Aleta

We spent 16 nights in a Nice apartment rented through Nicepebbles.com. in mid July. The weather was fantastic, with highs only 79 most days, and the temperature at home (Texas) was 107! We had no a/c, and were quite comfortable. The crowds were there, but manageable. The crowds don't go to museums, they were never crowded. Pictures and a daily blog are at : http://mcgheetravel2012.blogspot.com
The apartment itself was very clean, spacious, and comfortable. The negative was that the roof of the building was being replaced, resulting in lots of day noise and dust. Location was ideal, if you know upfront that Nice is a noisy place. Happily, we had double windows, shutters, and ceiling fans so we could sleep though the mopeds and loud pedestrians that otherwise will wake you up until 4 am.
Situated less than a block from what is now, at least temporarily, the stop for the buses to Cannes, Montecarlo, etc, and one block more to the tram, we could easily do excursions in and around Nice. The tram carried us to the train station, when we wanted to travel a bit more speedily. All buses and tram were 1 euro, so transportation is cheap. We had senior discounts on the train, so they too were extremely reasonable, most trips about 2-3 euro each. Old Nice was just beyond the tram stop.
The day generally began with reading newspapers online, then taking a long walk to various sections of the city, usually always ending with a view of the sea and a walk through the lovely open market. We left late morning or after lunch for trips to towns around us. My cooking was limited to large salads on the days we were in town around lunch time, enjoying the wonderful produce of the daily market, the cheeses and bread. Though we seldom drank Rose wines before, we loved the bottle given to us by the rental agency, and drank Rose most of the time, so delicious in the summer
We visited every museum in town, and those in Menton, Antibes, etc. We loved seeing all the yachts in the harbors in each town, particularly impressed by the one with it's helicopter onboard and those that had water slides from the top into the sea. We also visited hill towns of Biot, Vence, and Mougins. We skipped places we visited recently, like Montecarlo and St Paul de Vence, which we've seen 3 times.
We like mid-priced restaurants for dinners, and luckily the leasing agency provided a good list of places we enjoyed. We didn't always enjoy the places we chose randomly. Many restaurants don't accept credit cards, so always have cash handy. Rossitiserie, with a limited menu of roasted chicken, pork, veal or beef was tiny, delicious and very moderately priced. Oliviera has a few tables in what is more an olive oil shop than a restaurant, but the owner is very personable and the food (small servings) are fresh and delicious, then matched with the proper olive oil. It seemed there were more Italian restaurants in old Nice than French ones. BIstro Antoine was delicious and what a bistro should look like. La Favola looks touristy, but the Italian food is very well prepared, and we saw many Italians there on both visits. You wait a long time for a table outside, but usually can get a table upstairs immediately. A fabulous find was the bar at the top floor of the Aston Hotel, around the corner from our flat. On a Thursday evening we decided to have a drink there for the view, and found they offered an expansive buffet of cheeses, salads, I guess tapas plus a drink of your choice for 14 euro each. There was soft piano music as well. On week-ends it's a disco. It was a great evening for 34 dollars, and then we stopped for ice cream in old Nice.
A Jazz festival was taking place the first week we were there, perhaps adding to the foot traffic late at night.
On Bastille Day we enjoyed 10 pm fireworks over the water. It seemed like every person of every age went to the beach or the promenade Anglaise to view them, so streets were closed to traffic for 5-6 blocks. All street lights along the Promenade were turned off and there was much clapping and singing for the show. When it finished, I was amazed at how orderly and calmly everyone started back towards town.
Our stay was everything I dreamt it would be, great walks, interesting sites, some museums, and wonderful markets in every town. My husband likes "vacations", where one has quite a bit of leisure time. I like "trips" with sites to visit. Staying in an apartment for an extended stay in such a location fits both of our wishes. Now--where to do this next July or August?

scatcat

Thanks Aleta. It sounds like a perfect vacation, especially since Nice is one of my favorite places in the world. The longest I have ever stayed in Nice was 7 nights, but I would love to stay much longer. I usually combine my Nice trip with the Italian Liguria and Lake Como. I might change it next April and do only Nice.

TDudette

Book marking for later. Pictures look super!

stokebailey

Excellent, Aleta. I like your blog and photos very much.

Also glad to hear about buffet on top Aston Hotel. Thank you!

jelopez33

Aleta: Thanks for an enjoyable report.We (and friends) are going to Nice next september, do you remember where is located the bus station now?(I understand the old one is out of service or being demolished).thanks in advance!

HappyTrvlr

It's to the east and a little north of Place Massena.

Samsaf

Thanks for the report! Now I'm off to read your blog!

latedaytraveler

Aleta, thanks for the great report. I loved Nice. Glad you made it to so many museums...

schnauzer

Great report, thanks. I have read all your blog entries as well. I am planning to head to Nice next year so am very interested in all you had to say. Can you tell me which Pebbles apartment you rented? was it one or two beds? I have trouble sleeping when it is very noisy - did you have any troubles sleeping?

Loved the photos too.

thanks, Schnauzer

Printemps

Thanks Aleta for your great report and blog with wonderful photos. Was in Nice for six weeks this spring so it was fun to revisit some of the places via your interesting report. Arrived in mid April and people (some of them) were wearing parkas and toques. Plan a repeat visit in 2013 but will arrive later and hope for warmer weather.

Aleta

Schnauzer: We rented The Alberti, a 2 bedroom 2 bath (was really 2.5 baths). Each room had a king sized bed. I am an extremely light sleeper, so after attempting to sleep with the window open the first night I learned that wouldn't work at all. But with the outside shutter and the window closed, I hear no outside noise. I slept with the ceiling fan on, and out of habit when I travel, I wear earplugs. There is street noise all the time, but that is the case in all centrally located flats. The pictures on the leasing web site are exactly what we found. The price is reduced for longer stays.
to Jelopez: if you have a map, look for intersection of Rue Alberti and Avenue Felix Faure. Most of the buses you'll want are located at that corner or 1 block east.

jelopez33

Thanks Aleta!! Good tip, and let me tell you that I really like your blog.

tdk320n

Thanks for your report. I am now starting to plan my trip to NICE for May 2013 and will use some of your suggestions

justineparis

What a lovely holiday/vacation you had!
Lovely photos too. The apartment looks great, but being from a cooler climate then you , and having beeen in Nice just a few weeks ago ourselves,, I know I absolutely have to have a/c to survive,, it was over 30 c everyday and most days I was close to heat exhaustion! lol

Judy_Rosa

Great blog and photos!

Bellarosa70032

Great trip report; thanks for sharing this with us. We're going in late October, so I'm looking forward to going to some of the restaurants you went to. Our day trips from our visit three years ago were limited to Monaco and Cannes, so I'm looking forward to exploring more.