NICE/VILLEFRANCHE-SUR-MER/EZE/MENTON FRANCE

OVERVIEW

• When: 12 June – 14 June, 2026
• Where (accommodations): Westminster Hotel & Spa Nice
• Transportation: Aer Lingus airlines from Boston (BOS) to Nice, France (NCE) via Dublin (DUB); Bus #80 from Nice airport to Monte Carlo, Monaco. Train from Monte Carlo, Monaco to Nice.
• Sights/attractions: Nice: Promenade des Anglais, Hotel Negresco, Fragonard Boutique, Pl Massena, Fontaine du Soleil, #ILoveNICE, Cr Saleya street market, Chapelle de la Miséricorde, Cathédrale Sainte-Réparate de Nice, Église Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur de Nice, Musée du Palais Lascaris, Panorama Est de la Colline du Château; Le temps d’un été beach club; Villefranche-sur-Mer: Chapelle Saint-Pierre de Villefranche-sur-Mer, Rue de l’Église, Église Saint-Michel, Rue du Poilu, Rue Henri Blais, Rue Obscure; Eze: Jardin Exotique; Menton: Jardin botanique Val Rahmeh-Menton, Basilique Saint-Michel Archange; Rampes Saint-Michel
• Food/drinks: Nice: Le Rotonde, Fenocchio ice cream, L’Epicerie Georges, Le Panier; Eze: Le Cafe du Jardin at Chateau de la chèvre; Menton: La Tarte Mentonnaise

Many people choose Nice, France, as their base for exploring the French Riviera and nearby Monaco. They are not wrong. Nice is centrally located and well served by flights, trains, and buses. I have no regrets about spending two nights in Monaco, though, instead of taking a day trip from Nice. It let us keep a more relaxed pace and enjoy our evenings without rushing back to catch the train. Now that we are in Nice and have two nights here, we are ready to explore not only this city but also the nearby smaller towns and villages. Normally, you would use the train, which is super cheap and convenient, but on the Saturday we planned to do most of the sightseeing, the trains were out of service due to repairs. There are buses, but they make the trip longer, so we chose to spend the money rather than lose time and used Uber/Bolt to get around. At least the train was working when we had to return from Monaco—12 Euros for both of us beats over 100 Euros for a taxi (Uber is not allowed in Monaco).

Westminster Hotel & Spa Nice

Nice has no shortage of hotels, but we wanted to see the sea, so we looked for a waterfront property, and this fit the bill. Located one block from the famous Hotel Negresco and right on the Promenade des Anglais, Westminster Hotel & Spa Nice is a 4-star hotel with a waterfront terrace. For some reason, I had it in my mind that it had a pool, but it does not, nor does it offer private beach access, so that was a bit of a sad realization upon arrival.

However, the initial disappointment dissipated once we saw our room. We got the corner suite with the tub and the balcony, which was definitely the best view at the hotel.

I certainly took a lot of pictures here because how could you not with that view?! 🙂

We arrived in Nice mid-morning on Friday and spent the day exploring the city. Saturday was dedicated to visiting other towns on the French Riviera, and on Sunday afternoon we flew back to Boston. It was not much time, but we got a good taste of the Côte d’Azur, both figuratively and literally.

NICE

Nice is considered the capital of the French Riviera. It is quite big, but we mostly explored Old Nice and the Promenade des Anglais along the coastline. Since the hotel room was not ready upon our arrival, we dropped off the luggage and set off to explore. And by “explore,” I mean we went shopping and eating. My friend told me about the French perfume brand Fragonard, which conveniently has a boutique a short walk from our hotel, so we headed there first, all while admiring the architecture and checking out other small boutiques.

Lunchtime was approaching, so we headed to the famous Hotel Negresco, which has several restaurants and bars. As soon as we walked in the door, the staff stopped us and said that to see the lobby, we had to order a drink or some food at the bar. We went to one of the two bars, Le Versailles, and I had a delightful espresso martini, which was our ticket to seeing the hotel.

The bar itself is quite spectacular, but it is not their most famous bar, 1913. That one does not open until 5pm, and we came here later in the evening after dinner.

