VIDEO: Nice and Monaco - jewels of the Riviera

The French Riviera is one of my favourite parts of the world. The place has a wonderful 'feel' about it. We stayed in Nice and caught a local train for a short ride (only 30 minutes approximately) for a side-trip to the nearby principality of Monaco. At the latter destination make sure you visit the renowned Royal Palace. Public inspections of a large section of the Palace is available most days. It's worth a look to see how 'the other half' lives.

Nice has to be one of the most livable cities in the world. It's not overly congested with traffic and quite walkable.

The airport is close to the city, so approaching and departing aircraft tend to fly quite low just offshore over the Mediterranean Sea. It's not an expensive taxi ride to the city from the airport and there are plenty of hotels to choose from, ranging from budget to five star (and priced accordingly). Our budget hotel was memorable for having the smallest elevator I've ever seen - two people filled the whole interior and luggage had to be sent up separately!