The Solo Scale:
If you’re headed to the French Riviera, one of your plans might be to spend a day lounging at the beach. If you aim to do that, there are two options. You have the public beach option, which means that anyone can pull up with an umbrella, a towel, and your swimsuit. It’s first-come, first-served for the spaces in that case.
If you want a sun-bed and a guaranteed spot for the day, there’s a number of beach clubs that you can rent out the spot, but there’s a few caveats to that.
For one, you need to be there first thing in the morning to get a spot. I wanted to do more exploring of the area and had hoped that people might leave as the day went on. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. If this is on your agenda, get there first thing in the morning to pay for and secure a spot. Once you have it, you should take advantage of it and spend the whole day. You can rent out a sunbed or a bed and an umbrella, it’s up to your preferences.
Because I decided to do morning tours, I wound up going in for the public beach option. By the time I arrived to the beach clubs, they were fully sold out for the day. I even asked the hotel in case they had a line on anywhere I could go, but sadly, that was out of the question.
However, you can still sit and enjoy a drink at the beach clubs even if you don’t have a chair. That was what I opted to do, enjoying a strong lemon cocktail at Le Galet. The kitchen was semi-closed by that time. They were only making desserts & serving drinks as of mid-afternoon. If you head there anticipating a light lunch, you’ll be out of luck. Other clubs may have different service hours, but it’s still a bit of a risk.
I ordered a limoncello based drink and made sure to get plenty of water to go with it. Even with the umbrella, the heat in Nice was no joke, especially in August.
Once I was done with my drink, I headed right next door to the public beach. Now, a word of caution. Nice does not have sandy beaches. They are rocky and full of little stones. That means that you’ll want some kind of water shoe with you to weather the hard stones. It also means that laying out your towel may not be as comfortable as you like.
Still, since it’s a public beach, that means you can grab any space that’s free, lay out your towel, and enjoy the sun and the surf.
TRIP TIP: If you’re going solo, there are security shortcuts you can use. I suggest getting a waterproof lanyard. I bought one that was great for keeping my phone, hotel card, and wallet items protected as I didn’t trust leaving them on the public beach. This likely wouldn’t have been an issue on the private one. That said, I think I would have been just as cautious.
I didn’t end up spending that long on the public beach. That’s not because of discomfort, but merely because of the temperature. When I was in Nice, they were experiencing a heat wave and as a result, I was sweating within seconds. I think I would have had the same problem at the private club, even with an umbrella. It was just that hot.
Most hotels in Nice will also offer umbrellas and towels to temporarily use. In hindsight, I should have grabbed the umbrella with my towel, but the heat probably would have still sent me packing pretty quickly.
While my beach day didn’t go exactly as planned, I still got to lounge with a drink near the water, enjoy a dip in the refreshing Riviera, and spend as long as I wanted on the rocky shores. If you want a more dedicated beach day, definitely check out the beach clubs. However, if lounging & relaxing is the plan, any stretch of public beach in Nice will help you do just that.
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