Are you curious what a French Riviera trip cost would be outside of the peak tourist season? Surely, it must be cheaper than the inflated prices of summer, but how much cheaper?
Something you might not know is that I am not only a blogger/travel writer, but I’ve also been a Certified Public Accountant for over a decade. A number cruncher at heart, I’ve always tracked my travel savings and expenses in what are now dozens of spreadsheet tabs. Today, we will be discussing the latest of those tabs: the January trip my husband and I took to the French Riviera.
France’s Côte d’Azur is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever laid eyes on, and this remains true even in winter. If you’d like to see for yourself, I’ve compiled the below post broken down by category to help like-minded budgeters predict their own French Riviera trip cost. With that, let’s grab a coffee, get comfy, and discuss these numbers.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you buy or book through one of these links, I may earn a small commission.
Here is our actual French Riviera trip cost (in USD):
The above shows what we actually spent traveling as a couple for seven days in the French Riviera. Our budget was not on a shoe-string, but also was not the most luxurious (a very relative term in this region). Our strategy is to save in areas like flights or lodging, so we can splurge in areas like food and activities.
Now, let’s dive into what we spent in each category. Remember – based on your own interests and style of travel, your expenses may not necessarily look exactly like ours.
Travel Planning Tip
Don’t look at this budget as a lump sum! That’s the quickest way to get overwhelmed, leading to paralysis with your planning.
The truth is, you won’t pay the full amount at once. You’ll book your flight and lodging right away, and then likely pay nothing for a few months. Once your trip gets closer, you’ll start looking at tours you may want to do, as well as make restaurant reservations. When you get back home from your trip, you’ll pay off any remaining vacay expenses you’ve incurred.
Breaking it into chunks like this is a much more approachable way to afford the cost of a trip to the French Riviera!
French Riviera Trip Cost Breakdown
Flight
$235.62
Yes, you are reading this number correctly. This is the total that my husband and I paid for the two of us to fly from Cleveland, OH in the United States to Nice, France. It is the result of finding a deal on United using credit card points.
While this reflects the price paid for travel during the winter off-season, I can’t say fares were generally very low. This is because seasonal direct flights from the US to Nice do not run during this time. Therefore, you would need to pay to first fly through another city, like Brussels, Frankfurt, or Paris.
Here is what I paid for one economy ticket on United through Newark during others times of the year:
If you want to find the best fares possible, I recommend using these tips:
- Be flexible with your travel days, as weekend flights can be crazy expensive. Play around with searching different departure and arrival days, and you’ll be amazed what a difference that can make.
- Travel during the low season (November through April), when there is an overall drop in prices.
- Last but not least, the tip that has helped me the most: Sign up for a credit card with travel rewards points. We’ve gotten countless free flights thanks to our cards, simply due to points earned on every day purchases. We’ve had great experiences using both the Capital One Venture, the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and the United Quest Card.
Transportation
$406.77
During our January visit, my husband and I literally wandered all over the French Riviera, using basically every form of transportation available. Obviously, the more you move around, the more that transportation expenses are going to increase. Here is a breakdown of the above cost:
- Rental Car: $159.93. This was the cost to rent a car for four days (we only rented it for the days we’d use it).
- Car Gas: $27.19. I am actually amazing that we didn’t use more gas than this, but it just goes to show how close many French Riviera villages are to one another.
- Train: $43.50. This was for a day trip where we traveled from Nice to Ventimiglia on the train, stopping in Menton and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on the way back.
- Bus: $15.47. There were a few instances were we used local buses to get around Nice, as well as from Menton to Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.
- Uber: $122.22. Includes transportation to/from airport each way. We also occasionally used Uber to get around Nice.
- Tolls: $5.98. These were incurred driving along the A8 in the French Riviera.
- Parking: $32.48. These were parking charges incurred exploring various towns (not for valet at our hotel, which I’ve included below).
If you plan to spend a lot of time in Nice, you can easily save money on transportation by walking (Nice is super walkable), using the tram, or taking the bus. Depending on the duration of your stay and how often you plan to use public transportation, you can also purchase a reloadable transit pass the covers the trams and buses around Nice. You can even reload the pass yourself using the Lignes d’Azur app.
Lodging
$1,625.35
Nice hotel prices in January are beautifully low, which is why we decided to splurge and get a room with a view of the sea. Hotel La Pérouse is one of the nicest boutique hotels in Nice and we really got a steal!
