As I’ve been looking forward to revisiting Nice for years, and our last trip was cut short, I knew I had to get back at the end of summer. It feels kinda silly to visit a city again within a month, but we just felt we hadn’t seen everything we wanted. So we planned another weekend away. We left the Netherlands Thursday night by plane (more info on plane versus roadtrip in a later blogpost) and came back Monday morning, so we would have three more days in this beautiful city.
We started Friday morning by sleeping in. We agreed that this weekend away would be a chill one, one to get some rest as well as seeing some more highlights of Nice. We stayed at Le petit palais which is one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever stayed in, not too far from the city center and with a bed that was superduper comfortable. Our relaxing weekend away was off to a good start!
So after the amazing breakfast buffet, we set out to the city. The only plans for today were Vieux Nice and Museum Lascaris when it got too warm. It was August, after all, and the south of France can get quite hot in the summer months.
Vieux Nice or Vieille Ville
One of the highlights of the city that we didn’t get to the first time around, is Vieux Nice, or Old Nice. It’s the oldest part of the city and also the most bustling. I really loved the atmosphere here. There are all kinds of boutiques and restaurants. It kinda reminded me of the hippie markets on Ibiza.
Speaking of markets, these you’ll also find in the old city. If you want some provençal souvenirs, this is the place to be. Vendors sell everything from soap to bags of lavender, but if you’re in the mood for some fruit or if you wanna buy flowers, you’ll also find them here. You’ll find the market every day except Mondays, and from mid-May to mid-September there’s an artisan market at Cours Saleya where vendors sell jewelry, notebooks and other handmade items.
Besides the markets, there are some other great places in Vieux Nice that are definitely worth a visit. First stop? Fenocchio!
Fenocchio is Nice’s number one place to get ice cream. You haven’t been to Nice if you haven’t tried one of their more original flavors. We didn’t have time to check it out last time, so we had to visit on our first day back. Normally I’m a picky eater and don’t really like to try new things. I’m like an opposite foodie. But this I wanted to try! I had two flavours, namely Tomato/Basil and Rosemary, while boyfriend opted for the more ‘normal’ flavours: Lemon and Orange. Other ‘strange’ flavours the store offers are olive, rhubarb, avocado, cactus and beer. I really liked the rosemary icecream. It was very fresh and perfect for a summer’s day. The tomato/basil was… interesting. It kinda tasted like gazpacho ice cream. I didn’t really like it, though it wasn’t really gross or anything. Just, not really my thing. I’m glad I tried it, though!
Later this trip, we went back and I tried Green apple (which I didn’t really like) and vanilla. The vanilla was super yummy, as were the lemon and orange boyfriend had the first time. So even if you’re not craving weird flavours, you could also try Fenocchio for your regulars, as they are really good too!
And if you’re stopping at Fenocchio, get some macaroons at the place next door. Angea has the best macaroons in town. In fact, these were the best I ever had! The store also has some yummy looking frozen yoghurt if that’s your thing!
If you’ve had enough weird flavours or regular icecream, you can also find Bubble waffles in Old Nice! Walk towards Roberto 1er (mind, the pictures on google streetview are old, so it looks a little different) where you can eat bubble waffles with nutella and bueno’s!
Shopping
If you want to do some shopping in Old Nice, there are so many places you can go. It’s a true shopping valhalla and I absolutely loved just browsing the streets, do some window shopping and look at trinkets in the storefronts. Some stores I really loved were Savonnerie, which is located right next to Angea. The store sells soaps, bathbombs and other luxury products that look like cupcakes. All of it looked so beautiful and yummy and it smelled amazing! I bought a bathbomb that I tried out later that night and it turned the entire bath pink and smelling like roses and candy. Best of all: it didn’t leave any residue in the tub like Lush’s always do!
Another store that I loved was Nirvana, which had beautiful clothing, bags and amazing jewelry. Lastly: we found an art gallery that had the most beautiful pieces. I wanted to take it all home with me, but I couldn’t, because we only had hand luggage this time around. I’ll definitely come back to buy a couple of these pieces, or maybe I’ll order some online. The gallery was called WeMood.
Vieux Nice is definitely worth a visit when you’re traveling to Nice. It’s so quaint and charming, with gorgeous architecture, amazing restaurants and lovely shops. I really enjoyed spending some time here!
Wanderlust Wonderland 