Provence Day Trips from Nice, France
For centuries, Nice has tempted tourists with its phenomenal climate, sea breezes, colorful architecture, and diverse historical and cultural offerings. Sprawling along the French Riviera, Nice is a near-perfect holiday destination, with a sunny climate, Mediterranean vibrancy, and Alpine views -- but it would be a shame to overlook some of the amazing Provençal sites, tours, and attractions just a day trip away. From wine tours to custom perfume, to visiting one of the most famous film festival sites in the world, here are some regional highlights you won’t want to miss.
1. Wine Tours!
Best known for its rosé wines, Provence nevertheless offers a wide variety of excellent vintages - mainly rosés, followed by full-bodied reds, and a significantly smaller selection of whites. Wineries dot the region, and it can be a bit difficult to narrow down your search, so I highly recommend doing a bit of research ahead of time. There is a really great app for this that helps you figure out where to go, what it’s like, prices, times, tours, tastings, factory, specialties, and typical products sold (including their price ranges).
2. Lavender Harvest
If you’re traveling during the summer, you’ll undoubtedly be able to catch the lavender harvest. In late June to mid-July, the region erupts into a brilliant (and fragrant) purple wonderland, and is used in everything from soap to cosmetics, to Provençal cuisine and honeys. Rent a car (or bike!) to catch some of the festivals celebrating the harvest in some of the smaller nearby villages, and pick up your perfect “blue gold” memento - I recommend the Provence Lavender Liquor for a unique experience!
3. Tourrettes sur Loup
Located just 17 miles from Nice, this medieval Provençal village retains the charm of antiquity, featuring both medieval and Romanesque architecture, and a thriving artisanal economy. Handmade wares include confectionery (including crystallized flowers celebrating the local violet growth), weaving, painting, pottery, jewelry, sculpture, beekeeping, and agricultural markets featuring locally grown vegetables and goat cheese. Situated between Vence and Grasse, this gem is a perfect spot to set off on a biking or horseback tour of the area, or you could tour the Loup canyon road by car for some picturesque panoramas.
4. Castellane & Verdon Gorge
Hop on an express bus (around 2 and a half hours) or drive to the sublime, mountainous Castellane, where you can do epic adventure tours with kayaks, canoes, white-water rafting, mountain biking, cliff jumping, canyoning, and more. Home to the Roc of Notre Dame, a stone chapel set piercingly atop a high cliff overlooking the city (reachable by a surprisingly walkable 25-minute hike), Castellane offers spectacular views, azure reservoirs and rivers, and plenty of adrenaline-pumping activities for the not-so-faint-of-heart.
If you’re not feeling overly adventurous, it’s still worth it to stretch your legs on a hike of the Verdon Gorge, called the “Grand Canyon of France” for its sheer limestone faces in the area near Castellane. You’ll want to budget some time for plenty of photo-ops, as the Verdon River below is stunningly turquoise, and lends a near Photoshop-perfection to your pics.
5. Vence Medieval Town & Matisse Chapelle
With a view of the Mediterranean, this hilly medieval town is worth visiting for its connection to the ancient world, including the cathedral dating back to the 4th century, which was built on the site of an old Roman temple. Stones, walls, and even sections of road date back to Roman times, though my favorite spot in this little town is the Chapelle du Rosaire, a small chapel overlooking the town proper that was finished in 1951, decorated with stained glass windows and other art by Henri Matisse. (I happen to love Matisse’s paintings, so finding this was a treat for me!) Other artists to grace the town with their work include Marc Chagall, who created a mosaic for the cathedral, and plenty more to be found in the castle, which now houses a contemporary art museum.
6. Port Grimaud (“Provençal Venice”)
One of Provence’s more recent establishments, Port Grimaud was designed in the 1960s by French architect François Spoerry and carved out of the existing marshland between the Giscle river and the bay of Saint-Tropez. This beautiful seaside town combines Venice’s romantic canals with colorful French fishing houses. Masted fishing boats, yachts, and other motor boats replace cars or bicycles as the main mode of transportation, and the parking lots in this “Provençal Venice” are decidedly more nautical.
An easy hour and a half drive from Nice takes you largely along coastal roads, meaning you won’t be lacking in scenery. There’s no direct bus or train from Nice to Port Grimaud, but connecting at St. Raphael is an easy alternative.
7. Gourdon Medieval Village
Perched high atop a rocky peak in the Provençal countryside, this well-preserved time capsule of a village offers not only a unique glimpse into feudal French life, but also spectacular panoramic views. Overlooking the Loup River, Gourdon also boasts a wonderful castle open to the public and its adjoining gardens. If you’ve rented a car the trip only takes about an hour, but you could also take a bike ride if you’re feeling adventurous (and want to get some cardio in), which takes around 3 hours one way. There are no public buses to Gourdon from Nice, but plenty of connections are available through nearby towns.
8. Cannes
Film aficionados will recognize Cannes as being the site of the world-famous yearly film festival, and indeed, this seaside city is a renowned cultural and historical hub. The city hosts multiple arts festivals and conferences a year, and in recent years also experienced a boom in aerospace and technological advancements. It’s a sister city to Beverly Hills, and you can see the family resemblance not only in its wide, palm-lined boulevards, but also in its abundance of luxury boutiques, hotels, and restaurants. While it is undeniably gorgeous, with beautifully manicured promenades separating the intricate facades of hotels and museums from the clear blue of the ocean, Cannes is also one of the busiest, most expensive spots on this list. Budget travelers in particular will want to stick to visiting on a day trip, and luckily it’s pretty easy to do - by car or public transport, Cannes is right around 30 minutes from Nice --unless you hire a yacht and head there in style! We may have been yacht shopping as you can tell from the picture below...
9. Fragonard Perfume Museum & Factory
I may have saved the best for last with this absolute must-see in Grasse (just 45 minutes by car or a little over an hour by train/bus). The museum traces the history of perfume-making from antiquity to modern day, and there are also painting and costuming exhibitions on display. Tour the historic factory, dating back to 1782, where soaps and perfumes are still crafted to this day. Tours are free and open to the public, though guided and group tours are also available on request and with advance notice. This olfactory paradise has also been known to host perfume workshops where participants can pay a reasonable fee to create their own, one-of-a-kind scent using Fragonard’s high-quality ingredients - take a look at their website to find their schedule and plan your visit. Whether or not you opt for a workshop, this museum and factory is well worth a visit, if only to delight your nose with some of France’s best aromas.
