Okay, first of all, I’m sorry about the title of this post – but it just had to be done! Nice is quite nice, after all. Secondly, I’m so excited to be writing about Nice, because it’s a city that I totally didn’t expect to like – but it blew my mind!
I arrived in Nice late at night after travelling all the way from San Marino starting at 8 AM with a 45-minute bus to Rimini, a one-hour wait, then a 3-hour train to Milan, then another 1,5 hour wait and then a 7 hour bus to Nice! I was tired and grumpy and it didn’t help when I found out that the “central” bus station in Nice was nowhere near the center so I had to walk 40 minutes to my hostel… in the middle of the night.
Nice scared me that first evening. The streets were full of drunk people (it was Friday, so no wonder really), and I felt sure that I wouldn’t like the city. “Thankfully” I only had one day in the city and I was planning to spend that day in nearby Monaco, but as I found out the next day, my first impression of Nice couldn’t have been more wrong.
I stayed in Baccarat Hostel in the very center of Nice, where I had a great experience. I had booked a bed in a female dorm but somebody from the mixed dorm had moved to that room, so they asked if I would sleep in the mixed dorm instead. As compensation, they gave me an 8 euro discount and let me have a shower the next evening before taking a night bus to Barcelona! To me, that was a great deal, even though a guy in my dorm did snore! I usually choose the female dorms as men tend to snore more, but I’ve also been very unlucky with some female snorers previously!
The next morning, I checked out of the dorm, left my luggage at the hostel, and then went to explore Monaco. I spent 4,5 hours discovering this tiny city-state before returning to Nice to explore Nice that same afternoon!
Initially, my only reason for coming to Nice was to explore Monaco (as accommodation is much cheaper in Nice and it’s only 20 minutes away by train), but I’d decided to see some of Nice as well since I had time. And I’m so glad that I did, because Nice turned out to be a wonderful city!
I started my sightseeing afternoon by visiting the beautiful Basilica of Notre-Dame de Nice, a Neo-Gothic Roman Catholic basilica, built between 1864 and 1868. I had walked past it the night before and thought it would be worth a closer look, and I was thrilled to learn that there was free entrance to its beautiful interior.
The basilica is located on the lively main shopping street, Avenue Jean-Médecin, which I then strolled down to get to Place Masséna, the main square of Nice. This was where I was first in awe over the city. Because there’s a large swimming pool right in the center of the city!!! I really enjoyed watching children playing in the water, and it just looked like the perfect way to cool down on such a hot day – but not for me as I had little time!
On I went down to the ocean and the famous Promenade des Anglais, a 7 km long promenade that runs along the beautiful Mediterranean coast. I walked along the busy promenade, stopping once in a while to enjoy the breeze coming from the ocean and to watch skilled people play volleyball.
Despite being extremely exhausted from walking around hilly Monaco all day, I still decided to climb the 213 steps to the Parc de la Colline du Château, a beautiful lush park located above the old town. The views I got up there were worth every effort. Nice is just so beautiful!
I wandered around on top of Nice for a while, taking in the stunning views and thanking myself for not skipping this. I saw an enormous waterfall at the top of the park, which was wonderful to cool down by. I also saw the Israelite cemetery, which is one of the most beautifully located cemeteries I’ve ever seen.
The last thing on my to-see list was the rustic narrow streets, tenement houses and old churches of the old town, Vielle Ville. Once again, I found a place in Nice that took my breath away. It’s rare to find so much beauty in one city, and I feel terrible for my first narrow-minded impression. At least Nice managed to win me over – big time!
At the end of the day, I had blisters on my feet and my back was extremely sore, but I was happy because I’d gotten a great taste of two cities in just one day. It had been a rush, but it had been worth it. I do regret not spending more time in Nice though, but at least I learned not to rush my way through cities again – and to give every city a chance, no matter how bad the first impression is.
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