July 2024
A Day Trip to Villefranche-sur-Mer from Nice, France – French Riviera
Villefranche-sur-Mer is the eastern neighboring town to Nice. Compared to the rest of the French Riviera, Villefranche-sur-Mer is slower paced, more quaint and charming, and has one of the most colorful waterfronts full of painted buildings and lush flowers. While I was happy to have Nice as our base for exploration, after visiting Villefranche-sur-Mer I could definitely see making this a place to stay in the future.
Villefranche-sur-Mer is easily accessible by bus or train and for our visit, we took the bus. I have to say, we immediately loved Villefranche-sur-Mer. The town is made of switchbacks and side streets down to the water. The streets were full of activity and we enjoyed weaving in and out of the streets. Our first stop was gelato at Glacier Feracci as it is always more fun to explore with an ice cream cone.
Our first views of the shoreline where magical – the crystal clear blue water, the yellow and orange colors of the houses as the ascended into the sky, the bright purple flowers that were sprinkled throughout, the boats in the water as the bobbed – Villefranche-sur-Mer is pretty amazing. It was hard to look away from this postcard view. We spent a lot of time on the waterfront, walking along it and even sitting with our feet in the water for awhile just enjoying the scenery.
With some time before dinner, we grabbed a drink dock side at Wine Pier before finishing our walk of the Villefranche-sur-Mer streets, including Rue Obscure.
Our dinner tonight came recommended by our wine tour guide – Le Belle Etoile for one of our top dining experiences in the French Riviera.
Read our dining review for Le Belle Etoile here!
After an incredible meal, we made our way to the train station for our return to Nice. While our time in Villefranche-sur-Mer was short, we absolutely loved it and I think this was our favorite town of the French Riviera that we visited. I can definitely see us staying here on a return as there are so many things we did not get to experience, such as getting on a boat in the water and all the other dining spots that look fantastic. Make sure you visit Villefranche-sur-Mer during your French Riviera trip and even consider staying here as an alternative to the city life of Nice.
