Nice for a week

The easiest day trips are to Antibes, Villefranche, Monaco and Eze. Nice itself is a wonderful place to stay and explore.

Thank you and I will look into these places. Are any worth spending a couple of days at? Thank you.

The places Suki mentioned, which are good suggestions, are pretty much day trips from Nice. Nice itself has enough to enjoy for several days. Here are our host's suggestions for Nice, and you'll also find other Riviera suggestions under "Explore Europe" on this website.

I wasn't bowled over by Avignon, but I didn't spend enough time there to make a fair assessment. I wouldn't call it a "tourist trap" though. But don't worry, your bike trip will surely take you to many other great places in Provence.

Menton, near the Italian border has at least a couple of nice gardens. Neither is right in the town; one is within walking distance of the town's second rail station (the one on the east side of town).

The Villa Ephrussi de Rotschild is interesting in itself and has nice gardens.

I think Genoa's too far from Nice, given how many good, convenient options there are.

It's worth stopping at the tourist office right outside the Nice Ville train station to see what the folks there might suggest for you.

All great comments. Looks like it might be best to stay the week in Nice and take day trips by train or bus.

Curious what bike tour you found, 4 of us will be traveling there in July & all love road cycling so looking for recommendations- thank you!

The bike tour is: Cylcle Provence by Explore. Tourradar has a bunch of good trips listed. Hope you and your friends have a wonderful time!

Another day trip not mentioned earlier is St Paul de Vence, could also be combined with Vence (the larger of two and a bit less touristed).

We have friends who live in Antibes, and I have been there to visit twice, both April trips. Other responders have mentioned several of the places you can go from that area, particularly the hill towns. We went east and west along the coast, as far as St Tropez and Cassis to the west and Monaco to the east. Also took a trip from Antibes up into Provence as far as Aix. Went up into the Maritime Alps to the ski area called Valberg. On each trip we went into Italy for the day to some of the towns in the Piedmont region. There is a great walk along the coastal cliffs with small pocket beaches outside of Antibes (Cap d' Antibes).

As far as accomodations in Nice, I am staying at Hotel Arome in April. I have not stayed here before, but it sounds like a great place. The location is right behind the high end Hotel Negressco and only a 5 minute walk to the sea. The reviews are wonderful - a 9.6 on Booking.com! The communication I have had with them has been stellar and I am really looking forward to staying there. You can get a single comfort room for 105 euro a night. https://aromehotelnice.com/en/

We enjoyed taking the Train des Pignes up into the mountains to the town of Entreavaux. Things there were VERY sleepy (this was in December) but it is an atmospheric and attractive village for walking around, photography, etc. I think April is too early for the steam train version of the Train des Pignes, but given how focused the region is on the sea, it was nice to spend a day amid the hills and forests.

I stayed at Hotel Solara as a solo traveler and loved the location on a pedestrian only street leading to the Place Massena. Very convenient, clean, budget friendly. I had a room on an upper floor at the back and had no noise issue at all. It was easy to take the tram from Place Massena to the train station for day trips and also only a couple of blocks from the Promenade des Anglais and the beach. Close to the Marche au Fleurs, the famous fountain of the sun, etc.. It's been several years since I stayed there but I checked and it still gets a 9.7 (excellent) rating on booking.com, which is great for such an inexpensive place to stay. I would definitely stay there again.

If you like nature and walks be sure to walk up to castle hill park for the marvelous views of Nice and the waterfront. Also, if you do a day trip to Monaco definitely walk through the Exotic Garden, it was one of my favorite experiences. I was there in mid-summer so not sure of the weather in April, it may be more likely to rain but will definitely be cooler.

All great suggestions, thank you! I especially like the suggestion to take the train into the hills for forest walks!

I ended up booking a room in Old Nice in an airbnb. I'm hoping it will be fun to walk the narrow streets and that it will still be easy to access the trains and buses although I have not looked into that yet.

Nice offers excellent transit connections. We spent two weeks there a few years ago in an apartment rental, wonderful. There are multiple choices of easy day trips too.

Depending on where you book in the Old Town, it can be a bit far from the train station. Since there it is pedestrian, staying on the far edge, especially in the corner next to the sea (far end of Cours Saleya), can lead to a longer walk to catch the tram to the station. Note that certain squares/corners are more noisy, like the main market, near the bars and Place Rosetti, although this is not as bad in April compared to August.

An alternative to the trains des pignes is the Trains des Merveilles --- the special narrated service isn't available in April but you can take the same exact train to Saorge and Tende. It corkscrews up the inside of the mountains at points along the track. These are mountain villages, so check the weather -- Tende is near the Mercantour National Park.

If you go to Cap Ferrat, you can take the walk around the Cap, along the coast. Many people head there to tour the Villa Ephrussi, with the pink villa and extensive, beautiful gardens. There is also a nice hike/walk (mostly paved, really) up Mont Boron all the way to Fort Alban (from the old port of Nice, midway from the bus, or the steep climb from Villefranche-sur-Mer). Of course, there is always Castle Hill/Le Chateau in Nice, with stairs heading from Old Nice.

You can take a train into Italy. Genoa is a bit far, however, for a day trip (like 3+ hrs each way). You can take a shorter train in Ventimiglia (55 minutes), the bit gritty border down with a big and popular market on Fridays. There are also the resort towns of Bordighera (1h20) and San Remo (1h40). But Menton is also very heavily Italianate.

Great information! I love the idea of the train corkscrewing up the mountain and the national park! So many great things to look into. Thank you!