One of the joys of getting the opportunity to live in a new part of the world is the ability to explore it, without spending days on the road! Here are six amazing day trips that I have taken that I can recommend wholeheartedly, followed by some tips from someone, who has made plenty of mistakes in the process.

1. Antibes and Cannes

2. Genoa

3. Entrevaux

1. Antibes and Cannes

Heading west from Nice, the first decently sized cities you will hit are Antibes and then Cannes, all no more than an hour away by train! These places make for fantastic short day trips, where you can go out and explore for a morning or afternoon.

Antibes is the more quintessentially French town, with stone buildings and roads that surround the old town, a popular market, and the Picasso Museum, one of the city's main attractions. What is shocking to me is that even if it's 30-minutes by train from ice, it feels like a world away. The architecture and vibes of the city are just so different, making it a perfect escape.

In addition, Cannes is always noteworthy for a trip due to its famous position hosting one of the world's largest film festivals. Wonder down the main street, Rue d’Antibes, and window shop, and check out the Cannes Walk of Fame! The beach here is also sandy, with vendors lining the promenade selling both ice cream and a lot of sandwiches.

 While in the area, I would also recommend getting the bus to the National Picasso Museum (one of two national museums dedicated to the artist, the other being in Paris), to see his famous War and Peace chapel. For three euros, it is well worth the experience!

2. Genoa

Traveling east from Nice, through the alps and words the border into Italy, the first “large” city you will get to is Genoa! This city originally surprised me, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time here.

I started with the Strada Nuova Museums, and got completely lost (in a good way) and enchanted by the fresco lined walls, and the relative freedom they give the visitors to wander around. This collection of museums only costs three euros for students – what a wonderful bargain! 

From there, I got lunch in Boccadasse, this lovely part of the city that feels like a small outpost of the Cinque Terre, before winding through the streets of the old town to get my train back to France.

3. Entrevaux 

This is probably one of my favorite day trips, recommended by my French Professor. This small village in the alps is accessible by the Chemins de Fer de Provence train from Gare du Sud (which is north of the main station!). Even if the trains aren't the most frequent during the off seasons, it is well worth the sheep. The train twists and turns through the valleys, giving awesome views as you climb up through the Var river valley. 

At Entrevaux I would recommend spending plenty of time wandering around, checking out the small shops. Grab a lunch, either inside or outside the old city walls, and then for the adventurous, embark on the climb to the citadel. Or find a nice place to sit on a path just outside the city gates and watch more people attempt the climb. That is what I did, and arguably, I found it more rewarding than the possibility of a hike. 

How to Plan the best day trip:

To end, I figured I would give you all some tips on how to plan the best day trip, or serious of day long adventures:

1. Plan plan plan! Know what you want to do, around when, and where the location of these things are in relation to one another. Personally I use google maps where I save each place I want to go into a new map, so it appears when I'm doing directions when I arrive in the city
2. Plan your transportation to the city, but leave your return flexible. On the majority of day trips I have done, I normally start by getting a bus from Nice to wherever, and then end by returning back on a local regional train. I find this is the best of both worlds, the bus is often cheaper if you book in advance (and it's good motivation to get out of bed!), but having the return flexibility allows you to spend more or less time in a city, and respond accordingly based on your energy. But do caution, know when the last train (or trains!) leave back to Nice, and try leave room for if a connection is late!
3. Water! Bring a massive bottle of water with you. Either use a reusable one, or if you wish to buy your own, buy it at the local supermarket here in Nice well before your travels. This will save you a good chunk of money compared to buying something at the train station (you can get 1.5L of water for under a euro at most grocery stores). Further, most places you will go to on a day trip may let you bring it in, just don’t go making a mess when in a historical art gallery, for example. And if not, ceremoniously dumping it outside normally does the trick.
4. If you are doing a series of day trips over a long weekend, for example, mix up the length of each day trip! No one likes waking up early in the morning more days in a row than necessary, so maybe het that 8 A.M. bus one day, but the next only plan on leaving for the mountains on an afternoon train. 

Honorable mention: IES Abroad Excursions!

Gorge du Verdon 

When I say that this is the prettiest place I have ever been, I genuinely mean it. I will let the photos in the gallery below speak for themselves. But holy moly.

This was an excursion that was run by my local IES Abroad center. After a three hour drive, first on the autorouté then on windy mountain roads, we arrived at the gorge. After taking some photos from a bridge, we were then transported down to the shore and all boarded paddle boats and explored for an hour. Afterwards, we drove to a field and had a picnic lunch with the view of the mountains, while playing yard games. And yes, that included pentanqué.

As this trip was organized by IES Abroad, all I had to do was sign up in advance and show up at the designated time at the IES Center. Which for a college student, meant the struggles of a 7 A.M.  wake up call! At least here in Nice, as of my time abroad, the activities are free of charge.