The plan

DAY 1

Nice

Old Nice, the sea and enough time to understand the base rather than treating it as a station with restaurants. Keep the first evening in Nice.

Use the Nice guide →

DAY 3

Antibes

Old town, ramparts and a western change of mood without spending the day in transit. Return to Nice for the last evening.

Use the Antibes guide →

THE 3-DAY RULE

Cut, do not compress. Èze and the second eastern day disappear on purpose. Three days should feel edited.

BaseNice, all three nights
CarNot by default
TransportTram + TER (regional train), with walking at each end

Getting around

Nice keeps the airport tram, the main TER corridor and the evenings in one place. Villefranche, Monaco, Menton and Antibes all sit on the coastal rail line; Cap-Ferrat is the deliberate bus/walk exception. Check the live timetable before each outing rather than planning from an old screenshot.

What deserves a reservation

Usually very little. If the Oceanographic Museum is the anchor of a Monaco day, buy that ticket ahead. For restaurants and weather-sensitive days, keep some freedom. See the Mametas booking guide →

The transport budget, to the cent

With Villefranche€31.20 per person on single tickets.
With Monaco€36.20 per person on single tickets.
3-day pass€35, trains, trams and buses.

Per person, full fare: airport tram return €10; day 2, Nice-Villefranche return €7.20 or Nice-Monaco €12.20; day 3, Nice-Antibes return €14. Total: €31.20 with Villefranche, €36.20 with Monaco, plus a few €1.70 tram or bus rides. With Monaco, the 3-day PASS SudAzur Explore, at €35, costs about the same and saves buying every ticket; check when buying whether it covers the airport tram. With Villefranche, single tickets are enough.

The days that catch people out

TuesdayMatisse, Chagall and Masséna closed in Nice.
MondayPicasso closed in Antibes.
Every dayOceanographic Museum, except 25 December and the Grand Prix.

If day 1 is a Tuesday, leave Cimiez for another trip. If Picasso is the reason to go to Antibes, do not put day 3 on a Monday. All closures →

If the trip gets shorter

Arriving late afternoon: day 1 becomes an evening in Old Nice, nothing more. Leaving early on day 3: drop Antibes, not the eastern day. Rain forecast: make day 2 a Monaco day, where the Oceanographic Museum and Villa Paloma hold up under a grey sky.

For the hotel, three nights in one place: choose it with Hotel Fit, or from the hotels that work without a car.

Sources checked

Checked 15 October 2026

TER Sud / SNCF · TER Nice-Villefranche · TER Nice-Monaco · TER Nice-Antibes · Lignes d’Azur, September 2026 fare guide · PASS SudAzur Explore · Musée Matisse, practical information · Musée océanographique, practical information

This is the same three-day plan used inside the five-day flagship. For five days, use the full route. Want to test a different base? Find my base with Riviera Fit