The usual advice for the Riviera is to book a hotel in Nice and day-trip everywhere else. We did it differently. We split the trip across three bases, an apartment in Nice, another in Antibes, and a hotel in the hills below Saint-Paul-de-Vence, and it was the best decision of the trip.
Everything here is close together. Nice to Antibes is under half an hour by train, and Saint-Paul is a short drive inland. So moving costs you very little, and what you get back is a different town every few days: the city, then the old port, then the quiet of the hills. You also get the evenings, which is when these places are at their best, once the day-trippers have gone home.
The rhythm that worked for us was slow and simple. Market in the morning, a swim, a long lunch, then a terrace somewhere as the light goes.
Moving Instead of Basing
Nice: an Airbnb in the city centre, just outside the old town. Walking distance to Vieux-Nice, the Promenade des Anglais and the beach clubs, and not far from Nice-Ville station. 3 nights
Antibes: an Airbnb near the train station, under ten minutes' walk from the old town and the beaches. 2 nights
Saint-Paul-de-Vence: L'Abbaye, a hotel just outside the village, about fifteen minutes by car or Uber. 2 nights
Travelling as a group, apartments made sense on the coast. We got space, a kitchen for market breakfasts, and somewhere to regroup in the afternoon heat, for less than several hotel rooms would have cost. In the hills we wanted the opposite, a proper hotel to finish the trip.
The one real cost of this approach is packing more often, and hauling your suitcase too and from locations, which yes can be a pain, but you get used to it.
Nice
Nice is the city of the three: bigger, busier, and more Italian than you expect. It's also the transport hub, since the airport and the main station are both here, which makes it a natural first or last stop.
Being in the centre meant we could walk almost everywhere. Go to Cours Saleya in the morning, when the market is on and before the heat, then lose an hour in the lanes of Vieux-Nice. The Promenade des Anglais is best early or at dusk.
Eat the local things at least once: socca (a chickpea pancake, crisp at the edges), pissaladière (onion tart with anchovies and olives) and pan bagnat, which is essentially a Niçoise salad in a bread roll. Drink rosé.
The Beach Club: Plage Hôtel Amour
The best day we had in Nice was at the Hôtel Amour's beach club on the Promenade des Anglais. Pastel parasols, day beds, genuinely good food, and service that stayed sharp all day even when it was full. It's the rare beach club where you'd happily stay for lunch and not just the loungers. The halloumi salad was incredible.
Book day beds online ahead of time in summer. The front row goes to hotel guests, which is one more reason to stay there.
Where to Eat
Le Lavomatique. Seasonal, creative and devious small plates. Nice being used to this style of dining in the states, as many restaurants in France expect everyone to order their own dishes. As a group, we liked to order a lot and share. Great wine selection and friendly service. Small, intimate, one of the two best dinners of the Nice leg.
Les Mimosas du Cours. Excellent Nicoise food. In the old town. Friendly staff, sit outside and people watch.
Bocca Mar. Loud, a bit cheesy, and perfectly fine. The food, drinks and service were all okay rather than memorable, but if your group wants a lively night on the water it delivers the atmosphere. Go for the energy, not the meal.
Babel Babel, Pompon, or Barrique for wine.
Mama Baker for bread.
Joséphine cafe for coffee or matcha.
Where to Stay
We were in an Airbnb, which suited a group. If you're booking a hotel, these are the three I'd pick.
Hôtel Amour Nice. We came close to staying here. Retro, fun, and the beach club comes with it, including the front-row beds.
Hôtel du Couvent. A 17th-century convent at the foot of Castle Hill in the old town, turned into a luxury hotel with terraced gardens, pools and Roman baths. The splurge.
Hôtel La Pérouse. Feels classic and authentic. Incredible views and hidden garden restaurant, built into the side of the hill.
Day Trip: Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Take an Uber from Nice, it's about a 30 minute ride east. Cap Ferrat is a small, green peninsula of coves and very large villas, and the way to see it is on foot. We did the coastal walk and stopped at a few beaches along the way. We started at Plage Paloma and walked around the peninsula and ended at Plage des Fossettes.
