In and around Nice with a 3 year old?

[WhereIsBlueRabbit]

We're off to Nice in late September - would welcome advice from anyone who's been with a little one!

Firstly, we were planning to use Nice as a base to explore the area on public transport. But I'm now wondering whether we would be better off staying somewhere like Villefranche, where we could hang out on the beach if the weather is good, and travel into Nice as and when. Thoughts?

Secondly, does anyone have any good suggestions for activities for young children in this area? If it's nice, we'd want to mix beach and pool time with trips by train (DS loves trains!). But I'm wondering what the wet weather options might be? At home, it would be swimming/soft play...

Also, are there any good playgrounds in Nice?!

You can get the train along the Esterel towards Agay-beautiful views and rocky beaches.
Parc Phoenix is more or less opposite the airport, costs about 3€ and contains various exotic and common birds, tortoises, porcupines, otters etc and a lot of big greenhouses with plants and trees-it's lovely for kids.
Get the train to Monaco and check out the Oceanographic Museum (rainy day or good day).
Nice also has a fab flower market.

That sounds good! Especially the place near the airport as we have a late afternoon flight.

Thank you for the tips - any others?

YY to the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco - also the Prince’s car collection, and chsnging of the guard (12 noon). Wandering round the harbours to see the luxury yachts is good too. my dc also entertained themselves for hours on the escalators on the rock

Oh God, mine loves escalators too! Thanks!

Anyone have any thoughts regarding my question about where to stay? We'll be using public transport and want to rent an apartment or similar rather than a hotel room.

Nice has innovative playgrounds in every corner. There's the Promenade de Paillon (giant climbing whale, octopus swings, fishing treehouse…) and the top of the Chateau park (giant climbing rope tree, ducks, huge waterfall).
Parc Castel des Deux Rois is located north-east of the Port of Nice and offers picture perfect views. It has a large playground and when we went there was a carousel near the playground. There's also a carousel in Jardin Albert 1 next to the Promenade des Anglian.
Parc Phoenix is a mixture of a botanical garden and miniature zoo. At the beginning of the park, you’ll find a lake with hundreds of birds such as black swans, ducks, and pelicans. They also have a musical fountain, a bamboo forest, picnic areas, birds of prey and many other animals such as ostrich, pelicans, macaws, lemurs, porcupines and tortoises to view as you walk the area. There is also a large playground.
For a rainy day, try Kid City, an indoor lego-land-like amusement park for little ones, 15 minutes from Nice in Lingostiere.
There is also a small Natural History Museum behind Place Garibaldi.
Explore a sweets shop with a FREE short guided tour of Confiserie Florian in the Port. Kid friendly tours can be given in English. The tour lasts less than 10 minutes, so it’s a quick stop while your at the Port. We saw where the chocolate treats were made, learned about French candied fruits and tried a few treats.

Thank you so much, @Ricekrispie22! This is amazing and just the kind of insight I was hoping for.

Out of interest, do any of you know Cannes at all? There seems to be a wider choice of "holiday accommodation" there than Nice itself but I'm wondering if it's cheaper for a reason?

That playground on the Promenade de Paillon is excellent.

Villefranche is lovely - the beach there has a really slow decline into the sea which makes it a lot better for sea swimming with small people than Nice which is a steep plunge! It has a pretty old town with lots of restaurants but I'm not sure if has many hotels - or at least cheap ones! There are some Air BnB apartments but these won't have pools. Price wise, if you're set on a hotel with pool, take a look at Beaulieu-sur-Mer - it's on the same train line that runs along the Riviera and onto Monaco & Italy. As a family we're happy with sea swimming & I 'd go for an apartment in Nice and catching the train to Villefranche - they're really frequent and it's only about 10 minutes - the beach at Villefranche is opposite the station. Don't stay in the area around the train station in Nice though as it's a bit grotty! Nice is a great town - my DD particularly liked the water fountain park near Place Massena.

Thank you! I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that we will have to choose between pool and easy access to beach. Do you have any recommendations for particular areas of Nice? We were hoping for the unicorn neighbourhood of "fairly central but quiet, reasonably priced", but would settle for good public transport into centre if not too far out.

The old town is very pretty but is a bit of a hike to the train station. We had an apartment that was one block off the Promenade des Anglais & about 15 minutes to the train station.Somewhere near Place Massena would be good - think there's a tram to the station.Further out there are some very posh burbs but some really dodgy poor ones as well so do your research! If I could give myself one piece of advice going there it would be to take beach shoes & roll up mats as the beaches are a bit stony (though at Villefranche I think it turns to sand by the shore.Even my very difficult to please O H loves it there - you'll have a great time!

Get the bus to Monaco - it's an absolutely stunning journey, just beautiful. And dirt cheap.

Also, in Monaco, you can get a water taxi across the harbour for (if I recall) about 2 euros. Seeing the city from the water is pretty cool, and the boats!!!!! If you don't fancy walking all the way back round, you can do what I did, and pay for a return and just don't get off!

Forgot to add this info about the bus:

www.bestofniceblog.com/transport-in-nice/buses-in-nice/bus-from-nice-to-monaco/

For anyone who happens upon this thread and might find it useful: we went to Villefranche-sur-mer. Absolutely beautiful but totally impractical with a pushchair! Lots of streets have no pavements and the old town is all steep staircases. DS is fine with walking but not if we're out all day - but a year ago this would have been a bigger problem.

We found Monaco was surprisingly good for kids - the aquarium, the little train, and a tiny playground round the back of the Palais. Plenty for a day trip.

Menton is lovely. We also went to Ventimiglia but less keen - in hindsight we should have stuck with
Menton.

Buses were brilliant if crowded - trains also very good but buses were just 1.50 per journey.

We did make it into Nice but didn't do much sightseeing as the "threenager" was less than cooperative - we stuck with lunch, the Promenade de Paillon playground, ice cream from Fenocchio (amazing) and the open top bus tour.

Thank you for all the advice above thread!