Well, once again I went off on one of the outstanding British Airways Club Europe offers from London’s Gatwick Airport, this time to the South of France and the majestic city of Nice.
As always, my trip was somewhat of a speedy one – not given that January is the busiest time in the travel industry. I knew that I could make it work though, and booked myself the Radisson Hotel in Nice, close to the airport as a convenient base. There seemed to be a conference going on there, but otherwise it was extremely quiet there, as did the rest of Nice.
I’m not sure if I could recommend the Radisson sadly though. It is just a little too far out of the centre of Nice for it to be great as a city break, and the beach outside makes it no good either for a sunbathing holiday. The rooms are nice enough and breakfast very nice but expensive, something you would want pre-purchased into the price.
The main ambition of the trip was to get to Monte Carlo, which is very easy by train from the main station in Nice. It is a scenic journey along the coast, and takes about 20 minutes. If it wasn’t raining it would have been beautiful and would look great in the summer. The convince of the train brought me out into Sainte Devote.
So with that – I went on to walk the famous Formula One track, somewhat smaller than you think and see on television. The tunnel especially is a lot more of a curve than you expect. Anyway – here is the track!
Walk a little outside the usual areas and it feels like you are walking into a upmarket village going about their day to day things. The scenery doesn’t disappoint though, with some spectacular views and you can see why it is a favourite for training of many sports stars.
I returned to the airport with thanks to the Menton-Monaco-Nice Airport bus service, although very expensive at €22. I was in fact the only person on the service, so going direct to Terminal 1 at Nice Airport and very early for my flight home with the journey taking less than 30 minutes.
If you have a little time to spare, this is certainly worth the visit when in Nice.
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