Nice is Nice

The city is called Nice la Belle, which means Nice the Beautiful. Located on the south east coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, Nice is the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast after Marseille.

Nice gained its popularity when English upper class aristocratic families in the second half of the 18th century, took to spending their winters there. The city’s main seaside promenade, the Promenade des Anglais (‘the Walkway of the English’) owes its name to these visitors.

Nice experiences a Mediterranean climate. The summer/holiday season lasts for 6 months, from May to October, although in April and November sometimes there are temperatures above 20 °C (68 °F). Winters are mild, with average temperatures of 13.4 °C (56.1 °F) during the day and 5.8 °C (42.4 °F) at night in the period from December to February.

I personally think the best time to go is September. That’s when the majority of tourists have left. So seeing the hotspots are definitely less crowded. I would also recommend either staying on the promenade des anglais or finding a cozy hotel in the old section of nice. The old section is loaded with outdoor terraces, buskers, markets, restaurants and nightlife. I chose to stay at the Hotel West Minister located on the promenade. Most of the “ocean view” hotels are on the opposite side of the ocean across the street. So most places you’ll have cross the street to sit at a beach club.

It was only a five minute walk to Old town from the West Minister, and I had the most spectacular view of the mediterranean. This is definitely one place that I would have loved to have spent more time discovering!