What to Do in Nice: A 4-Day Log of Sea, Hill Towns, and Perfume

You want to land in the Old Town, or right at its edge. Vieux Nice is a knot of ochre and rose buildings, laundry lines, and lanes barely wide enough for two people to pass. Wake up here and the city is already awake for you: the clatter of a cafe setting up, church bells, a scooter somewhere.

Drop your bag, then just walk. There is no map you need for the first hour. Follow the smell of butter and let the alleys pull you toward the water.

Stay two or three nights within these lanes; you will thank yourself when you stumble home from dinner in five minutes flat.

The Promenade des Anglais runs for about 7 km along the sea, its famous blue chairs facing the water like an audience. Come here late afternoon when the light goes soft and the pebble beach fills with people reading, swimming, doing nothing at all.

Go down to the beach itself. Yes, it is stones, not sand, so bring flip-flops. Sit for a while and let the sound of the pebbles rolling under the waves do its thing.

Then climb the steps up Colline du Château at the eastern end for the view down the whole curving bay. It is free, and it is the shot you came for.

Socca is the taste of Nice: a thin, golden pancake made from chickpea flour, cooked in a wood oven and served in torn pieces on brown paper. Get it fresh from a market stall for a couple of euros and eat it while it is still too hot.

For dinner, settle into a small Niçois bistro in Vieux Nice. Look for pissaladière (an onion and anchovy tart), petits farcis (stuffed vegetables), and a proper salade niçoise that has never seen a boiled potato. A carafe of local rosé runs roughly 15 to 20 euros (about 16 to 22 USD).

Eat slowly. Nobody here is in a rush, and neither are you.

Take bus line 400 from Nice toward Saint-Paul-de-Vence; the ride is around 30 minutes and drops you at the foot of the village. From there you walk up through a stone gate into car-free lanes lined with galleries and worn cobbles polished by centuries of feet.

Saint-Paul was a haven for artists (Chagall is buried in the little cemetery here) and you feel it: the light, the studios, the ramparts looking out over a green valley. Follow the walls all the way around for the widest views.

Lunch with a view is the whole point. Find a terrace overlooking the hills, order something long and unhurried, and just watch the light move across the valley.

Back in Nice, the Cours Saleya is the beating market of the Old Town. Mornings, it is a flower and produce market: mimosa, lavender, ripe peaches, jars of tapenade, candied fruit stacked in pyramids. The whole square smells like a Provençal kitchen.

Go early to beat the heat and the crowds. Buy a peach, a wedge of cheese, a few olives, and build yourself a picnic for later.

Wander to the port side afterward for dinner, where boats bob in the marina and the seafood is a short journey from the water to your plate.

Bus line 82 or 112 climbs to Èze Village in about 20 minutes, winding up above the coast until the sea is a sheet of silver far below. Èze is even more vertical than Saint-Paul, a medieval maze spiraling up a rock.

Stop at the Fragonard perfumery near the base of the village. The tour is free and quick, and you learn how a fragrance is built note by note before you inevitably buy something small to take the smell of the Riviera home.

Then keep climbing to the Jardin Exotique at the very top. Cacti and succulents cling to the ruins of an old castle, and from up here you can see the coastline drop away for miles.

The Jardin Exotique d'Èze sits on the highest point of the village, built into the ruins of a fortress. Entry is a few euros, and it buys you the best view on this whole stretch of coast: the Mediterranean spreading out under your feet, the Cap Ferrat peninsula reaching into the blue.

Work your way slowly up the garden paths. Every switchback opens a new angle, so take your time. On a clear day locals will tell you that you can see all the way to Corsica.

Back in Nice by mid-afternoon, keep the rest of the day free. Nap, swim, or just sit on the promenade with an ice cream and let the pace stay slow.

For your last morning, head up to the Cimiez hill and the Musée Matisse, set in a 17th-century Genoese villa surrounded by ancient olive trees. Matisse lived in Nice for decades, and the collection follows his whole arc, from early paintings to the famous cut-outs. It is calm, uncrowded, and a lovely way to end.

Come back down for a leisurely brunch near the train station: coffee, a pain au chocolat, one last look at the flower stalls.

The airport is only about 20 minutes away by tram or taxi, right along the coast, so you get one final sweep of that blue on the way out. If you want the whole thing mapped hour by hour, the linked 4-day Nice itinerary lays it all out.