Go everywhere, Do everything

This was a family weekend city break booked through Jet 2. We were taking full advantage of the fact that Pip had a Monday training day off school so that we could have a 3 day weekend.

Travel

We flew from Manchester to Nice on the 06:15 flight with Jet2 and back at 17:05 on Monday evening. The flight home was delayed which was annoying but not the end of the world and the timings worked really nicely and gave us enough time to explore the area.

We used Uber to get to and from the airport. We checked the Uber app and it was showing as about €20 to get from Nice airport to our accommodation, when we asked one of the taxis in the taxi rank he quoted us €50 so it was definitely cheaper to go with Uber.

Whilst in Nice we got around on foot and whilst we did do a lot of steps over the 3 days we were there, it was worth it for the slow travel and opportunity to explore.

Accommodation

We stayed at the Novotel Nice Centre Vieux Nice. The hotel itself was perfect with a roof top pool and a 10 minute walk to the nearest train station. Ideally it would have been closer to the old town as it was a 20-30 minute walk but that would have probably put it out of our budget. There is a restaurant and bar within the hotel and restaurants in the surrounding area as well as a Lidl just down the street.

What we got up to

Day 1

After dropping out bags at our hotel we walked in to the old town stopping at Lidl for some bits for lunch. Then straight down to the sea front to wander around the shops in the old town, paddle in the sea and have some drinks in a sea front bar. The weather was very hot so instead of taking the steps up to Parc du Chateau we found the lovely cool elevator in the cliff side and took that instead. We then made our way slowly back to our hotel to cool off in the roof top pool. After dinner we attempted to walk off our meal with a stroll in to the old town where there was a city wide music festival happening with bands and DJs at various bars and restaurants.

Food

We got lunch from Lidl and ate dinner at Le Cedre which is the Lebanese restaurant round the corner from the hotel. It just may be the best restaurant we have ever been to. The food is 4 courses shared amongst the table consisting of cold mezze, hot mezze, grilled meats and Lebanese sweets. The mezzes were vegetarian and there was a vegetarian option instead of the grilled meats. Everything was delicious and the staff were all absolutely lovely.

Day 2

On our second day we took a day trip to Monaco. Riquier train station is about a 15 minute walk from Novotel Nice Centre Vieux Nice where we bought a return ticket to Monaco. The train takes about 20 minutes and runs along the coast with some stunning views.

In Monaco we bought some breakfast from the Carrefour and then hopped on the City Tour Hop on Hop off bus. The circuit takes you to all the major sights in Monaco so we went around most of the route getting off at the Casino first for some photos. We then got back on the bus to ride back round to the old town where we got lunch and visited the Palais Princier. The Palais is stunning inside and definitely worth a visit.

After exploring some of the old town and souvenir shops we walked back down to the port stopping for photos at the lookout point. We finished our day with ice creams and drinks near the harbour with very tired feet.

Food

Breakfast and Dinner were snacks from Carrefour at the Port which had a fabulous bakery. Lunch was at one of the restaurants in the Old Town on one the streets opposite the Palais Princier as Pip wanted Mussels. We found somewhere that served a fabulous selection of seafood, pizza and pasta.

Day 3

We had the morning to wander back in to Nice Old Town and explore some of the shops before a coffee stop and a taxi back to the airport.

Our Thoughts

We only really grazed the surface of Nice and Monaco but we loved what we did manage to do. The weather in June was perfect, hot and sunny but still bearable enough to be able to get around on foot. There are some fabulous bars and restaurants and lovely independent shops in the old town of Nice. Definitely a great destination for a weekend trip or a longer holiday.

We visited in June 2025 when Pip was 13.