3 Days in Nice | 2 Sample Itineraries & Top Things to Do

So, you’re planning a trip to southern France and want to spend 3 days in Nice? Awesome – I’m so excited for you. Nice is one of my favorite cities in all of France and the French Riviera is delightful and charming and glitzy and is absolutely worth visiting.

I’ve visited France 10 different times, including three separate trips to the French Riviera. I’ve traveled all over the country and traveled through France in every season of the year.

Nice remains one of my top favorite cities in France, and I’m here to help you put together the best southern France vacation. Basically, I’m your France planning bestie.

This guide is structured into two different options for spending a 3 day Nice itinerary.

The first sample itinerary is designed for someone who is visiting Nice and then continuing on to visit more of the French Riviera. So, this option focuses mainly on Nice itself and some of its neighboring villages.

The second sample itinerary is designed for someone who is spending 3 days in Nice, which will be the entirety of their visit to the French Riviera. So, this option includes what to see and do in Nice, as well as where else to visit along the French Riviera coastline.

Where to Stay During Your 3 Days in Nice

These are my top three picks for great accommodation options in Nice. Each hotel is top-rated, in a great location, and has good rooms and amenities.

• Palais Saleya Boutique Hotel: Nestled in the heart of Old Town, this hotel offers spacious, modern, and comfortable suites, making it an ideal choice for those wanting to stay in the middle of the action.
• Hotel Suisse: The location of this hotel is phenomenal – right at the top of the Promenade des Anglais and with breathtaking sea views. Hotel Suisse provides luxurious accommodations, spacious rooms, and high-end amenities for a truly upscale experience.
• Hotel Florence: With its bright, stylish, and contemporary rooms, this hotel sits in a prime location, perfectly situated between the beach, Promenade, Old Town, and the train station, offering convenience and style.

Option A For Your 3 Day Nice Itinerary

This plan is perfect for anyone planning a broader trip to the French Riviera and wanting to spend 3 days actually in or right by Nice itself before heading out to other locations.

With three days, you can really get a deep dive into the city, with plenty of time to see the top sights, explore the hidden gems, and participate in some fun activities, plus discover a couple of spots just barely outside Nice’s city limits.

Day 1: Explore Nice’s Top Sites

Walk the Promenade des Anglais

The Promenade des Anglais is one of Nice’s main attractions, featuring an expansive walkway that hugs the coastline for 4.5 miles (7km), lined with palm trees and elegant buildings.

This wide Promenade provides abundant space for walking, jogging, and relaxing as you watch people go by. There is also a bike path that’s popular among cyclists.

Stop in at the Hotel Negresco and/or Villa Massena grounds as you walk, both historic buildings in Nice.

The Promenade is seriously one of the best places to visit in Nice, and I always come here at least a couple of times during my visit to Nice to take in the sea views and enjoy the sunrise or sunset.

Explore Old Town

Old Town is truly the heart of Nice – it’s a historic area of narrow, meandering streets painted in shades of gold, orange, pink, and red, filled with stunning squares and age-old churches.

Old Town is also home to many top-rated restaurants, with little tables spilling out on the streets, and many shops and boutiques selling local products, including olive oil, spices and herbs, lavendar, candy, soaps (all of which make for great souvenirs)

Make sure you stop in at the Marché aux Fleurs, a sprawling open-air market open from 7am-1pm, and the pretty Place Rossetti.

Castle Hill

Castle Hill is located at the beginning of the Promenade des Anglais and towers over Old Town and the coast. Even though the original castle isn’t there anymore, the hill is still packed with viewpoints and places to explore.

First off, you get breathtaking views over the Promenade des Anglais on one side and the Port on the other. The hill is also home to a waterfall, some archeological ruins, a playground for kids, walking paths, and a sizable Christian and Jewish cemetery at the rear.

Port lympia

The Port of Nice, also known as Port Lympia is one of the most important harbors on the French Mediterranean. I love a leisurely stroll through the port – it’s a charming combination of speedboats, fishing boats, sailboats, and larger yachts against the painted background of the colorful buildings surrounding the port.

The Port of Nice, or Port Lympia, is a noteworthy harbor along the French Mediterranean. The port is a delightful mix of speedboats, fishing boats, sailboats, and larger yachts, all set against the vibrant backdrop of colorful buildings that encircle the port. I love a leisurely stroll through the Port.

