Last summer we spent the second half of August traveling around France. Our trip began in Paris where we spent four nights before we took a train to the south of France where we stayed in Aix-en-Provence for five nights and then drove to Nice in our rental car. This was a long anticipated vacation that concluded with a week in the French Riviera soaking in the sun, looking at art, indulging in the best wines and so much more.
I started planning our August vacation to France about ten months in advance and this family travel guide is a look at our six days vacationing along the Côte d’Azur with our children, ages eleven and six. There is an abundance of information about this region online and it is a time-consuming task to sort through it all. For some, this can be overwhelming. This guide shows how I designed a vacation tailored to our interests as a family. It can also serve as a template for vacations that cultivate quality time with loved ones in new surroundings. Our mission when planning all of our family vacations has always been to balance the needs and interests of the children and adults while also prioritizing safety, comfort and ease. For more on the basic parameters for planning and implementing a successful family vacation in general, take a look at my complete family travel guide.
Transportation
Even though we flew into Paris, we departed from the airport in Nice. This was a convenient option for us since our airline of choice, Delta, services direct nine-hour flights from Nice to New York City (JFK airport). This was the first vacation arriving and departing from different airports and this strategy turned out to be far more efficient than using one airport. If we returned to the airport in Paris, the high speed train from Nice to Paris is almost six hours and we would have lost an entire day backtracking to the airport in Paris. We will continue to use different airports for future vacations given the ease and benefit of covering more ground in less time.
We drove to Nice in the rental car that we had been using during our stay in Provence. It took about two hours for us to arrive in Nice, fill up the tank at a gas station and park the car at the designated drop off location. I will admit that it was a relief to leave the car at the Nice train station as soon as we arrived in the city. Even though it was liberating to have our own car in Provence, I correctly predicted that it would have been a burden to use along the coast. The winding and narrow roads of Nice and the other towns we visited would have been too complicated and stressful for me to navigate. Plus, it would have been less convenient and pricey to keep the car in Nice because our hotel charged a daily fee for its valet parking service. We happily used taxis and Ubers to get around without any problems.
Hotel
Once I decided that we would stay in Nice, I searched for a hotel that has an outdoor pool and is walking distance to the beach. With this in mind, I booked the Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée for seven nights through Hotels.com for $4,066. This hotel is within the prominent building of the Palais de la Méditerranée along the Promenade des Anglais running alongside the beach and just a couple blocks away from the historical landmark Hotel Negresco. I looked into the Hotel Negresco but it would have cost at least double what we paid and based on TripAdvisor.com reviews, it did not seem worth the money. The Hyatt was a perfect fit for us because of its outdoor/indoor pool on the second floor terrace overlooking the Promenade des Anglais. Our deluxe room had two queen beds and a balcony facing the hills of Nice that made for a comfortable stay with soft bedding and towels, quality toiletries and excellent customer service. Our reservation included a full breakfast buffet served daily on the second floor terrace where we had a wide variety to chose from every morning.
Private Beach Clubs
After consulting with a well-traveled friend, we ruled out day trips to trendy tourist hot spots such at Saint-Tropez and Cannes. Instead, I sought out recommended beaches not too far from Nice that looked family-friendly and unbelievably beautiful. I also made reservations ahead of time at the private beach clubs and later rearranged these reservations with the assistance of our hotel concierge after we arrived in Nice. The private beaches are a little pricey and can range from €25 to €50 per lounge chair. This always included umbrellas and most times towels but in a few cases, we had to pay an additional fee for towels. It is also a little more expensive to reserve chairs in the first row right in front of the water which we did in order to be close to the kids while they were in the water. On top of the other charges, these beaches offer full drink and food service at the lounge chairs or at tables just behind the lounge chairs, at inflated prices. Even though our beach days were expensive, especially when we ate lunch and enjoyed adult beverages, it was worth it. The service was friendly and efficient, the food was yummy and the wine was divine. It was hassle-free and it gave us the freedom to go and explore after we left the beach because we were not weighed down with beach gear.
Nice
There is so much to love about Nice and its surroundings where we were immersed in the vibrant colors that dance across the paintings of Henri Matisse. This icon of the twentieth century lived in this region of France through the end of his life and his legacy is felt throughout. As much as I would have liked to visit the Musee Matisse in Nice or the Rosary Chapel designed by Matisse in Vence, we ran out of time. However, we were in an environment where the paintings of Matisse and other artistic giants came to life. I felt a sense of accomplishment just being in the places commonly referred to in the titles of countless works of art that until now were just locations that held no meaning for me.
