Nieztsche Trail to Eze - do we dare?

I walked the Nieztsche trail from Eze-le-Village down to Eze-Bord-de-Mer just this past December. (If it is a longer trail, I only walked that section.) It was the highlight of my week in Provence and the Riviera. (Note that I did it in the winter, when temperatures were just warm, and I did it at the end of the day, at 4 pm.) I was apprehensive (since the RS book called it so steep), but I had really been disappointed with Eze's old town. I speak a bit of French, and I asked an old man coming up with what appeared to be his granddaughter how long going down would take. He said about an hour. I was nervous to be hiking alone on an empty trail in case it turned dark. The man told me to at least try it. I love nature walking (I'm no hiker, but I love to walk nature trails in parks [and I loved the Cinque Terre trails!]), and his advice was wonderful. It took me about 45 minutes from Eze-le-Village to Eze-Bord-de-Mer. It is steep [especially at the end in the paved part], but more important than that, it is quite rocky in places [I slipped once and went down, but no harm]. The views are wonderful (ravine views for the first 30 minutes, then the coast [including Cap Ferrat] comes into view!!), and since I had missed La Turbie's La Trophee des Alpes [went on the day it was closed!], I was so happy I did this. The trail ends steps away from a bus 100 stop, which will take you either to Nice or Monaco. I'm not from California (but my sister is!), so I would compare the walk to the Niagara Glen and Whirlpool trails in Niagara Falls, Ontario, only a little steeper (but not as bad as the initial Whirlpool descent). I wouldn't hike up, either :) At the bottom, you look up and can't see Eze-le-Village. I loved doing this alone, but I know I would've enjoyed it more with a friend or family member. Please strongly consider this trail!

Having done this, I would recommend you take some water and a good sun hat if you do it in July or August. In July last summer, up to Eze-le-Village from the train station at Eze-sur-Mer was HOT and in the sun all the way.

Thank you very much for your responses, Kyla your input especially - we will put the trail on our 'to do' list. We too did the Cinque Terre trails and had read about how dangerous they were - heck, I would have taken my Mom on those trails.

I figure if anyone can survive hiking around Hawaii Volcano National Park - you can survive anything. That was amazing, but very hot and smelly in parts.

Depending on our time, and plans for that day - I may even attempt to go up the hill. If we do, I'll be sure to let you know what we thought of that. Othberwise, we will definitely take the beautiful climb down the hill.

Thanks again, have a good day

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. LOL

I completely agree Brad! We have trails near our home and they are graded 1 -5, with 1 being easy and 5 hard. We hadn't walked these trails so on our first time out to do this, I selected the trail graded a 5 without knowing it.

When we finally reached the peak of the mountain (I believe it is a 1200 ft elevation change in 1.3 miles), I thought my husband was going to kill me. When we got home, I looked at the trail maps and discovered he had done the most difficult climb and I told my husband to look at the bright side: We survived the worst, now we can enjoy the less difficult trails. He didn't see humor in this, not sure why!

Anyway, we go in October and I'll let you know if we survive the walk and how much bickering I had to listen to on the way :)

Hello everybody,
just want to point your attention on this site about the Cinque Terre Italy.
Also on line a complete guide for Hiking the 5 Terre and some interesting video on the blog so you can have an idea of what the paths looks like..

If you handled the Monterosso to Venrazza hike in Cinque Terre, this trail will not be a problem. Views are much better going down, but...the only semi dnagerous part of this walk are the few rather steep pitches with very loose gravel. So actually a little safer to climb it, but if you're not afraid of gravel sliding underneath and forcing you to take a seat and enjoy the view, highly recommended. Like another poster above, Eze le Village was ok, but for me very toursity (insanely so). If you really like hiking and want to see the best view in the Riveria, stay on the bus past Eze to Col D'eze, and follow the signs for Fort Revere. The highlight of our trip to Cote d'azur. An astonishing parc well above Eze, with picnic tables and benches. Then you can follow a marked trail down to Eze le Village and from there, follow the Nieztsche Trail or take the bus.

We thought the Cinque Terre walks were very easy - other than a couple sections where the path is narrow, I would have taken my mother on them. However, after we walked all of them (stopping for gelato in each town), I pulled out the map and it tells you how long the walk between towns should be. We did each one in about 1/2 the time - if that tells you how fast we walk. We didn't know how long they would take, and we didn't want to be caught in the dark - so we walked, fast.

Tim - I'd love to do the walk you mentioned. Do you know what bus number that was, or do you know how far Col D'Eze is from the Eze stop? And, are we talking Eze Village or Bord-De-Mer? My guess is we'd take the bus from Nice to Eze Village, but stay on until we see Col D'Eze? Then is the signage easy to find so we can walk down to the village?

I hear the village is very touristy, so we planned to only stay long enough for some pictures, wander for a bit, and then walk.....

If anyone is familiar with other walks in this area (around Nice), please feel free to share. We're going to try to walk from Villefranche to Nice if we can locate a coastal path, possibly Cap Ferrat and that's about all I've looked into at this point.

Thanks