Place Massena

Place Massena, nestled between Jardin Albert I and Old Town, showcases striking neoclassical architecture and the standout Fontaine du Soleil, and its statue of Apollo.

The square is framed by red and ochre buildings, while the ground features a unique black and white checkerboard design, making it a truly impressive space.

Jardin Albert I + Promenade du Paillon

Nice is home to a sprawling garden street that extends northward from the Promenade des Anglais, creating a green divide between Old Town and the Carré d’Or in New Town.

At the southern end, near the sea and Place Massena, lies Jardin Albert I, featuring walkways, well-kept lawns, a variety of flowers and plants, and several prominent sculptures.

Moving north past Place Massena, you enter the Promenade du Paillon. This slimmer section of the park has multiple fun spots, including sculptures and a dynamic children’s playground.

Make sure to check out the Fontaine Miroir d’Eau, a shallow reflecting “pool” featuring a grid of small fountains that turn on throughout the day. It’s essentially an interactive splash pad, inviting visitors to walk through and enjoy the water.

Hit Up Nice’s Beaches

Hitting the beach in Nice is a must-do, regardless of the season. Although the beaches in Nice are rocky, they’re still considered some of the best beaches on the French Riviera.

Sure, the water is perfect for cooling off during the summer, but even when the temps are chilly, you’ll find folks soaking up the sunset, enjoying a drink, or having a picnic by the evening waves.

The coastline stretches for miles, dotted with both private beach clubs and public beach spots. You can throw down a towel at the public beaches or rent a sun lounger and umbrella or grab a bite at the beach clubs scattered along the shore.

Sunset

Sunsets in Nice are magnificient, as you get incredible colors setting along the far end of the coastline. The best spots to enjoy the sunset are anywhere along the beach or Promenade des Anglais, or up on Castle Hill overlooking the Promenade.

Day 2: Activity in Nice + Cimiez + Villefranche-sur-Mer

MORNING

The longer I’ve traveled, the more I value finding great local activities to do, outside of just visiting the top attractions. For example, I’ve loved doing food tours, bike tours, cooking classes, boat cruises, or other activities that allow you to experience regional culture and interact with a local.

I think this adds a ton of interest and value to your trip – and often these experiences end up being among the most memorable of our entire vacation.

That being said, here are a few options for interesting and unique activities to do in Nice:

>>Provencal Food Tour

I’m a big fan of food tours, and the food tour of Provencal specialties I did on my last trip to Nice was a highlight. We explored the market, tasting produce, olives, and other delicacies, and visited a historic candy shop for traditional candied fruits and nuts.

We savored a charcuterie board with local cheese, meats, and market-fresh tomatoes and grapes. The tour also included unique Nicoise dishes like tarte de blettes, socca, and petit farcis nicoise, alongside samples of Provencal olive oil, balsamic vinegar, local wines, and more.

I’d highly recommend it!

>>Wine Tasting

If you’re into French wine or just like the idea of spending an afternoon tasting some of the world’s top wines, consider this: a French wine tasting session.

Held in the quaint setting of a wine shop in Old Town, an experienced sommelier leads you through the experience of smelling, tasting, and savoring five unique wines grown in Provence, covering red, white, and rosé.

>>Perfume Workshop

The French Riviera is world famous for its flower production and perfume creation. Indeed, the Marché aux Fleurs in Nice’s Old Town originally was created to sell flowers to perfumeries.

While the town of Grasse is considered the capital of perfume in France, you can visit historic perfumeries in several cities in southern France, including Nice!

In Nice, one great experience is participating in a perfume-making workshop at Molinard, a top French perfumerie. You’ll get to actually sample and select the fragrances you want to include in your perfume, and then fill your bottle with the fragrances you’ve selected.

I did this exact experience in Grasse, but if you’re just spending 3 days in Nice, you can enjoy the same workshop right in the heart of Nice’s Old Town.

>>Boat Cruise

Being on the Mediterranean’s azure waters is an incredible experience when visiting Nice, and the Riviera’s coastline is stunning, with its rocky coves, inlets, and elegant villas enhancing the view as you dip your toes in the sea.

This experience offers a one-hour private cruise on a solar-powered boat, taking you along the French coast. You’ll glide past charming villages and grand villas – an idyllic way to spend a morning in Nice during the warmer months.

