Summer in the French Riviera is always dreamy – think beautiful coastlines and beaches, amazing seaside views, hikes and good food and drinks.
I based myself in Nice for 4 nights in late August but also explored Monaco and Cannes. The 2020 Tour De France started in Nice, so this was perfect timing for us to see all the cycling action!
Day 1
I arrived late in the evening but after dropping my bags off at the apartment, we went to Paulette for a rose then for another drink at Movida.
Day 2
I went for a walk in the morning and walked through Old Town which was very quiet.
I then walked along the promenade with the NICE sign, up ready for Tour De France and then went up towards Colline du Chateau for amazing views across Nice.
The whole Castle Hill park area is really nice and there is a number of trails to get up here. The views of the port from here were also stunning.
I came back to the apartment where we had breakfast, then a cheeky mid morning rose at a cafe before getting the train to Monaco.
We walked around for an hour or so and saw the famous Monte Carlo Casino but I didn’t feel like I needed to hang around!
We then headed to Cap-d’Ail and headed to Eden Plage Mala and had a late lunch there. I had the prawns (really good) and the burrata pizzette as well as a mojito. We then hung by the beach for a few hours which was really nice!
For dinner, we headed to the Old Town and went to La Rossettisserie. They only have roast meats and sides and I had the beef with mash potatoes with some red and white wine and it was so, so good!
We then went to Coco Vin for mojitos then another bar for another drink before heading back to the apartment.
Day 3
The next morning, I went up to Parc du Mont Boron which had amazing panoramic views across the bays in Nice including Saint Jean Cap Ferrat to the west. It was approximately 9 km round trip from the apartment.
We caught the train to Cannes which takes about an hour from Nice.
We went to a great restaurant near the port called L’Assiette Provençale for lunch. I had the octopus carpaccio for the starter, prawns with bacon as the main (so good!) and the amazing lemon meringue tart for dessert (huge and amazing!)
After lunch, we hung out at the beach and walked around the town and saw the Cannes Film Festival Hall.
We got back to Nice and for dinner, we headed to La Langouste. It had a nice alfresco area at the back of the restaurant and I had the truffle scallops, prawn ravioli and the pistachio, berry meringue dessert.
We walked back towards the beach and went to Waka for a drink, then towards the Old Town. We went to L’Oxford Pub for a drink, then stayed at Shapko til closing as it was a good vibe with live music. We then ended up at the Le Blue Whales til 5am (close). It ended up being a big night but really fun!
Day 4
As we had a big one the night before, we had a slow start to the morning by having breakfast on the balcony. The weather was cloudy and a bit drizzly but we decided to head towards the beach in the afternoon.
We saw the Tour De France on the big screen and then around 4pm, we saw the action on Promenade Anglais. It was surreal to see the cyclist going at top speed and a tick off my bucket list!
It started to pour down with rain so I got myself an ice cream at Fenocchio before we headed back to the apartment.
In the evening, we went to Franchin for dinner. We shared the burrata tomato salad and the octopus and braided fish. Everything was so delicious!
Afterwards, we met up with some German guys that we met the other night and went to Maison Margaux for some cocktails and then Bocca (which had a rooftop) for more drinks. We called it a night at 2am when the bar closed.
Day 5
We had a slow morning but we went for a little walk along the coast and then went to the beach to relax.
For lunch, we went to Babbo Mio, an Italian restaurant, and I had their MASSIVE seafood spaghetti. It was seriously SO big (I counted over 35 mussels), so for only €20, it is such good value for money but definitely worth sharing.
The few days here was the perfect summer getaway I needed! I forgot how much I missed the beach and ocean and it was amazing that we could travel once again! I can’t wait to be back to explore more of the south of France!
Day In, Day Out 