In the evening, 1913 had live music, and it was the perfect ambiance to end the day in Nice.

But let’s get back to the daytime. After the obligatory drink, we walked around the hotel lobby—it is spectacular, especially the Baccarat chandelier!

But now we needed real food, so we decided to stay at the hotel and try their Le Rotonde restaurant for lunch. And that, my friends, was a mistake. We sat outside and were pleasantly surprised to find gluten-free bread, which we happily ate with foie gras, but then we waited. We ordered tomato salad and 6 escargots, the simplest dishes from their appetizer section. It took an hour and multiple requests before we finally received them. To make matters worse, they were extremely small and, of course, very expensive.

We left still hungry and felt we had wasted the limited time we had in Nice because of the absurdly slow service.

By then, it was late afternoon, and our hotel was ready, so we quickly changed and continued sightseeing the city..

We walked along the promenade, took an obligatory picture at the #ILoveNice sign, and then strolled through the streets of the Old Town.

We passed Cr Saleya street market, stopped by Chapelle de la Miséricorde (it was not open), and went to Place Massena and Fontaine du Soleil.

It felt like Nice was getting busier as the evening approached, and all the restaurants came to life. My favorite, though, was walking down the charming, narrow streets and observing real life (such as laundry) above.

We only stopped by Musée du Palais Lascaris. There was not enough time to explore the museum, but the entrance is beautiful. You must see the Cathédrale Sainte-Réparate de Nice and the Église Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur de Nice. Both churches are absolutely stunning!

While you are near the Cathedral, make sure to get Fenocchio ice cream—there are many flavors, super low prices, and, most importantly, it is delicious! You can get up to 15 scoops!

For sunset, we tried to get to Panorama Est de la Colline du Château, but access and the stairs closed at 8pm. We were almost at the top and managed to snap a few pictures before security kicked everyone out (with loud screams, no less).

We ended up walking in the Old Nice and just enjoying the lively atmosphere. The city really is very busy late into the night.

Of course, since Nice is on the Mediterranean, I cannot forget to talk about the beach. I will be frank—the beach was not our favorite on the French Riviera. The water color is nice (though it was chilly, which is understandable in mid-June), but the pebbles, rather than sand, turned us off the most. We might be spoiled, but we love soft, white-sand beaches. Especially when the hotel has no chairs or umbrellas, which leaves you with two options—lie on the rocks or pay for chairs at the beach club.

Stone massage was not appealing, so we rented 2 chairs and an umbrella on our last morning in Nice. With two towels, it came to a whopping 84 euros. There are no hourly or half-day rates, so we enjoyed this for 2 hours before it was time to go to the airport. We decided that the South of France beaches are not for us.

The prices for lunch at the same Le temps d’un été beach club were completely insane, so we grabbed a Nicoise salad to go from a nearby shop for a tenth of the price and enjoyed it on our balcony.

Talking about food. We had a VERY good dinner experience in Nice. On the first night, we had reservations at the small, cozy L’Epicerie Georges (message them on WhatsApp to book; they fill up quickly). The food was amazing, no-frills, felt authentic, and was not outrageously priced like in Monaco or at the Le Negresco hotel.

On our last night on the French Riviera, we booked a table at Le Panier and chose their 7-course menu. It was again an excellent experience, and we left very satisfied, yet not overstuffed.

Definitely recommend both restaurants while in Nice!

VILLEFRANCHE-SUR-MER

Since we saw enough of Nice on Friday, we decided to explore the surrounding towns on Saturday. What we didn’t count on was the train system being out of service all day. So what would’ve been a cheap 15-minute train ride from Nice to Villefranche-sur-Mer ended up costing nearly 30 euros and taking close to 30 minutes by Uber. Oh well. It was totally worth it.

This charming town was one of our favorites on the French Riviera. Quiet (at least in the morning when we arrived), colorful, with cute boutiques and winding streets. Make sure to wander along Rue de l’Église, Rue du Poilu, Rue Henri Blais, and the covered street, Rue Obscure.