Our hotel has a partnership with the private beach club Sporting Plage just across the way from the hotel’s entrance. This beach club accommodated us with front row chairs, umbrellas and towels at a special rate for hotel guests. We came prepared with water shoes for everyone because the big rocks of this beach are painful if barefoot. Beware parents of small children because the currents are strong due to a sharp drop a few steps from the water’s edge. We stayed close to our kids when we were in the water. Even though we knew to expect the rocky beach and rough water, I felt that our first beach day had to be in Nice. We did enjoy lounging by the water where we indulged in light snacks and refreshing drinks. It is definitely worth a visit for adults and families with older kids who are strong swimmers.
Afterwards we walked into town to find lunch after 2:00 pm when most kitchens have stopped serving lunch, so it took a while before we found somewhere to eat. Keep in mind that numerous restaurants and cafes either close or only sell beverages between lunch and dinner which is roughly from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm. We had a late lunch, went back to the hotel to let the kids swim and went to dinner later that evening around 8:30 pm. As a family and as our kids are getting older, while on vacation we have become accustomed to eating dinner later in the evenings and tend to eat around 8:30 pm or later.
Later in the week and after a day at the beach in Villefranche sur Mer, we returned to Nice via Uber and took the elevator up to Colline du Château (Castle Hill) where we took in the panoramic views over Nice. The elevator entrance, “Ascenseur du Chateau,” is just off of the Promenade des Anglais. The Hotel Suisse Nice is a good landmark to help find this slightly hidden entrance. This elevator is free of charge and is open to the public the following times: 8:30 am to 6:00 pm from October 1st to March 31st and 8:30 am to 8:00 pm from April 1st to September 30th. There is also the option to walk up the hundreds of stairs that wind their way to the top.
Once we were back at street level, we ventured into the streets of Vieux Nice to find a place to eat dinner. We ended up at Marcel Bistro Chic where we had an amazing meal that appealed to everyone in the family. Over the course of our entire trip in France we had to sometimes approach dinner in two rounds by feeding the kids first and then going to another restaurant where the adults could indulge in not so kid-friendly cuisine. The staff at Marcel Bistro Chic were so accommodating, welcoming and warm that we made reservations to return the following evening for our final night in Nice.
Walking back to the hotel after dinner that evening, we finally found the Mirror Water Fountain inside Parc du Paillon. We looked for this water park earlier in the week with no luck. We could not find the entrance because I thought we could simply enter through the Jardin Albert 1er (Albert Garden) that starts at the Promenade des Anglais. This is not one unified park but is divided into sections and the water fountains are in the section just off of the Place Masséna. Even though it was about 9:00 pm on the evening that we had finally found it, we let the kids run through because they were still wearing their bathing suits and water shoes from earlier in the day.
On our last full day in Nice we set out on foot to the Musée d’art Moderne et d’art Contemporain (MAMAC). This is a quiet but impressive museum and I thoroughly enjoyed walking through their permanent collection galleries of 1960s French art by artists such as Yves Klein, Nikki Saint-Phalle, Christo, Arman, François Dufrêne, Raymond Hains, Jacques de la Villeglé and Mimmo Rotella. There was even a gallery of American Pop Art and Color Field where I ran into one of Morris Louis’s Unfurled paintings – a pleasant surprise and blast from my past. There were other temporary exhibitions that were equally compelling and we eventually made our way up to the rooftop terrace for one last chance to take in vistas of beautiful Nice. The opportunity to visit this museum among others outside of Paris during this vacation was something that I had been looking forward to and this museum visit was the perfect way to spend our final day in France. The kids benefitted from a walk back through the Mirror Water Fountain, yummy gelato and more time to swim at the hotel.
Monaco
One day we took an Uber to Monaco where we had reserved four lounge chairs for the private beach club La Note Bleue. We were underwhelmed by this man-made beach experience. Everything about the small pebbles, the water, even the fish in the water felt staged, generic, superficial and downright manufactured. It did not help that we were surrounded by cranes and construction. I do not recommend a beach day in Monaco.
A scenic walk from the beach up to the Casino de Monte-Carlo made up for the disappointing beach experience. We worked our way up from the coast through the Jardin Japonaise de Monaco and through a series of garden terraces that overlooked the port and were decorated with interesting pieces of sculpture that eventually led to the casino and opera house. When we arrived at the casino and opera house, I was probably more excited about the Anish Kapoor reflective sculpture in the circular lawn in front of the casino.
