How to spend two full days in Nice
 

Okay, so we have two and a half days in Nice, and we have a reasonably good idea what to do on the half day, which is right at the beginning of our stay. This will probably include going up Castle Hill, as we are staying in the Port area.

We now need to fill two full days. Just some background: we are three travelers ( Dear Wife, Dear Sister and Me) from South Africa. The reason for our trip to France, is that they will celebrate their 55th and 50th birthdays on this trip. DS and I are into history and DW into art, but we have already decided to not go chasing only these things and to rather enjoy the time we have.

We were thinking of a West and east of Nice trip each morning, with time in Nice in the afternoon and evening. So the idea is to do Eze and Villefranche sur Mer one morning and Antibes/Juan les Pins the next.

Would that be okay, or would you suggest a full day in Nice and then a trip to Eze and VsM? And if we do a full day in Nice, what would you suggest as the three or four things we should not miss?

Have you checked what is on the Nice tourism website?

Nice Côte d'Azur Convention and Visitors Bureau

Hi Kerouac, I did and that is where I picked up on the Greeters as per a previous post. I must admit, I have not spent enough time on it, but I'll correct that in due course.

Am I missing a hint here?

I would not miss the Villa Euphrussi Rothschild in Beaulieu-sur-mer for anything. The gardens are absolutely amazing.

For Nice, I like to visit the Russian Orthodox Cathedral that is west of the train station. If you were walk from Nice Ville train station to the church, you would see many intereresting Belle Epoch buildings.

Thin

Nice has a nice Matisse museum set in a Mediterranean villa.

You do need to plan to hit the Cours Saleya market in the morning, so invert one of your mornings. Mondays are brocante/flea market/antiques and it runs longer, but the traditional market is best in the mornings. You can then head to Eze; a pricey lunch with the tremendous views (or have lunch at Le Galet or the Beau Rivage on the Nice beach). Transfer down to Villefranche-sur-Mer and Cap Ferrat (Villa Ephrussi). Return to Nice; the Riquer train stop may be closer to your stay in the Port, FYI. The new tram is not set to open at the Port until the Fall.

Consider reservations at Jan in the Port for a special one star Michelin meal prepared by a SA chef. I also like the diving platform restaurant at le Plongeoir at the Port, for drinks or lunch.

Unless you want to go for some beach time, I would not go to Juan les Pins. It's really a beach resort. You can go to Antibes or consider St. Paul de Vence and the Fondation Maeght. You can then head up to Cimiez to see one or both of the Museums (Matisse or Chagall) there, plus a walk in the ruins. Note the Matisse is a Municipal museum and the entrance there will also get you into the Archealogical park/ruins next door and to any Municipal museum for a 24 hour period.

>>> So the idea is to do Eze and Villefranche sur Mer one morning
Eze (village = medieval walled city, not Eze Sur Mer = train stop) and Villefranche-sur-Mer do not connect well if taking a bus. The bus #82 and #112 take a route somewhat high above Villefranche-sur-Mer. It is very rushed to visit both in the morning. There are a few restaurants for lunch at Eze Village with stunning view of the ocean like Terrasse Les Remparts at the Château de La Chèvre d’Or if the weather is good, of course depending on your budget.
Look at the bus route map
https://www.lignesdazur.com/ftp/docu...toral-2018.pdf
It would be very rushed to visit Eze Village and Villefranche-sur-Mer in the morning.

Eze Village located at 430m above sea level connects well to Nice then so so to Monaco and Eze Sur Mer at the sea level.

Villefranche-sur-Mer and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat where you find Villa Euphrussi connect well by bus #84.

Lovely advice, thank you all.

Gooster, you have given a lot of information that is all really great, as did Pepper. Michael, I think Matisse will be on DW's list, as will Chagall, so that will take up some of her time. As for me, I still struggle to draw good stick figures (that the right word?), so I'll have to find something useful to do when we go there.

Would love to see the Villa, woudl Bealieu be a better choice than VsM then?

DS is coming to visit the weekend and we'll have a chat about what we feel is important. It may be that we'll give Antibes a skip and do a full day at our leisure in Nice, including the Cours. Maybe we can then do Eze and VsM/BsM or Cap Ferrat the next day.

Again, thanks to all of you for taking the time to help me (or us, if you will) with great advice. It makes things so much easier.

