Five Nights in Nice - Eat, Drink, Do, Nice, France

I arrived home from Nice last night and thought it would be a nice idea to put together all my suggestions about what to do there in one convenient post. Of course, one can only do so much in a 5-night stay and thus the suggestions are limited, obviously subjective because they’re based on my preferences, and can only really be a starting point if you’re planning a trip to Nice. But if you are - and if you’re not do think about it! - hopefully the following will give you a good start.

I flew with British Airways and used some air miles I had to pay for the flight, but I always find their prices very competitive and living near Heathrow and just a 490 bus ride away from their home at Terminal 5, it’s a very easy option for me; they’re always my preferred airline (no horrid hidden costs!). Once at Nice airport it’s incredibly quick and easy to get to the centre by the 98 bus which services both Terminal 1 and 2. The airport lies at one end of the 4km Promenade des Anglais and the 98 bus follows the coast road so is a pretty ride too and costs just €6. The journey to the heart of Nice, near the Old Town, takes only about 15-20 minutes.

I stayed at the 3* Hotel Gounod. I booked this through BA and it was very conveniently situated just off the Promenade des Anglais and about a 20-minute walk to Cours Saleya and the Old Town. It’s a pretty 1920 building of the Belle Epoque style. The inside is rather faded, however. My room unfortunately had a window opening onto a narrow interior ‘courtyard’ which was ugly and the room had little natural light. There was no minibar or safe and the free wifi’s efficiency was variable depending on what time of day you wanted to use it. The people were quite friendly but didn’t particularly engage. I asked if they could recommend a typical Niçoise restaurant they might go to rather than the touristy ones but only got directions to perhaps the most touristy area in town! Some engagement is important for the single traveller - as I found at Hotel Mocenigo in Venice, or at Hotel Porta Mamolo in Bologna, where people in reception would ask me about my plans, my day and be ready to give tips of things I might like to do. So, Hotel Gounod was OK; not actually bad - it was perfectly clean, the bed comfortable etc. - but not somewhere I’d automatically return to on my next trip to Nice. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).