• Watch your bags at the Grand Arenas tram stop, crowded old town alleys, the Promenade, and the market. These four spots see the most pickpocket activity.
• Beach-club restaurants along the Promenade often skip posting a menu; check prices before ordering, especially drinks.
• May, June, September, and October offer the same coastline with fewer crowds and better prices than July and August.

Accommodation

Nice has a wide range of options, from budget hotels to full-service properties near the Promenade. Staying in Vieux Nice puts you closest to the market and the food, though rooms run smaller and older. Jean-Médecin, near the train station, is a practical trade for anyone doing this much train travel across the week, since it shaves a few minutes off every departure. Book well ahead if any part of your stay lands in July or August, when the whole coast fills up fast.