[QUOTE=Duvies;16870245 Michael, I think Matisse will be on DW's list, as will Chagall, so that will take up some of her time. As for me, I still struggle to draw good stick figures (that the right word?), so I'll have to find something useful to do when we go there.

[/QUOTE]

For stick figures, this is the place to go:

Note that Villa Ephrussi is actually in St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, but you would take the the train from Nice Ville and get off in Beaulieu-sur-mer. Villa Kerylos is in Beaulieu-sur-mer.

Thin

We like to walk. We have walked many times from Nice (the perfect base to also see Monaco and mention to the east and Antibes and Cannes to the west) to Villefranche and on to Beaulieu and Cap Ferrat. We know that is ambitious for most and are not recommending that, but it will give you an idea of the proximity of things in that area. Once we came into Villefranche on a cruise ship, easily walked to Beaulieu, Villa Kerylos and then the breathtaking walk to Cap Ferrat and onto Villa Ephrussi. There are three trails on Cap Ferrat, the one from Kerylos to Cap Ferrat, a relatively short walk, along the shore, past the front door of the former home of David Niven. The other two trails can be found online but take an hour or two respectively, but they are some of the best shoreside trails anywhere. The entire area there is full of villa-style mansions and is the occasional home to many billionaires. From Cap Ferrat, which is a small but cute village, worthy of a lunch or a snack from the nice bakery there, the views from the harbor back to the mountains along the coast are sensational. Villefranche is wonderful, but when cruise ships are in the tiny port, the village itself can be over-run until late afternoon.

I would not consider 2 miles from villa Kerylos to villa Ephrussi de Rothschild a short walk.

Have you been there? “The relatively short walk” I referred to was the path between Beaulieu-sur-Mer (Promenade Maurice Rouvier), only 0.8 miles, about 20 minutes. And this is from downtown; Villa Kerylos is closer and along the way.

Link provided: https://www.saintjeancapferrat-touri...rails/?lang=en

If you are able to take this walk on one of the many good weather days there (and I am thankful that I have been able to do so several times), you will not forget it.

A Taste of Nice is a really good food tour there. We did it one day and then went back to several the locations later in the week. I highly recommend it!

I took the bus to Eze one day to just wander as well as take a tour at the perfume factory. That was very good, and short, lol. Another day I took the train to Antibes and went to the markets and again just wandered, Both of these days were perfect for me while DH was working, but I felt bad as he would have enjoyed them as well, FWIW.

Yes.

thursdaysd , I actually have your trip report bookmarked already! I would still like to do Eze, as it seems to be a nice village with beautiful views, but maybe because the SJCF and BsM is a bit off the track, it has some attraction (thanks to whitehall as well). Decisions, decisions!

mms, I had a look at A Taste of Nice's website and reviews: it seems like everybody doing it really likes it. It seems a bit pricey though: does it include a sit-down lunch/dinner as well?

I don't think there is inherently anything wrong with visiting some other place in the morning and doing Nice in the afternoon and evening. Just as good as splitting complete days.

Having said that, your schedule is a bit frenetic for my taste if you plan to do both Antibes and Juan-les-Pins in one morning. I spent an entire day in Antibes -- as a day trip from Nice, anyway, so probably mid-morning to late afternoon. I don't really know what you want to see in Juan-les-Pins, I didn't know there was anything there of particular interest. I thought it was just a resort for rich people with casinos and clubs, etc. I know they have a famous jazz festival in summer.

Thank you Christina. To be honest, and don't tell anybody else, Juan-les-Pins' only attraction comes from the Peter Sarstedt song ....

But point taken, we'd probably only do Antibes as a half day trip, probably in the morning. Will do some research on what to do there. Might spend a bit of time on the beach, but not long; I get bored easily.

We took a very nice boat tour - here's the link:

Coastal Tour , departure from Nice - from the Cape of Nice to Villefranche Bay- Trans Côte d'Azur - Maritime Company

Cilburk, great recommendation, thank you! I would like to again thank everybody for taking the time to respond to my post/s. You have given me so much information, most of which I actually would not have known about nor considered. It makes asking questions on this forum almost compulsory. I almost did not post, because I thought reading a few trip reports and posts would be enough. I was so wrong.

Now I only have to find a way to fit all of this into two days. We are going to have to make some serious decisions on what to do and what to discard. And this is only the first three days of a 22 day trip. Can't wait to get your inputs on Provence, Dordogne etc.

The photo of the bath provided by Michael is of Villa Kerylos, not Villa Ephrussi.

