4 Days Exploring the French Riviera from Nice: Your Ultimate Guide

Your top itinerary for 4 days exploring the French Riviera from Nice

Here’s my top itinerary for spending 4 days exploring the French Riviera from Nice. This is a lovely part of the South of France and I easily could have spent longer here. I’m sure I could have easily filled a week, if not more. But if you’re slightly limited for time, this 4 day itinerary will give you a great overview of the top sights in the area.

I stayed in Nice for 4 nights, and did day trips to all these locations from Nice. I felt like Nice was a great place to stay as it had the best transport links in the area, being a larger city. Staying in Nice for all 4 nights means you won’t need to keep packing up and moving hotels, so it saves time there. Nice also had some great restaurants and places to walk in the evenings after a long day exploring other places.

Day 1: St Tropez and Port Grimaud

On the first of your 4 days exploring the French Riviera from Nice, head to the pretty small town of St Tropez. It’s easy to reach from Nice by car in just a few hours, or by public transport. Alternatively, you can drive or take public transport to nearby Sainte Maxime and then take the ferry across the water to St Tropez. I did this, and I loved arriving in St Tropez by boat. I was lucky to visit on a sunny morning with no wind, so the 20 minute boat journey was just perfect.

St Tropez

Marina

Once you arrive in St Tropez, start your day with a walk around the marina. I loved looking at all the huge, expensive boats here, and imagining what it would be like to sail one in the Mediterranean. It just looks amazing!

Markets

St Tropez also has markets every week on Tuesdays and Saturdays. St Tropez is a small town, so it only takes a couple of minutes to walk to the markets from the marina. The markets sells all sorts of things. There’s plenty of locally produced wine for sale here, and also some local lavender products. Olive oil and olives are also a big thing in this region, so you can find plenty of these here. And there are also some food stalls selling bakery products, such as focaccia and fougasse, which are both types of bread with toppings. I’d definitely recommend trying some of these! They make a great snack or quick lunch.

Citadelle

After exploring the markets, head up to the Citadelle, a fort on the top of a hill. It’s a fairly steep walk up to it, with quite a lot of steps, but only takes about 10 minutes. Check out the opening times of the Citadelle here.

My favourite part of the Citadelle was the stunning views over St Tropez and out to sea. There are amazing views from many places in the Citadelle, especially the roof terrace at the top of the museum.

The history of the Citadelle is interesting as well. You can learn about the history of St Tropez, from a small fishing village, to merchant ships and now a destination for the rich and famous to have super yachts.

Lunch at the marina

There are many restaurants set around the marina. They make a great setting to each lunch while looking out at the boats. Seafood is popular here so there are many fish and seafood restaurants, as well as some Mediterranean/Italian restaurants serving pizza and pasta.

Old town shops

After lunch in St Tropez, explore the colourful narrow streets of the old town. There are some cute independent shops along these streets, as well as some expensive designer shops.

Beach

My final stop in St Tropz was to the beaches just to the East of the Citadelle and Marina. The beaches here aren’t huge, but they’re still really pretty in the sunshine and a great place to relax and take some photos.

I spent about 3 hours in St Tropez exploring these things. I easily could have spent longer, but I was keen to get to my next stop.

Port Grimaud

Port Grimaud is only about 20 minutes drive from St Tropez, but it has a very different vibe. It’s a lot more chilled and relaxed.

The intricate system or canals and waterways here is reminiscent of the canals of Venice. The colourful buildings make it a really pretty destination, and the boats moored add charm as well.

The best view of Port Grimaud is from the water. You can hire a small electric boat to drive around yourself. Alternatively, for a cheaper option, you can take a 20 minute boat ride on the water taxi. This small ferry takes you around some of the smaller canals that you can’t walk around, so it’s a great way to see lots in a short amount of time.

Port Grimaud beach

Port Grimaud also has one of the best beaches in the area, just a five minute walk from the centre. The Plage de Grimaud is a lovely place to relax in the afternoon, and take a swim in the sea if it is warm enough.

Evening in Nice

After exploring St Tropez and Port Grimaud on my first day in Nice, I was keen to spend the evening exploring Nice. The promenade behind the beach is a lovely place for an evening walk, especially with the sunset colours in the sky. It’s a really relaxing place to walk, and felt really safe in the evening. You can also go down to the pebble beach to relax as well.

The Old Town in Nice has some of the best restaurants. If the weather is nice, you can sit outside. On my first night, I went to a restaurant called Casa Leya in the old town of Nice. It’s a Mediterranean/Italian restaurant, serving amazing pasta. I had a truffle mushroom pasta, and a local Rose wine. It was lovely to sit outside and enjoy the flavours of the local food.