AFTERNOON

Discover the Cimiez Neighborhood

Cimiez, an elegant and historically rich neighborhood in the northern part of Nice, has a rich past. Known as Cemenelum during the Roman era, it was home to several classic Roman buildings, highlighting its ancient heritage.

There are a plethora of interesting sites to visit in the area. I’d call this entire neighborhood of one Nice’s top hidden gems, as most visitors forego coming here. These are a few of the top places you can’t miss in Cimiez:

• Matisse Museum: Henri Matisse, a key figure in modern art, spent his later years in Nice, where he also passed away. The Matisse Museum in Nice showcases a vast array of his art, including paintings, sketches, sculptures, and stained glass, highlighting his experimentation across styles and mediums.

• Chagall Museum: Marc Chagall, a Belarusian Jewish artist who spent much of his adult life in France, was renowned for his vibrant use of color in modernist paintings. The Chagall Museum in Nice focuses on his Biblical series, featuring large-scale, stunning depictions of Biblical scenes alongside other works.

• Monastery of Cimiez + Gardens: The Monastery of Cimiez is a quiet but beautiful church that has ceiling murals depicting religious scenes, alongside a small museum in the cloisters near the entrance. Don’t overlook the monastery’s exquisite gardens, and the pretty views over Nice at the back of the garden.

• Arènes de Cimiez + Jardins d’Arènes: The Arènes de Cimiez is the ruins of an ancient Roman amphitheater, and adjacent is a large garden, where you can stroll through olive trees and past petanque courts (a popular park game in France). This is a favorite spot for locals in the neighborhood.

• Excelsior Regina Palace: This hotel was built in the 1800’s to host royalty and nobles who visited Nice to escape the harsh northern European winter. In particular, Queen Victoria of England loved visiting Nice and stayed in this hotel. Today, it is an apartment building, but the historic structure stands just next to the Arènes de Cimiez.

• Archeological Museum of Nice Cimiez: This showcases objects, statues, and columns from the Roman era in Nice, and outside visitors can explore the ruins of Roman thermal baths. While this is only a so-so attraction for me overall, some of the outside ruins are really fascinating.

Villefranche-sur-Mer

From Cimiez, head down to the Nice train station and take it over to Villefranche, a charming, colorful, fishing village just around the corner from Nice.

In Villefranche, stroll through the colorful streets, especially along Rue Volti, one of the prettiest streets in all of southern France. Spend a relaxing evening walking and dining on Quai de l’Amiral Courbet.

Admire Jean Cocteau’s paintings on the walls of Chapelle St Pierre. Don’t miss visiting the Citadel for a dive into history. Take a scenic walk on the Chemin de la Ronde pathway leading to the port, and explore the unique tunnel streets of Rue Obscure.

Day 3: Hidden Gems + Cap Ferrat

NICE

Start your day by walking up Avenue Jean Medecin, a lively, bustling street known for its shopping opportunities.

Head over to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, officially called the Cathédrale Saint-Nicolas de Nice, which offers a surprising touch of Russia in the center of Nice. Constructed to serve the significant Russian community that had established itself in the city by the early 20th century, the church was finished in 1912.

The exterior features the iconic onion domes typical of Russian Orthodox churches, while the interior is lavishly adorned with colorful decorations, gold leafing, and mural paintings on the walls and ceilings. It’s free for visitors to enter, and is certainly an architecturally notable building in Nice!

Cap Ferrat

By late morning to noon, head over to Cap Ferrat, the large peninsula just to the west of Nice. Here, you can indulge in beautiful beaches, a charming small town, two luxurious villas to tour, and a beautiful coastal pathway around the perimeter of the cape.

Start in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, where you can visit the stately Greek-style villa, Villa Kerylos. Then head to the far side of Plage de la Fourmis, where you can start walking the Sentier du Littoral (the coastal path) around Cap Ferrat.

You’ll quickly come to the charming village of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and its fun beach, Plage Cros dei Pin.

From here, continue on the Sentier du Littoral path, which takes you to the Jardin de la Paix and around one corner of the peninsula.

This section takes you past a church and cemetery, next to craggly coastline and into tiny coves, including the truly stunning Plage Paloma, one of the most celebrated beaches on the French Riviera.

