What to do on a free day in Nice and a free day in Aix - en- Provence

"From Aix, where do you suggest? I would love better recommendations than what I came up with"

It might help if we knew what you were going to see on the tour of Provence?

IN Aix I enjoyed the atelier of Cezanne as well as the Granet and Granet XXe museums.

The tourist information office there also has some really good day tours in the area. My SIL did one to Cassis last summer and enjoyed it but they wished they'd done the full day tour instead of the half day tour.

Go to www.marcchagall.com the Marc Chagall National Museum which is up the hill from old town Nice. If you are an early bird and are there on a Market Day go to the Flower Market in Old Town. Aix-en-Provence has a lot of things going on. To keep an Art theme you can visit Cezanne's House & Studio. There is quite a range of places to eat in all price ranges. When in doubt go to a public farmers market and buy to go picnic food.

We just left both Aix & Nice. In Aix it was pouring. So we ended up visiting a cat bookstore called, Chat Petri (I believe) and the Cat Cafe. It's a great town to just wander.

Consider going to Monte Carlo for a few hours. The train is an easy go to the city. The sites were pretty cool walking up to the Casino. Much different than when I was there 20 years ago. We gambled on .01 Euro slots. If you want to see the real thing you must have your real passport and purchase a ticket. Another option would to visit Grasse and the making of perfume in Grasse at Fragonard. Walk along the Promenade des Anglais, it's a lovely walk. If you want other options wander around Vielle Nice, go the Colline Chateau on the hill (some great views), go to the #IloveNice sign. You can take a train to Menton, the last city in France before the Italian border or go to Cannes.

What would be your preference and when will you be in France?

Thank all 3 of you responders.
From Aix,
What about a day trip to ARLES for the Van Gogh sites and ambiance.
Per other posts on this forum, Arles seems to be universally enjoyed.
Is Arles doable without a car? Eg, by train &
bus or cab ? Is Uber or Lyft widely available in France?
Or, Would a car and driver be necessary to see the Van Gogh sites & enjoy the ambiance in Arles

Nice itself has plenty to do. If you want to see somewhere in Italy, Sanremo is very nice and interesting. Ventimiglia, less so.
From Aix, Lourmarin is a good day trip, or Marseille. Arles is not very easy.

If you visit Cezanne's Atelier, make sure that when you leave, you turn left at the sidewalk and walk up the hill. You can see Saint Victoire to your right. This is where Cezanne painted Saint Victoire.
Lourmarin is a very special place that I enjoyed immensely. Albert Camus lived there and is buried there--make sure you visit the lovely, small cemetery. His daughter still lived there when I last visited in 2018. There is a street in his name. The village itself is just lovely and quaint.

From Nice, we enjoyed Eze for a 1/2 day venture via bus. you can also get to Monaco.

You could visit the Hôtel de Caumont in Aix. Right now the exhibit is Muncha and the next exhibit opening there is Bonnard. https://www.caumont-centredart.com/en

I'm not certain what is on the rest of your itinerary and what time of year, but there are plenty of things to do on the French and Italian Riviera. I do like San Remo, but Bordighera is actually nicer. If you had a car, a visit to Dolceacqua and Apricale, two border towns, is nice (or simply take the train des Merveilles to Saorge and Tende -- two French border towns that used to be Italian until after WWII). You can take a ferry from Cannes to visit St. Honorat island (monastery, vineyard, gardens, tower) or from Nice/Cannes to visit Ste Marguerite (for lovely beaches and remote coves).

Uber is widely available in Nice (but not Monaco - pickups forbidden). It can be hit or miss in returning from villages by Uber.

Valbonne is a quaint town but for a first visit I'd prefer Mougins --- or for hill villages, the route from St. Paul de Vence to Vence to Tourettes sur Loup to Gourdon.

Arles is a couple of hours from Aix by train (change at Marseilles) or bus (change at Salon-de-Provence), or about an hour by car (then you have to park). It has very good Roman ruins, a Romanesque cathedral and cloister, multiple places connected with Van Gogh, and an excellent Roman museum on its western outskirts. Seeing all that in just a day would be a lot, but you could choose your priorities for a day trip.

In Nice, I'd suggest the Chagall museum and/or the Matisse Museum (now closed, not sure when it will reopen). The Promenade des Anglais and beachfront are a nice walk, Vieille Nice is also fun to explore. There's a Russian Orthodox cathedral (built for Nicholas II and restored by Putin), which is a good choice if you're interested in that architecture and iconography without going to Russia or other parts of Eastern Europe. If you have only one day, I'd say spend it in Nice rather than elsewhere on the Riviera, but there are frequent short train rides to other places along the coast in both directions.