I haven’t blogged for a little while because i’ve been abroad, which is lucky, because this British weather and politics was making me want to call Dignitas. What is going on?! The world has gone a bit crazy. If you read my stuff or follow me on social media, you’ll know i’m in the process of trying to buy a flat in London. It’s a real worry, we don’t know if we’re going to lose a load of money on it and should pull out, or just stick with it and hope for the best. There are worse situations to be in I suppose.
But anyway, talking about prawns and beaches is preferable to British politics at the moment – plus I’ve posted loads of pictures for you to have nose at. It was my boyfriend Harry’s 30th birthday, so we decided to take a last minute trip abroad. He’s awful at making any decisions, so cut the choice down to three after asking Twitter for holiday suggestions (I wanted seafood and an old town). The choice was between Nice, Lisbon or ‘somewhere in Italy’ – he decided on Nice, because it was definitely going to be hot, and was only an hour and a half away.
Travel costs
Now, hands up – I spend a fortune on holidays. It’s what I spend my money on (that theatre tickets and chocolate). I’ve never regretted a penny I’ve spent travelling (unlike when I buy shoes I never wear), but I couldn’t help but be surprised that a holiday to the fancy and glamorous Cote D’Azur, was pretty reasonable.
So we booked flights about a month in advance with Easy jet. With my usual trips, I like to book a flight a year in advance, and pay for hotels and bits and bobs throughout the year. Flights cost me about £110 each return, but because we left it so late to book, and the Euros (football) were in Nice the same time we were going, it wasn’t as cheap as it could have been. In fact, I heard two lads chatting about how their flights were £30 each way. Seriously, a train to Swansea costs more than £60 return!
Nice airport is really close to the city centre, so just got the bus which cost six euros and was a 20 minute journey – which to be honest, I thought was a bit pricey – 6 Euros for bus?! But ah well, it did the job and I don’t think there is a cheaper way.
The Hotel
I couldn’t have been more impressed with the hotel we stayed at. I’ve stayed at some incredible places (and some bloody terrible ones), but when searching online, this was a new hotel, with only a couple of reviews (all good), but was worried because I usually book a hotel based on guest ratings and reviews rather than star ratings. But went for it.
I booked four nights at Hotel 64, which cost £92 a night. Honestly, the room was clean with a big fluffy bed and walk in shower, with a balcony and free drinks all day and night (including Diet Coke which is THE DREAM). It was also right in the middle of the city and the staff in reception couldn’t have been more helpful. Basically, fully recommend (and I’m not being paid to say that! 🙂
Look, before I get jip – I know you can get super cheap holiday packages which make £92 a night look extortionate (in fact, check out Holiday Pirates, it’s THE place to find a crazily cheap holiday), but for a really nice hotel, in the kind of fancy place celebrities hang out – I thought it was a bargain.
Food and things to do
Look, Nice is a beautiful place with an old town, great shops and some of the bluest warm water i’ve ever swam in. It’s no Orlando where you’re going to be entertained 24 hours ago, it’s a place to have three hour dinners (waiters DO NOT rush!), mull about and to sit on the beach – which is admittedly stone rather than sand.
However, you can get the train for only 3.50 Euros all down the coastline, so went to Monaco and Cannes (though there are loads of beautiful beaches and towns you can visit). Monaco is about 30 mins away from Nice, and you know what, it’s alright. It’s not my favourite place in the world, but my boyfriend is obsessed with F1, so he liked looking at the track. I walked around saying how vulgar everything and everyone was while judging old men and their young wives in big boats – I had a lovely time. Love a moan! ha.
We went into the Casino (you know, the James Bond one), which is free for some of it (the non gambling bit) where you can have a nose and take some photos or you can pay 18 Euros to go in and gamble. We went to the Cafe De Paris for an ice cream until I realised they were 22 Euros! Sod off! As it was the boyfriend’s birthday, I did offer him one, but we got 7 Euro Cokes instead. Swag.
Cannes was lovely – the beach was sandy and soft and the water was warm and the old town was great with lots of little shops selling oils, soap and some of the most beautiful cakes I’ve ever seen.
So Harry and I came to the conclusion that food was actually pretty expensive there. We do like eating in nice restaurants (eating is my favourite!) and meals were about 13 – 24 Euros and a bottle of wine was 24 Euros plus. However, you don’t have to be like us and eat out loads, there were loads of stores selling rotisserie chickens, and fruit and veg markets – as well as supermarkets to avoid spending loads of cash in restaurants.
All in all, I totally recommend Nice as a holiday spot. If you want sunny, amazing food and beautiful seas – get a cheap flight and get sunning yourself on the French Riviera
Are you going away this summer? Let me know in the comments.
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