As the 2024 Paris Olympics draw near and the iconic Tour de France pedals through its stages, France emerges as the ultimate summer destination. And what epitomizes summer more splendidly than the sun-kissed allure of the Côte d’Azur?
Thankfully, you do not need a month out of the office to bask in the essence of the French Riviera. But can a mere week-long getaway promise to be nothing short of très magnifique? What better way than to figure it out myself.
Join me as your personal guide on a meticulously curated seven-day journey through the rich tapestry of French gastronomy, summer sun, and the extravagant opulence that defines the South of France.
DAY 1: NICE ✈️ 🇫🇷
After touching down at the Nice Côte d’Azur International Airport, you are going to hop on the tram to the Nice Saint-Augustin train station, and from there head one stop over to Gare de Nice-Ville. For seamless transportation during your time in France, you will want to download the Trainline app to purchase tickets in advance.
The capital of the French Riviera has plenty of vibrant districts to discover and gorgeous places to lay your head. Our home base for the week was Hôtel Khla, a boutique hotel only a minute’s walk from the train station.
Fully-renovated, unique, and stylish, Hôtel Khla made a wonderful headquarters to our French Riviera roguery. We soon associated the cheetah print interior with home as the week flew by. Our superior double room was well air conditioned, well kept, and accommodated with a Fragonard Lilas EDT towelette at the start of our stay. The 24/7 reception staff are nothing but hospitable and friendly; special mention to our dear friend, Haibetna, for making us feel so welcomed.
Explore the piétonne of Nice with a straight walk down Rue du Congrès to Rue de France / Massena. Here you can enjoy people watching with a side of double espressos at Caffè Vergnano 1882.
After you’ve explored the area and checked into your hotel, head over to Le Plongeoir’s lower patio for vibrant cocktails and Lebanese fare after 4:00pm – no reservations needed! Sit back and sip a Hugo Spritz aperitif over the waves as the sun sinks below the horizon and the DJ plays tranquil house beats. If you are thinking of ordering a mezze, I strongly recommend the falafel.
For your evening dining plans, head to the heart of Nice for iconic outdoor seating at the refined yet affordable Le Grand Cafe de France. The restaurant is aesthetically Parisian, adorned with woven bistro chairs and accompanied by ambient violin scores as you dine. Split a bottle of wine and shell garlicky Escargots de Bourgogne under the soft glow of string lights. A must-try on the menu is the signature Linguine aux Fruits de Mer.
DAY 2: NICE ☀️🌊
Sitting in the southeast corner of France along the Mediterranean Sea, Nice is best known as a beach destination. Along the Promenade des Anglais and Quai des États-Unis, Nice offers a variety of public and private beaches, and for €25-40, you can reserve your own plush bed above the pebbled shores.
Reserve a sunbed at Bocca Mar Beach Club overlooking the sparkling Bay des Angels. Spend peak UV hours sunbathing, sipping (another) spritz, taking a dip in the cerulean waves, and enjoying seaside hummus and other Mediterranean small plates. Reserving a beach chair is a spectacular move for service, showers, bathrooms, and more. Bocca Mar even provided a complimentary cocktail to start the day off right.
After the beach, stop at Maison ARMAND to get a baguette, coffee eclair, and petite tarte aux fraises to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Continue the maritime trend for dinner nine stories up at Le Meridien’s rooftop restaurant, Peska by La Terrasse. Enjoy your meal as the skies blush pink and seagulls swoop by the panoramic ocean views. The only thing more delightful than overlooking where the sky meets the sea was the rosè, colorful burrata, tender beef carpaccio, and refreshing Cannes’ sea bream carpaccio with passion fruit.
DAY 3: ST. TROPEZ 🌴🛍️
In 1956, Roger Vadim’s movie “And God created woman”, starring Brigitte Bardot was shot on the beach of Pampelonne, and established the reputation of St. Tropez throughout the world.
In order to day-trip to St. Tropez, we chose to rent a car. Apple Vacations booked us a silver Opel Crossland X, which we picked up Tuesday morning from Hertz Car Rental at the Nice airport. The drive to St. Tropez is around an hour and a half, and completely do-able as someone who has never been behind the wheel in Europe. The trek, a mix between highway and winding corniches, makes for a scenic option to explore the area.
After tackling a handful of roundabouts, we made it to St. Tropez. Here, we found parking and took a breath to celebrate making our journey in one piece. We enjoyed a light lunch at La Table de Léon: peach and tomato burrata, bolognese de poulpes, and of course, a double espresso – not that I needed it.