We also walked by the Chapelle Saint-Pierre de Villefranche-sur-Mer and visited Église Saint-Michel.

And of course, the charming port with a little beach—this town really is picture-perfect!

EZE

I lost count of how many people told me to visit Eze when they heard we were going to the French Riviera. Some even said to forget Nice and go straight there. I wouldn’t go that far, but this hilly, stair-heavy medieval village, a short drive from Villefranche-sur-Mer, is indeed beautiful. Again, if the trains were working, it would’ve been a short train ride, but with Uber, it was not bad either—about 20 minutes tops.

The one place in Eze you cannot miss is the Jardin Exotique—yes, another exotic garden! It is different from Monaco because here it’s all about the views. There are cacti and other plants, but the view is what makes this place so amazing.

Try to visit the garden earlier in the day to avoid crowds.

Even though Eze is much busier than Villefranche-sur-Mer, it’s still not crowded enough to be unbearable. I can’t imagine what happens here during the busy August season, because there are a lot of narrow steps in this town.

For lunch in Eze, we booked a table in advance at Le Café du Jardin at Château de la Chèvre. The hotel also has a Michelin-starred restaurant, but seating is indoors, so we wanted to enjoy the terrace, which made Le Café du Jardin perfect. What was not perfect was the cost. Coming from Boston, one of the most expensive cities in the United States, we were rarely shocked by lunch prices. A tiny espresso martini, priced at 28 Euros, made us gasp.

But what also made us gasp was the view from this restaurant. The food was okay, not life-changing. Even the tuna didn’t seem super fresh, but the view made up for it.

Would I need to return? Most likely not. But would I recommend visiting while in Eze? Absolutely!

Even if you do not have a fancy lunch, Eze is a beautiful village to visit. As in the previous town, there are lots of cute boutiques, and I may have walked in with one dress and walked out with another after visiting one of them…

If there are more things to see in the town, I wouldn’t know, because we decided to extend our day of exploring and take yet another Uber to a town on the border of Italy—Menton!

MENTON

This town was definitely not on our agenda, and I had no sights marked for us to visit. But I guess I got ‘influenced’! Again, several people insisted it’s amazing, and my Instagram feed started pushing stories about Menton, so here we are! Honestly, if the beach in Nice had been better, we probably would’ve gone back and enjoyed the afternoon swimming. But since the water wasn’t warm and we didn’t want to rent chairs twice, we figured: why not see another town? Also, from Eze, it wasn’t that far, about a 40-minute drive with beautiful coastal views.

We got off at Jardin botanique Val Rahmeh-Menton because it was on the hill. After exploring it for a bit, we walked down to the waterfront.

Botanical garden was less impressive than previously seen Exotic Gardens, but we are really spoiled by now.

My favorite part of Menton was the view of the colorful houses from the beach promenade. The town was by far quieter and less touristy than Nice or even Eze, though maybe it was just the time of day. The only place with several photographers was the steps (Rampes Saint-Michel) leading up to the Basilique Saint-Michel Arcange.

We made it to the basilica with literally a couple of minutes to spare before it closed for the day.

We wandered the yellow-colored streets for a while (I even put on a yellow dress!), tried the delicious lemon tart at La Tarte Mentonnaise (too bad they ran out of the lemon ice cream they serve inside the frozen lemon), and before it got too late, headed back to Nice for our last dinner.

Menton was worth the hype (and the drive). I feel like we have now seen a good portion of the French Riviera, at least the stretch from Nice toward Italy. Of course, there are still Cannes, Saint Tropez, and other places to visit, but we will leave that for another time!

CONCLUSION

After spending two nights in Monaco and two in Nice, we are definitely not experts on the French Riviera. However, if we had to choose to return, we’d go back to France over Monaco for sure, especially to the little seaside villages like Villefranche-sur-Mer and Menton. Not for the beaches, because we need sand, but for the charming streets, food, and colorful architecture. The slow service and high prices on the French Riviera have plenty of room for improvement, but this little adventure was a fun and memorable birthday trip. Merci et au revoir!