From here, you’ll pass two more relaxed and laidback beaches before continuing around the point of the cape and back towards the mainland. This is the most remote section of the trail, and the views are stunning.

As you approach the mainland, you’ll be hiking next to inlets and coves, often with stone stairs leading down to the water and small rocky areas to lay out. It is a stunning location.

When you’re done with the hike, stop by Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, an opulent mansion and grounds open to the public on Cap Ferrat.

The hike is flat and easy, but is about 10 km (6 miles) total to circle the whole peninsula. If you don’t want to do the entire hike, you can easily just do a small section of it and visit the towns, the beaches, and the villas.

I have an entire post dedicated to visiting Cap Ferrat and hiking the Sentier du Littoral, so check that out for all the details!

Option B for 3 Days in Nice

This 3-day itinerary for Nice is perfect for anyone who just has 3 days for Nice and the surrounding French Riviera region. If you’re basing yourself in Nice but want to explore the incredible cities and villages in the surrounding countryside, then this is a great itinerary for you.

Day 1: Explore Nice’s Top Sites

For this day, you’ll follow the exact same itinerary as in Option A, hitting up these attractions in Nice:

• Promenade des Anglais
• Old Town
• Castle Hill
• Port Lympia
• Place Massena
• Jardin Albert I and Promenade du Paillon
• Beach
• Sunset

Day 2: Villefranche + Menton

MORNING – VILLEFRANCHE

Today, you’ll start in Villefranche, and visit the same attractions that we mentioned in Day 2 of Option A. Check out my post all about the best things to do in Villefranche-sur-Mer for more details.

AFTERNOON – MENTON

In the afternoon, take the train from Villefranche to Menton, which is one of my absolute favorite places in all of southern France. This town is sunny and cheery, and the Old Town is filled with beautiful colorful buildings that rise up a hill and is topped with a large cathedral.

A beautiful beach sits right under Old Town, and there’s a human-made jetty that protects the beach, creating a calm and shallow swimming area. The views from the jetty back to the beach and Old Town are *chefs kiss* perfection.

Menton is also home to many lovely gardens to visit, as the micro-climate is particularly good for growing plants and flowers.

The closest to Old Town is the Jardin Botanique de Val Rahmeh, where you can wander the paths through the gardens, admiring the villa, the unique plants and flowers, and the Mediterranean views.

Check out my detailed guide about the best things to do in Menton for more information.

Day 3: Day Trip to the Greater French Riviera

For your last day in Nice, I’d recommend doing a guided tour to hit up several more of the top cities and towns on the French Riviera.

These guided tours are small group and allow you to cover a lot of ground with just one day, taking care of the logistics and sharing interesting information about all the places you’re visiting.

Here are two great options:

>>Whirlwind Tour of the Riviera Full Day Tour

This full-day Best of the Riviera Day Tour is small group (max 8 travelers) and packs in visits to 6 incredible cities and villages along the French Riviera, offering a quick glimpse into each one’s unique charm.

You’ll spend time in places like Antibes, Cannes, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Eze, La Turbie, and Monaco, with about an hour at most stops and a bit longer in Monaco, plus opportunities for scenic photos along the way.

While it’s more of a whirlwind visit than a deep dive into each location, it’s perfect for those looking to sample the diverse charm of southern France. I’ve been to all the places on this day tour, and they are each exceptionally beautiful cities and towns.

Check current prices and availability for this day trip here

>>Highlights of the Riviera Tour

The Highlights of the Riviera Tour is a small group tour (maximum 8 travelers) that combines visits to quaint villages with the glamour of Monaco. This day trip starts in Eze, a picturesque hilltop village with stunning sea views (and is one of my favorite spots in southern France).

Next, you’ll discover La Turbie, an overlooked hilltop village celebrated for its breathtaking views of Monaco and its ancient Roman monument.

The day trip concludes in Monaco, where you’ll explore the Prince’s Palace, wander through Old Town’s historic sites, and cap off the visit with a stop at the Monte Carlo Casino.

Check current prices and availability for this day trip here

Wrapping Up Your Perfect Nice Itinerary

After spending quite a bit of time in Nice, I truly think these two itineraries are your best options for how to maximize your time in Nice – it just depends on what your preferences are for your French Riviera vacation.