If we stay in an apartment in central Nice and hire a car to travel out - will we have trouble finding a spot to park it? Will it cost us to park? It will be the middle of January. Ideas for day trips whilst in Nice please?
Thanks in advance....

I would suggest you ask your flat renter about this - i would say it would depend on where the flat is - unlikely IME to have parking on site and street parking may not be possible unless a local resident - if you have to pay to park in a parking structure then you may pay $20-30 a day or more IME - parking in France is usually free on streets on Sundays - that said parking on the street means you must empty your car of anything you do not want to risk being stolen.

Mmmm, yes thanks for that. Decision time - we might be better off staying further out of the centre where we can park our car which we'll only need for longer journeys. And use public transport to see the inner city & beach sites. Weather in Nice during January? Is crime a real problem in Nice? It would be terrible to have our hire car stolen/broken into. Is this a common occurance?

Day trip: St. Paul de Vence and the Fondation Maeght if you like modern architecture and art. The Matisse Chapel in Vence. These can be done via public transportation, although we could not do both in one day when using public transportation.

The Matisse museum in Nice is definitely worth a visit.

We stayed in the center of Nice for a week (near Rue Messina) and used the parking garage around the corner. It wasn't cheap (I think it was $20/day), but we knew the car was safe and was easy to get to for day tripping, while still letting us stay in a central location.

If doing Vence and St-Paul-de-Vence by bus - easily done with frequent service from Nice i first went to Vence then did took a sweet downhill footpath thru woods that comes out right at the Maeght Foundation, on the edge of gorgeous old St-Paul-de-Vence, one of the most ballyhooed Riviera hill towns and which lives up to its billing IMO

You do not need a car to get around to any major site in the Riviera - trains trundle constantly along the coast and buses serve any town not served by train. I've done every practical site in the Riviera by train or bus and once at your destination no hassles with parking.

Parkign in Nice usually comes at a cost, but it might be worth it for the convenience. If you decide to keep the car, be sure to use one of the car parks that is monitored--theft is, unfortunately, something you need to think about all through the popular tourist areas of Provence. If you park your car in an underground garage, back it in so that it's difficult for anyone to get at the trunk.

Been to Nice several times, each 1 to 2 weeks, always rent a car (novarcarhire.com) always stay in the center and always parked on the street. As in any city, there's always a chance of break in, but unlikely if you don't leave anything visible. Depending on the area, it can take a little while to find a place. I prefer a car because I can go where I want when I want, I don't like following schedules. If you park near your apt you can run out and put $$ in machine if you aren't ready to leave by 9am. Many areas have free street parking for 2 hours at lunch time. In addition to day trips mentioned above, I recommend Grasse (even the guys enjoyed the perfumery tours). Menton (on the Italian border). Villefranche-sur-mer (next town east, so close you could bike to it) and stunning! None of us liked Cannes. St. Tropez is really too far for a day trip (though I've done it), but I've heard there is a boat that sounds fun. I LOVE St. Tropez. Weather in Jan could be 30s to 70s -- you never know (I've been there twice in Jan). Normal is 40s at night, mid to high 60s in the day. And my favorite restaurant on the planet is in Nice -- wish I could remember the name of it. If you find the tiny square in the middle of the old town that has the fish market in the morning, there is a tiny street off the square with a small restaurant owned by British brothers. Not expensive and AMAZING. After a few visits we gave up even the pretense of going anywhere else. IF I find the name of it I'll post it tomorrow.

Wonderful, wonderful!!! Thankyou...would love to know the name of the restaurant mentioned above please.
Michael - I'm writing down your suggestions.
And...the perfumery sounds very interesting.
Palenque - thanks too. We are a family of 4 and plan to spend only 3 nights in Nice and use it as a base to travel out. Therefore, time is a little bit limited. We'll use public transport a bit and the car a bit too. We've fond a couple of fantastic places to stay at very good prices and therefore we can afford to pay a little bit of parking. I'm going to have a good look at this website http://www.allaboutnice.com/buses_and_coaches_in_Nice
it looks quite informative (apart from a few popups & advertisements that keep trying to come up) for public transport. I see what you are syaing about finding parking in other places once we get there to visit.
Has anyone ever hired a scooter to trip around this area?

Restaurant Le Bienvenue
5, Place Saint-François, 06300 Nice, France
04 93 79 84 40 ‎ – 04 92 09 02 94 ‎ (Fax) – 06 71 38 71 11 ‎ (Mobile)
As I said above, one of my fave restaurants in the world! Each time we would eat there we would see something being served on another table that we HAD to come back and try. Please tell John and David hello from Texas! I hope to get back to Nice next year.

Crime rate in Nice is very low,it is not common to have car break ins. Public transport is very efficient and stress free - especially for day trips to places like Monaco, Menton, St Paul de Vence, Grasse, Cannes etc. ditch the car for these and enjoy a glass of rose with your lunch.
If you appt is in the centre of town then the Gare Routier is within easy walking distance.
Nice is like Rome with scooters.

RondaTravels - thank you, thank you!!! Very exciting to have a genuine contact/recommendation. Will pass on your 'hello'!