I distinctly remember that bathroom and looking for the water jets in that pool/bath at Villa Kerylos.


Thin

Thursdaysd--When I was in Eze, it was not crowded at all. It was very pleasant and I have many photos of it without any other people in the photos. We were there in early May, FWIW. I do not know if I just lucked out or what, but there just were not many people there.

Duvies--No, the food tour did not include a sit down meal, although we did go to a Socca place and they had a table for us to sit down and we were there for a bit enjoying that. There was plenty of food so you wont feel like you need lunch. We felt the price was very fair for what we got and the guide was excellent.

The issue was whether I was familiar with the distance between the two. I had the distinct impression that the bath was just for show--too close to the public entry; there was a shower closer to his bedroom:

Thanks mms, I suppose one must look at the whole experience and what it includes, which seems to be worth it. It's high on our to-do list now.

Michael, we easily walked from Villa Ephrussi downhill to St-Jean for lunch and then walked over to Villa Kerylos, and then got the bus back to Nice. It was a favourite day for us.

Antibes- Musee Picasso!

For those who are walking between the two sites, the distance is 1.9 km.

It is about 1.9 km or 1.2 miles if you walk or ride on the longer vehicle pathway. I believe you can take Bus 81 on this route as well. However, as I indicated above, the quickest and shorter walk, that Happytvlr also is referring to, is via the magnificent bayside Promenade Maurice Rouvier with a path off of that to Villa Ephrussi. If you don’t get one online before leaving, I suppose that they can provide you with a simple local trail map of cap Ferrat at Villa Kerylos.

@ Michael: Thank you very much for persisting until the options for walks became clear! :tu:

Google map was the source of my final information--it disagrees with the posters on distance, giving the longer alternatives as going along the coast.

Okay, would you then give up on Eze and rather do the walk/s as suggested? Our main reason for visiting Eze would be the views from the garden, but those two Villas seem worthwhile replacements, and the walk would do us good. Seems like the views on the walk would also be spectacular?

It is confusing, isn't it? google maps shows me a 2.1 km walk if one takes the Promenade Maurice Rouvier -- the route I've been planning to take.

I haven't been to the area yet, and so probably shouldn't comment, but I've chosen to skip Eze and take the walk, mostly because I am seriously interested in seeing both the Villa Ephrussi and the Villa Kerylos (and have read that the walk is lovely), and also because I have read that Eze is so packed with tourists during the day as to be unpleasant. I could be wrong!

We have done that walk several times (in addition to the much longer hikes we mentioned). I remember the first time seeing an older gentleman sitting on a bench reading a newspaper on this path, in one of the most beautiful spots in the world. We wondered if this were a daily ritual and thought he was the luckiest guy on earth.

And, the nine distinct gardens at Villa Ephrussi are quite memorable. We found both villas not crowded, even though you could see a massive cruise ship outside the windows of the villa. The cruise ships in the adjacent Villefranche harbor, fortunately, don't offer the villas or Cap Ferrat or Beaulieu-Sur-Mer as excursions, but they do take a lot of people to Eze.

kja--Eze was not packed at all when I was there, May 2014. It was a weekday, if that matters, and seriously there was hardly anyone there and I wandered all over and took photos and never had another person in them. It was such a great day!

We found the Matisse Museum interesting primarily for the architecture; there's actually only a little of his art on display. However, the park just above the museum is a great place to sit and watch groups playing pétanque. For us the big art draw in Nice is the superb Chagall museum, which displays some of his huge Biblical works. There's often a good program in the theater; check for English offerings.

@ mms: Thanks! In that case, I might consider visiting Eze after all! (But not at the cost of the walk, Villa Ephrussi, and Villa Kerylos.)

The Chagall Museum is interesting, but it was crowded when I was there in October 2016.

One of my most favourite memories of Nice was taking a food tour of the city.

By the way, I walked from the train station at Beaulieu-sur-mer to Villa Ephrussi and also explored the port area and the beach promenade. I didn't think the walking was difficult at all.

However, BE AWARE OF PICKPOCKETS!!!! They are all over the area.

Thin

On multiple visits to the French Riviera, we have not noticed anything unusual (re: pickpockets or other shady looking individuals or groups), and we consider ourselves vigilant. There are some online reports of pickpocket activity at busy rail stations and on crowded public transportation, especially during peak times and seasons. Similar to many other parts of otherwise very safe Europe.