Things to do near Nice
 

My wife and I will be spending a week in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France and would like to get ideas for things to do and see in that area and of course Nice. Our week ends on July 5.

From Nice its an easy and scenic train or bus ride to Monaco..

We enjoyed Vence, St Paul de Vence, Antibes and the old town area of Nice.
The promenade along the Mediterranean in Nice, and the walk from there up to the Museum of Modern Art are also lovely. Di

Do you have my 27 page Provence & Cote d'Azur itinerary???? We've vacationed for 16 weeks on the Cote d'Azur, & the itinerary describes tons of stuff to do around Nice. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail. I've sent it to over 3,000 people on Fodors.

Stu Dudley

As far as I am concerned, the easiest and most interesting thing you can do from Roquebrune Cap Martin is go to Italy (especially if you don't want to run into 3,000 other tourists!) . But seriously, a lot of cruise ships haul into Villefranche sur Mer in summer and pour into the more famous and scenic French towns within reach. If you have a very keen interest in 20thc French art then you absolutely will not want to miss the art sites and museums in that area. But if you are looking for memorable food and ambience, you can either take the train to Bordighera (where Monet also painted out so it is still an art destination) or if you have a car, the hilltowns of Apricale, Perinaldo, Bajardo and Pigna make for a fun adventure leaving (most of) the madding crowds behind and some cooler breezes too.

Thank you all for your advice. We will actually be in the Cinque Terre before arriving in France and will be staying near Monaco.

VILLA EUPHRISI! lovely villa, nice audio-guide, amazing gardens - one of my nicest days ever in Europe.

if you have a car, I would drive along the coast from Monaco to Nice by taking the Moyenne Corniche. Make a stop in Eze (stunning medieval village perched like an eagles nest on a narrow rocky peak overlooking the Mediterranean sea). Villefranche is cute as well.

If you have a time, take a drive to St Paul de Vence ( not on the coast though) but is known for its art galleries.

Bon voyage!

Believe it or not, one of my favorite spots in Nice was the cemetery. It is set up high on a cliff, with really cool old mausoleums and a beautiful view of the ocean. You'll find it by walking along the waterfront toward old town til you hit a large cliff side. You can take an elevator up or walk. There's a nice park up there too. Have a great trip!

A great day would be a visit to Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu sur Mer and then walk the entire trail around St. Jean Cap Ferrat. Early in the walk you come across the village and could stop for lunch. We loved Villa Kerylos...we did a self-guided tour that took about an hour. http://www.villa-kerylos.com/en/discover
We loved the walk around Cap Ferrat so much we did it twice on our trip (second time running for exercise...but it is so beautiful we wanted to take it all in again).
On Cap Ferrat there is another historic villa - Villa Rothschild - which is worth touring as well if you're into that kind of thing.

Monaco - definitely to see the superyachts and the perfectly landscaped town and castle.

Somewhere between Monaco and Cap Ferrat you can park and hike up to Eze vs driving up there. It's about a 40 minute vertical walk, but not difficult.

La Turbie is a cute little town with stunning views back down to the coast.

Villefranche is...meh. We stayed there for 6 nights and it was a great base for going north, east and west, but I wouldn't consider it a destination.

Antibes has a nice Old Town area with a market. A great coastal walk begins there. Fun to daydream walking by the yachts in the harbor. There is a Picasso museum in the Old Town area too.

Nice is nice...crowded but has some beautiful parks. We enjoyed walking along the beach and people watching.

If you are in for a long day trip, the Calanques in Cassis are spectacular. Driving the Route des Cretes in that area is equally amazing.

Bring water shoes. Most of the beaches are very rocky.

The beach at Antibes is sandy and Villi Euphrisi, Villa Rothschild - same, same. I'm not sure why jglags liked Villa Kerylos but seemed to disdain (maybe I "heard" it wrong) Villa Rothschild / Euphrisi. We did not see Villa Kerylos for lack of time - it looked beautiful from a distance. Villa Euphrisi has wonderful gardens besides the villa. But I do agree that entire little penninsula is great for strolling and spending a day.

No disdain at all for Villa Rothschild, Suec1! My comment "if you are into that kind of thing" meant exactly that... "if you enjoy touring historic homes!"

What I found interesting about Kerylos is that the owner recreated an ancient Greek villa, including furniture. During the self-guided tour we learned a bit about Greek & Roman architecture, daily life, etc... It was one of those times where my expectations were minimal/average and they were greatly exceeded.

Villa Rothschild was lovely too, particularly the gardens. How can you not love walking around anywhere in the French Riviera?

jglags, sorry to be "testy" - we would have loved to tour Villa Kerylos as well as Villa Euphrisi - hopefully one day we will be back in that lovely part of the world! Not sure seeing BOTH of those places in one day would be on the agenda for many people but it would seem either one would make a pleasant days outing combined with a nice walk around the area!

We usually don't enjoy touring historic homes but did enjoy Villa Ephrussi( especially the gardens and views) and loved Villa Kerylos, authentically reproduced ancient Greek home. It was easy to visit both places as well as the pretty town of St-Jean where we had a delicious seafood lunch. Cap Ferrat and Antibes are my favorite day trips from Nice.

Another vote for the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild and Villa Keryos. While we missed most of the seaside walk (but will certainly do it next time, thanks for the tip!), we did walk between the two villas. Both were highlights of our trip.

Does anybody have a good map for the walk described above? Many thanks...is it totally walkable and where would I start off if I took the bus from Nice?

I got the idea from a Rick Steves guide and his maps are usually not very good. The first time I attempted it, it did not work out - somehow we missed where to head over to the Cap. On a later trip we were successful, coming from the direction of Monaco. This was quite a few years ago and I bet now that if you look at his book and then google map it, you can figure it out from either direction.

@Suec1 - I will be doing this solo - thanks I am going to look into it.

Kelsey...according to bmace2 on the tripadvisor review below, take the #81 bus from Nice to Villa Kerylos. You can access the Cap Ferrat walk from there. Once you are on the Cap there is signage for Villa Rothschild/Ephrussi.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...e.html#REVIEWS

And throughout the walk you will see these signs, so there is really no way to get lost!:
http://scottstraveladventures.wordpr...an-cap-ferrat/

Thanks so so much!