As you stroll down the perfumed streets of St. Tropez, you will find high end shopping, fresh produce, art galleries, and a harbor of expensive yachts. As we pursued, we noticed many yellow and white striped pastry bags in the hands of pedestrians and an occasional glimpse of a hyper-realistic fruit dessert being photographed for social media. Make your way to Cedric Grolet Airelles to hop on this trend.
If you need to cool down with an afternoon provision, head to Le Sporting by Peyrassol, a patio-oasis neighboring Place de Lices.
We returned to Nice at dusk and parked overnight in the public lot next to the train station, Interparking Gare Nice Thiers.
France was playing in the Euro 2024 semi-finals that night, so we hunted the bustling streets of Nice to find an outdoor table screening the game.
As you wander Nice at night, let the glowing Seven Statues of The Massena Square guide your way to the marble sculpture of Apollo in the Fontaine du Soleil. We often used the twenty three foot statue as an indicator of where we were in the city.
DAY 4: GORGE DU VERDON / AUPS / MONTE CARLO 🛶 🥂
If there is anything I advise you MUST do on this list, it’s Gorges du Verdon, France’s most picturesque canyon. The canyon, carved from river Verdon, is not technically the French Riviera, but is still only two and a half short hours north of Nice.
Verdon Boat Rentals open at 9:00am, and it is ideal to get there early because the boats fill up quickly. Map the location to Pont du Galetas, which is the mouth of the gorge. It costs €30 to rent a two person kayak for two hours, which is the rough time estimate of kayaking the entire gorge from start to finish. At the end of the canyon, hop off your boat into the clear turquoise water and take a dip in the most scenic sliver of the earth – nothing compares.
If you do not prefer an intense arm workout, the boat rental services also provide electric and paddle boats.
Is there nothing better than stumbling upon a small village in Provence? Try one with an outdoor market. That was our reality as we passed through Aups, France. We purchased local olive oil, herbs and salt de Provence, and fine pressed lavender oils. The locals were welcoming to foreigners and made our experience heartening as we shared lunch at a local cafe.
After returning the beloved Opel Crosslander, we freshened up and took the train to Monte Carlo. We had a martini at Café de Paris before heading to dinner on the Amazónico terrace, the exotic jungle atmosphere equipped with live “elec-tropical” music. We also popped in the iconic Monte Carlo Casino and lived out our inner James Bond.
Travel Tip – Ubers do not operate out of Monte Carlo and the last train to Nice is at 11:20pm. If you find yourself stranded, Hôtel Hermitage will call you a taxi back to Nice for €90.
DAY 5: SAINT-JEAN-CAP-FERRAT 👙🐚
In Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat lies Paloma Plage, tucked away on the Cap Ferrat peninsula between Villefranche-sur-Mer and Beaulieu-sur-Mer. The beach was named after Paloma Picasso, Picasso’s daughter, as the painter used to spend time with his family and friends in this little paradise hidden from the effervescence of the French Riviera. As we played marco-polo in the shallows, french alps to the left and Cap Ferrat villas to the right, I understood why Paloma beach was his refuge. The beach was an out of time experience where families splashed in the waters and the sweetness of relaxation was beautiful and kind. If you’re craving a refreshing treat after your day in the sun, walk ten minutes to the pier for a cone at Vanille & Chocolat. To me, the melon flavored ice cream was the perfect way to end the afternoon.
Travel Tip: When attending public beaches in the French Riviera, I would invest in a padded towel or beach mat, as well as water shoes for the rocks – not to mention SPF.
As the day winds down to a close, make your way over to Castle Hill in Nice. Castle Hill (Colline du Château), is the site of Nice’s first settlement, and offers panoramic views of the city. The Castle of Nice was a military citadel built at the top of a hill overlooking the bay of Nice from the 11th century to the 18th century. To honor that, we brought Heinekens and sat on our blanket as the guitar player serenaded tourists in front of hues of orange and yellow decorating the evening sky.
DAY 6: CAP D’AIL / ÈZE ⛰️🚂
For a more hidden beach, take the train to Cap-d’Ail. After a 10 minute hike along the coast, you can find Mala Plage surrounded by cliffs. It rained for us this day, so a majority of our time was spent in shelter under our tarp of a beach towel sorting through the rocks for “souvenirs,” aka, pretty rocks to take home. But do not fret, the croissant and cafe au lait from Le Clementine in Nice that morning made up for the drizzly weather.
After your (hopefully sunny) afternoon at Mala Plage, take the train one stop back to Èze Gare, and then the 83 bus up to Èze Village. The well-preserved medieval village of Èze sits atop the mountainside, packed with quaint shops and narrow alleyways reminiscent of centuries past. Early for dinner? Have a glass of the (curiously strong) strawberry sangria at Le Cactus.