After our visit to Vatican City the previous summer, this day trip to Monaco was a thrill for our kids to have visited the two smallest countries in the world. Ubers are only permitted to drop off in Monaco but not to pick up passengers and we were informed by our Uber driver that a taxi back to Nice would have been expensive. Luckily, we caught the bus from Monaco to the Port of Nice that charged €1.50 per person. I do not think you can beat paying €6 for a family of four to return to Nice. The bus route took us along the winding roads of the coast and not surprisingly the bus was clean, the service was friendly and the trip was an unexpected adventure for the kids. Monaco is a place to admire the fanciest of sport cars, designer boutiques, luxury hotels and perhaps do some light sight-seeing. It was not high on my list of priorities but my family expressed interest and we will always have special memories from our day in Monaco.
Saint Jean Cap Ferrat
Another day was spent at the private beach club of Plage de Passable in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat and it was exactly the beach experience that we had been seeking. The beautiful calm waters and breathtaking surroundings made for a relaxing afternoon lounging about while the kids were free to go into the water on their own. The pebbles on this beach were small, not painful and clearly the work of Mother Nature. Even though we were prepared, there was no need for water shoes. We ate lunch at this beach’s restaurant where we had a delicious meal complimented with a bottle of rosé – no complaints here.
After the beach, we walked up the hill to the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild where we were bought tickets for entrance at the time of our arrival to tour this property once inhabited by Baroness Béatrice de Rothschild in the early part of the twentieth century. The kids were engaged as they walked through the interior of this historic villa with the audio visual devices that were available at the guest services desk. We were mesmerized by the musical water fountain that sprung up in time to classical tunes that could be heard from inside and drew us out to the second floor balcony were we admired the water show. After walking around the grounds and taking in the amazing views from high up we returned to our hotel. This was a perfectly balanced day that began on a beautiful beach and flowed into a casual encounter with culture before we returned to the hotel where the kids swam before we had dinner later that evening.
Villefranche sur Mer
Our last beach day was spent at the private beach club of Les Bains Déli Bo in Villefranche sur Mer. This was the perfect beach to conclude our tour of the Côte d’Azur. As with all of the other private beach clubs, we reserved four lounge chairs in the first row. The service was excellent and the food and drinks were delicious. The small pebbles of this beach were not uncomfortable to walk on with bare feet and the water was calm enough for the kids to go into the water on their own. At one point in the afternoon, the seaweed that had accumulated over the course of the day was removed by a boat that came through and cleaned the swimming area of this beach front. This was unexpected but was much appreciated.
Saint Paul de Vence
In the middle of the week, we took a break from the beach to spend the day at the Fondation Maeght and the village of Saint Paul de Vence. We took an Uber to the museum, walked down the hill to have lunch at La Colombe d’Or, known for its artist clientele: George Braque, Marc Chagall, Jean Miró, Fernand Léger, and Alexander Calder. Lunch was followed by a walk through the charming little streets of Saint Paul de Vence filled with small art galleries and wine cellars. We stopped into La Cave de Saint Paul and bought a few bottles of wine that we brought back to NYC and every time we open one, we are overtaken by a flood of happy memories from France. This was such a special day and I plan to discuss it in further detail in a forthcoming post.
Restaurants
| Marcel Bistro Chic – Vieux Nice, French Our favorite restaurant in Nice serving traditional cuisine of this region. Le Boudoir – Nice, French Specialty French menu with an emphasis on dishes with truffles. Shalimar Restaurant Indien – Nice, Indian Indian food is our comfort food and it has become a habit to have a meal or two at an Indian restaurant. Di Più – Nice, Italian There is always a line to enter but it was not too long before we were seated at a table and ordering away from their traditional Italian menu. Restaurant Safron – Nice, Persian Many restaurants close or only serve drinks between 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm. We stumbled across this restaurant after our day in Monaco at the odd hour but was relieved when we learned that their kitchen was open to serve us a late lunch/early dinner. |
Final Thoughts on France
We made so many special family memories during our stays in Paris, Aix-en-Provence and Nice. It is never too soon to take the kids to Europe. This was our third family vacation in Europe and this exposure is contributing to our children’s development into well-rounded and well-traveled individuals. As parents, it is a dream come true to be able to show our kids the world. They are happy and carefree while we are away and they could easily continue exploring for indefinite periods of time. We always return to New York City refreshed, happy to resume our work and school routines and ready to start planning our next family adventure. I hope this guide will inspire others to take that next step.
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