Bring water and proper shoes. The path is rocky in places and there's little shade in August.
A few other day trips to consider are Èze, Monaco and Villefranche.
Antibes
If Nice is the city, Antibes is where you'd happily live. It has an old town inside sea walls, a working market, a port full of improbable yachts, and a real town going about its business around all of it. It's also better value, and less of a scene, than Cannes down the coast.
Staying by the station turned out to be ideal: under ten minutes to the old town and the water, and a train to Nice or Cannes whenever we wanted one.
Start at the Marché Provençal, the covered market in the old town, in the morning. Walk the ramparts. The Picasso Museum sits in the Château Grimaldi right on the sea wall, and the old port is the place to be in the evening.
Where to Eat
Jeanne.
Bistro Chez Jules.
Saint-Paul-de-Vence
The coast gets the attention, but Saint-Paul was the highlight.
La Colombe d'Or
We had lunch at La Colombe d'Or, and if you only book one thing on the Riviera, make it this. It's a restaurant and hotel that artists paid in paintings during the years they were broke and living nearby, and the work is still on the walls. You eat under a whitewashed vault, or out on the terrace, surrounded by a collection most museums would want.
We sat outside in a lovely shaded courtyard. The service and details were impeccable and the food was so good, we over ordered and left stuffed.
Book well ahead, especially in summer, even for lunch.
Fondation Maeght
Up the hill from the village, and we loved it. It's one of the best small art museums in France, built for the collection: Miró in the garden, Giacometti's figures in the courtyard, Calder, Braque, Chagall. The building and gardens are as much the point as the art. Go when it opens, before the heat and the crowds.
The Village
The medieval village itself is small, steep and full of galleries along Rue Grande. Chagall is buried in the cemetery at the far end. Come late in the afternoon or evening once the tour buses leave, when it's quieter and far more atmospheric. The uphill walking is hard work in August.
Staying at L'Abbaye
We stayed at L'Abbaye, a hotel just outside the village about fifteen minutes away by car or Uber. A stunning family run converted abbey feeling intimate with only 15 rooms. Being outside the village meant peace and space and a lovely pool, but you'll need a car or rides to get in and out. This was our first stay of the trip and it was the perfect landing place with excellent breakfast in the morning and a beautiful pool to get over jet lag.
Swimming on the Coast
Pack water shoes. Nice has pebble beaches, not sand, and plenty of the coast is rocky entries. Juan-les-Pins, next to Antibes, is the exception with proper sand.
You can swim on the free public stretches or pay for a lounger at a beach club, and in August it's worth booking clubs in advance.
In Nice, Plage Hôtel Amour was worth every euro (see above). On Cap Ferrat we swam at small coves along the coastal path. In Antibes we went to Plage de la Gravette. It was a small sandy beach, but the water wasn’t as nice as some other locations.
The Short Version
Stay Airbnbs in central Nice and by Antibes station worked well for a group · L'Abbaye outside Saint-Paul-de-Vence · In Nice, Hôtel Amour, Hôtel du Couvent or Hôtel La Pérouse
Eat La Colombe d'Or, Saint-Paul-de-Vence · Le Lavomatique and Les Mimosas du Cours, Nice · Jeanne and Bistro Chez Jules, Antibes
Drink Rosé on a terrace · Babel Babel (Nice)
Do Fondation Maeght · A day at Plage Hôtel Amour · Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat coastal walk · Cours Saleya market · Antibes old town and ramparts · Picasso Museum
When We went in August, which is busy and hot. Late May, June or September are easier. If you go in summer, book everything early.
Getting there Fly into Nice Côte d'Azur (NCE).
Getting around Trains along the coast, with Antibes to Nice about 25 minutes. No car needed on the coast. For Saint-Paul, use a taxi or Uber (roughly €60 from Nice airport).
Book ahead La Colombe d'Or, Plage Hôtel Amour day beds, and apartments big enough for a group.
Next time Èze, Villefranche, Cannes, Menton