Foodies, listen up. Let me walk you through the most life changing dinner. The most memorable culinary experience. A meal my tastebuds will remember for years to come.
Château Eza’s Michelin Starred restaurant was rated Conde Naste’s 2024 Winner for Best Restaurant. I see why.
As we were seated, a white fog encapsulated the entire outdoor patio, soft piano music playing in tandem with the flickering faux candle illuminating the white tablecloth. We were served a paper thin cracker of wild fennel and sea salt prior to our wine selections. The chef then sent out the amuse-bouche, a tetralogy of: crème laden in a razor clam shell, a savory canapé topped with sea bass, a small glass of herbaceous palette cleansing liquid, and a fresh oyster with kiwi. Matter of fact, this was my first oyster – not a bad experience.
For the entree, I ordered the roast pigeon with cocoa crumble on beetroot tatin and sweet potato. My travel companion and long time friend, Ryleigh, ordered the roasted veal sweetbread with rhubarb, white asparagus, and elderflower.
As we savored our meal, the fog began to clear and the mountains showed face. For dessert, we shared the manjari chocolate with tapioca pearl, coconut, and Cimes pepper, as well as the “summer symphony” – peach and apricot with marigold and hibiscus flower and a sorrel coulis poured in the center. For the finale, we were brought another special from the chef, three assorted desserts of pine nut, pineapple-coconut jelly, and rhubarb.
As we left and overtook the dimly lit cobblestone streets of Èze, we laughed and hugged as only two childhood friends who had finally made it to France could – a moment I will remember forever.
DAY 7: NICE / CANNES 🎥🦪
Vieux-Nice (old town) is a maze of narrow streets and baroque architecture, and holds the Cours Saleya market. The market is one of the best places in Nice to sample socca, a chickpea-flour pancake that is the city’s street food staple. Pick up a piping hot portion from the Chez Teresa stand for only €3. The sprawling fruit, veggie, and flower market makes for a colorful and aromatic experience to start your morning. You can also pick up souvenirs of the French Riviera such as soaps, lavender pouches and tea towels.
Take the train west to Cannes, where in the main square lies a flea market. Here, you can purchase limoges, mini perfumes, clothes, art, and more French antiques. Pop over to Saint Antoine Boulangerie/Pâtisserie for decadent pastries that will haunt your dreams – citron, pan au chocolate, fraise parfait, dare I say more. Walk down the Promenade de la Croisette, take a dip in the tall waves at Plage Croisette, or even snap a photo at the Marches du festival de Cannes, where the Cannes film festival red carpet is held annually.
For a late lunch, Astoux et Brun is the seafood lover’s oasis for fresh oceanic cuisine. We ordered a half dozen medium sized Normandie oysters and made short work of a plate of Bigorneaux, mini sea snails. And, of course, a Coke Zero, the American champagne.
Once back in Nice, head to swanky Bocca Nissa for a rooftop nightcap among the leaves and lanterns.
Bidding Adieu to the French Riviera
As we packed our bags, we still had a day ahead of us until our evening flight to London. Fun fact, July 14th was actually Bastille Day, so we celebrated French Independence with one last cappuccino.
If you are looking for a quaint breakfast spot, Edmond Café on Rue du Congrès serves delicious morning goodies to kickstart your travel day.
Afterwards, get an Aperol spritz served in a heavy chalice at SOHO before walking Place Masséna, the main shopping street with Galeries Lafayette and the NICETOILE Shopping Center on Avenue Jean Médecin.
If you are looking for museums in the French Riviera, I would suggest the Baroque-style Palais Lascaris in Old Nice as well as the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Musée Matisse, and the Musée National Marc Chagall in Cimiez, once a Roman settlement that still shelters ruins of Roman baths and an amphitheater.
Pack Your Bags for the French Riviera!
Ask your travel advisor about booking your hotel, car rental, and roundtrip flights through Apple Vacations. Apple made the process seamless and gave us security in our transportation and accommodations while abroad.
As you go about your trip, feel free to tack on a winery and lavender field in Provence, enjoy the nightlife and club scene of Nice, rent a boat, the list goes on. You can also adjust the activities based on activity level and preference. After all, the way you choose to travel is personal to your interests. With so much to do and see, the French Riviera truly offers something for everyone.
Suggested Travel-Related Gifts
Rolling Duffel Bag
Craft Cocktail Kit
Disposable 35mm Cameras
Collapsible Water Bottle
Noise Canceling Overhead Headphones
