Autumn Sun in Nice

The view from our balcony - blue sea and palm trees

Cafe culture - enjoying a drink while watching the world go by

The Old Town - flower market, lots of interesting shops, and places to eat and drink

Quick Tips:

Most bars and restaurants offer three sizes of beers - on the first day we opted for the medium, which was actually rather large, so afterwards we stuck with the small. The large size was more like a pitcher to share than a drink for one.

Wine, bread, and cheese from the supermarkets are very cheap, so we bought some to enjoy on our balcony one evening, which made a cheap but enjoyable alternative to the restaurants.

Best Way To Get Around:

We did plenty of walking because with such beautiful scenery and good weather, it was a pleasure. Rollerblading and cycling are very popular with the locals as quicker ways of travelling along the seafront.

Taxis are rather expensive (15 to 20€ for a 5-minute trip), but plentiful and easy to pick up.

We picked this hotel because our original choice wasn't available on the dates we wanted to go and we were attracted to this one because it had a swimming pool and the rooms had balconies. We were aware that the hotel's location was slightly further along the Promenade des Anglais than most of the other hotels, but we don't mind walking and with a walk along the seafront, it was always a pleasure. However, if you don't like walking (a good 20 minutes into town, more to reach the old town), it could be very expensive to stay here and rely on taxis (15 euros into the town).

The hotel is very modern and the rooms have recently been refurbished. We paid extra for a room with a sea view, which was definitely worthwhile, as we had an absolutely stunning view right across the bay. The extra cost wasn't very much compared with the supplement charged by other hotels in Nice for the seaview. We also suspected that we were upgraded to a suite, as our room was absolutely huge - it had a separate entrance way with the wardrobe in, a three-seater sofa, trendy retro armchair, three coffee tables, and a desk, as well as a huge bed. There are three styles of room in the hotel - Urban, Ocean and Chilli - ours was a Chilli, which meant it was decorated in a funky modern style in mainly orangey-reds, and there was a large ornamental chilli pepper on the wall.

The bathroom was spacious, white and sparklingly clean. Plenty of fluffy white towels were provided, including two large bath sheets. Fruit-scented toiletries were provided in cute little plastic containers, like individual milk portions and were stored in a cleverly designed stand, and were replenished every day.

The pool was on the roof and was a good size, so you could actually swim in it, rather than just use it to cool down. When we went in early one morning though, it was rather cold. Sun-loungers and towels can be provided, which costs 12 Euros in peak season (Apr-Sep) which seems rather mean. There is a poolside bar and restaurant, and with the lovely views, it was a good place to relax with a drink, but the prices were high (5 Euros for a fruit juice, 6 Euros for a bottle of lager).

We had breakfast in the hotel one morning. It was a buffet with a wide selection of cooked and continental options, but at 20 euros per person, it was far from good value.

We really enjoyed our stay here, but found the price of drinks and the extra costs of services, a bit too much and felt the hotel was more aimed at business travellers, who aren't paying for it themselves, so don't mind the extra charges.

We came across this little restaurant while we were walking around the old town and decided that we would come back to eat there the following evening, as it looked better than most of the other restaurants we had seen, which all seemed to be very alike, large and impersonal and offering the same mix of pizza, pasta, and steak. In contrast, this restaurant was small and intimate-looking, with twinkling lights around the doorway and a menu of dishes more typical of the region.

We hadn't booked and it was very busy, with only one table outside free, but the friendly American waitress told us that if we were willing to come back in 30 minutes, we could have a table inside, so we went to the bar next door for one drink while we waited. When we came back, our table wasn't quite ready, so we were taken to the small bar at the back of room and given a plate of spring rolls to eat while we browsed the menu.

The menu offered around six choices for each course, with duck being a particular favourite ingredient. To start, I had the Charlotte of Goats Cheese with red pepper and dried tomatoes - it was delicious, especially accompanied by the fresh bread on our table. My partner went with the onion soup, which he is a bit of an expert on, and this one was scored highly with him. For a main, I had the beef with pepper sauce and he had the lamb shank with rosemary and garlic. Both were highly quality cuts and accompanied by a baked potato with sour cream and seasonal vegetables.

Unfortunately, we were too full to try any desserts, but other people's looked good.

The restaurants in the main shopping area of Nice all looked pretty similar, and most of them seemed to offer the same mix of pizza, pasta, and meat dishes. We picked this one almost at random, and whilst there wasn't really anything wrong with it, it was rather uninspiring.

It is a fairly large restaurant with seats inside, upstairs, and on the street. We had wanted to sit indoors but near the entrance so we could still see the world go by, but the only tables there were for four, so the waiter wouldn't let us sit there. Instead, we had to sit out on the terrace at a table, which was also for four!

The menu offered a large selection of dishes, but we both ordered the French onion soup to start. This was very bland - watery and lacking in flavour. For the next course, I had a tagitelle with what was described as spicy vegetable sauce - it was neither very spicy nor had much in the way of vegetables. I became bored with it, so I left quite a lot. My partner had the steak with pepper sauce, which the menu described as being "accompanied," with no explanation of with what, but it turned out to be fries. He was fairly unimpressed by it, as, again, the sauce was rather bland and the meat not the best of cuts.

The best part of the meal was the wine. From a good selection, we enjoyed a fine Pomeroy at a reasonable price.

Perhaps we just made the wrong choices from the extensive menu, but overall, our feeling with this restaurant was disappointment.

We stopped off at this cafe much in need of refreshment, having spent an hour or so wandering around the streets of the Old Town. There were plenty of cafe/restaurants to choose from, but we picked this one because it was in a busy area opposite the Palace of Justice (good for people-watching) and there were plenty of people just drinking, rather than having a meal.

We ordered two small beers from the incredibly cheerful waiter, which went down very well in the sun. We then decided that we would have something to eat after all. My partner ordered the Croque Monseiur (toasted ham-and-cheese sandwich with cheese on the outside), and I order the Croque President, which was a toasted goat cheese-and-tomato sandwich. Both were delicious.

The bill for two sandwiches and four small beers came to about 28€, which I thought was rather a lot, but I didn't mind so much, as it is in a great location and the food and service were first-class.