6 Days on the French Riviera from Nice
Six Days: This Is Where Nice Really Proves Itself
Six days is the point where basing yourself in Nice stops being a nice idea and starts being obviously correct. You get a full day in the city, four increasingly bold coastal train rides, real time in Monaco, a combined Cannes-and-Antibes day, and still land back on Nice’s own hillside for the culture stop most itineraries front-load too early. This one saves it, on purpose.
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Promenade, Vieux Nice, Castle Hill via the free lift |
| 2 | Cours Saleya market, Villefranche-sur-Mer |
| 3 | Eze village, the hilltop Riviera postcard stop |
| 4 | Monaco: Port Hercule, the Rock, Casino de Monte-Carlo |
| 5 | Cannes and Antibes, combined on one rail line |
| 6 | Cimiez: Matisse and Chagall museums, Bellet vineyard option |
Book these before you go
- A hotel in Vieux Nice or near the Promenade keeps this base simple, check current rates on Booking.com before dates fill up.
- Cannes and Antibes get heavy day-trip traffic in summer, book a Cannes Antibes day trip if you’d rather have transport handled.
Day 1: Nice Itself
Tram Line 2, direction Port Lympia, runs the airport to Jean-Medecin in 20-30 minutes for a 1.70 EUR fare. Grab that fare on the app or a reusable card once you’re through the terminal, the airport machines only sell a 10 EUR round-trip.
Walk the Promenade des Anglais, seven free kilometers of seafront with the blue chairs, fully back in place after this spring’s restoration. Cut into Vieux Nice for the alleys and facades, lunch on socca at Chez Pipo (13 rue Bavastro, roughly 12 EUR, genuinely the best cheap meal in the city), then climb Castle Hill via the free public lift for the panoramic view over the Baie des Anges at golden hour. Dinner in Vieux Nice, a couple of streets back from Cours Saleya itself, not on the square.
Accommodation: Vieux Nice or the streets near the Promenade puts you within walking distance of everything above and close to the station for everything below.
Day 2: Market Morning and Villefranche-sur-Mer
Cours Saleya market before 9am for flowers and produce at their best (Mondays swap in an antiques market instead). Then TER to Villefranche-sur-Mer, 8-14 minutes, the easiest coastal escape on this entire line, a deep natural harbor moving at half of Nice’s pace. Walk the old town and waterfront, lunch by the water, back to Nice for dinner near the port.
Day 3: Eze Village
Bus 82 or bus 602 from Nice’s Vauban bus station, roughly 30 minutes, running every 30-45 minutes Monday through Saturday, the train doesn’t reach the hilltop village, it sits 427 meters above the rail line. Wander the medieval, car-free lanes and the Jardin Exotique for sweeping coastal views. My honest take: this beats a rushed half-day in Monaco for most first-timers, same postcard Riviera-village feeling, in less time, no casino dress code to plan around.
Day 4: Monaco, a Full Day
TER from Nice to Monaco, 7-25 minutes depending on the service, roughly 6.50-7.32 EUR one-way booked ahead, around 55 trains a day. Walk Port Hercule and the Rock for the Palais Princier, see the Casino de Monte-Carlo’s lobby at minimum, and bring a passport or ID plus proper dress if you want to go past it, there’s an 18+ minimum too. Head back to Nice for dinner, Monaco’s restaurant prices run noticeably higher for comparable food.
Day 5: Cannes and Antibes, Combined
Both sit on the same coastal line, so double them up. Cannes first, 35 minutes and roughly 10 EUR one-way, for La Croisette and Le Suquet’s old town; note that as of January 1, 2026 Cannes caps cruise-ship arrivals to under-1,000-passenger ships with a 6,000-person daily visitor limit, worth knowing if you’re timing around cruise crowds. Then a short further hop to Antibes for the Provençal market and the Picasso Museum, housed in the actual Chateau Grimaldi where he worked. Back to Nice for the evening.
Transportation: Book TER tickets ahead on SNCF Connect , fares climb closer to travel dates. If you’re stacking this many day trips, the Pass Sud Azur Explore (roughly 35 EUR for 3 days, 50 EUR for 7) covers TER trains plus trams and buses across the whole region and pays for itself by around day three.
Day 6: Cimiez, Then Departure
Bus 5, 16, or 18 up to Cimiez, the hillside district north of downtown, an entirely separate trip from Vieux Nice or Castle Hill. The Matisse Museum sits in a 17th-century villa here, 10am-6pm, closed Tuesdays. The Chagall Museum is nearby on avenue Docteur Menard but is its own separate building, not the same stop, entry runs 10-12 EUR depending on whether an exhibition is on, free the first Sunday of the month. MAMAC, Nice’s modern art museum, is closed for renovation until around 2028, don’t build time around it.
If your flight allows, spend the afternoon at the Roman arena and monastery gardens next to the Matisse Museum, or, with a taxi, a Bellet vineyard tasting in the hills above the city, Bellet is one of France’s smallest AOCs and entirely contained within Nice’s own city limits, a genuinely unique wine detour few visitors know exists. Otherwise, head back via Tram Line 2 for departure, budgeting the same 20-30 minutes you used arriving.
Things to Know
Peak season runs June through September, book accommodation early if that’s your window. Watch your bag at the Grand Arenas tram stop and in crowded market or train-station areas, both are known pickpocket spots. A real salade nicoise has no cooked potatoes and no green beans, if you see either, it’s a tourist-menu version.
Other Tips
If a seventh day opens up, the 7-day itinerary adds Menton or the scenic Train des Merveilles into the Alps as a genuine bonus rather than a rushed extra; the Nice, France base guide has the full rundown of every coastal option in one place. Pack water shoes for the pebble beaches, this coast doesn’t do sand anywhere, and real shoes, not sandals, for Eze’s steep lanes and Castle Hill if you skip the lift.