Monaco is compact and deliberate — the Casino standing exactly where you'd expect it, the harbor lined with boats that make ordinary boats look modest. It reads differently in person than in photos. The scale is smaller; the money is louder.

Villefranche to Monaco

Monaco to Nice

Nice operates at a slower pace than Monaco — wider streets, older buildings, more people actually living there. The Fontaine du Soleil in Place Masséna, the Baroque facade of Notre-Dame du Port, the Palais de Justice — the city accumulates detail the longer you walk. The train station at Gare de Nice Ville is worth a look on its own.

The cobblestones lead toward the water or toward the gelato. Fenocchio is the one everyone mentions. It's worth it.

Vieux-Nice runs west from the port and opens into Cours Saleya, where the flower and food market runs every morning except Monday. The stalls change with the season — in late spring it's mainly flowers, but the produce section toward the eastern end stays consistent year-round. Get there early. By 11am the tourist ratio shifts.

The narrow streets of the old town read differently in different light. Ochre and terracotta facades under flat noon light look muted. Late afternoon, when the sun is lower and angled, the same buildings appear to glow from within. The old town is dense — three or four streets wide, running in parallel from the market to the port — and navigable without much planning.

The Promenade des Anglais follows the coast for seven kilometers. On a clear morning it's worth walking the full length, or as much as makes sense. The beach here is pebbled, not sand — the sound of the waves is louder than a sand beach. The water is the right shade for swimming, and people do, well into October.

Castle Hill — La Colline du Château — sits at the eastern edge of the old town. The stairs are steep or the lift is free; both arrive at the same view. From the top, the Promenade runs left toward the airport, and the harbor sits below to the right.

Monaco, fifteen minutes by regional train, is a different experience. The casino facade, the harbor, the F1 circuit streets — compact, expensive, watching itself. Worth an afternoon, not a day. The train ride along the coast is the best part of going.

Practical notes: The regional rail along the Côte d'Azur is cheap and reliable — Nice to Monaco, Nice to Cannes, Nice to Antibes, all under €5. The Cours Saleya market closes by 1pm. The old town streets are largely pedestrianized.

More From BUTIMASIAN

Marseille  ·  Barcelona  ·  London