If you book the room we got – Superior Double Room with a Sea View – during peak season, you’re looking at nightly rates ranging around $800-$900. In January, our nightly rate was only about $259 (total above also includes city tax, valet parking for four nights, and one accidental mini bar charge when a beer bottle fell out and popped open).
Of course, you could bring your French Riviera trip cost down even more by staying a few blocks further away from the Promenade des Anglais and forgoing the sea view. These two hotels are still nice, but more budget-friendly:
- Moderate: Hôtel Le Grimaldi (wonderful neighborhood near many good restaurants)
- Budget: Best Western Hôtel Lakmi (close to tram and has rooms with cute balconies)
Related: 15 Best Hotels in Nice, France
Groceries
$0
We ate out for every single meal during this trip. Don’t judge us! As this picture proves, it definitely was not due to a lack of local shops selling enticing products!
Food & Drink
$980.16
If you thought this was a lot for two people to dine out every day while in the French Riviera, this total is actually lower than I thought it would be! To be honest, when traveling to this region I am always amazed by how affordable food can be compared to at home. I think it’s possibly due to the availability and heavy usage of locally-sourced seasonal ingredients at so many restaurants.
I think we were able to keep prices from getting out of hand by eating something small at cafes each morning instead of taking the breakfast at our hotel. We also saved leftovers from our dinners in our mini fridge to have for lunch the next day. Finally, we really didn’t drink very much wine or other alcoholic beverages during our stay, which always sneakily drives up your bill.
Note: If you are visiting in January, try to get your hands on a Galette des Rois (king cake!). This popular treat has been prepared in France since the 14th century to honor the Epiphany, but you’ll see it everywhere throughout the month!
- Friday: $140.42 for overpriced airport food due to essentially traveling for an entire day because of a cancelled flight.
- Saturday: $84.47 for dinner at La Taverna du 9 (highly recommend!)
- Sunday: $103.13 for socca and other snacks at Chez Theresa and dinner at La Pêche à la Vigne
- Monday: $81.91 for patisserie in La Turbie and dinner at Casa Tua
- Tuesday: $171.10 for lunch in Vence and dinner at Les Sens in Nice (one of our favs!)
- Wednesday: $155.06 for lunch at Nananère in Antibes and two pizzas for dinner from Les Amoureux
- Thursday: $228.80. Most expensive day due to an indulgent lunch at L’Orangerie (try this place!) in Menton followed by dinner at Lavomatique in Nice
- Friday: $15.27 for light breakfast and coffee
Note that it’s hard to keep track of the small bits of cash we end up spending, so some of these amounts could be give or take some coffee and tips.
Related: 22 Best Restaurants in Nice, France
Activities
$68.09
This amount may be a little lower than activities of a typical French Riviera trip cost would be. This is for a few reasons:
- In low season, some sites are closed so there are less overall opportunities to spend money at museums and such.
- We drove ourselves and used public transportation, so there was no need to pay for any pricey group tours.
- A lot of the places we did visit were overall inexpensive or free
Our priciest entry fees were at the FAMM in Mougins (€16/person) and the Matisse Museum (€10/person) in Nice. We also visited the Exotic Garden in Eze (€5.00/person is the low-season rate), the Bastide aux Violettes in Tourrettes-sur-Loup (€2/person), and the Château de Roquebrune (€5/person).
It’s also worth noting that there are so many amazing free things to do in Nice alone, not to mention in the surrounding towns. A few include climbing the steps to Castle Hill during sunset, walking the Promenade des Anglais, and of course our lengthy morning walk to Villefranche-sur-Mer. Outside of Nice, even just strolling the cobblestone paths of French Riviera villages like Eze or Saint-Paul-de-Vence delivers plenty of charm.
Related: 30+ Day Trips from Nice, France
French Riviera Trip Cost: Miscellaneous Expenses
- Shopping: $132.80 While I’m not usually a big shopper, I do love popping into boutiques in the French Riviera. In Antibes, we bought a couple books at Antibes Books and a necklace at Nautica.
- Cell Phone: $108 You may have to pay for an international plan to make sure your phone works during your trip. Under my plan with Verizon, I pay $12 for every day I use cellular data abroad. It’s a bit pricey, but worth it for how often I rely on my phone for Google Maps and last minute restaurant searches. When I travel with Aaron, he keeps his phone on airplane mode so that we only pay this price for one person.
- Pet Boarding: $632.95 This is the price one must pay to put their rescue Yorkie up in comfortable housing during their travels when said Yorkie 1) doesn’t get along with other dogs and 2) everyone you know has a dog. However, it’s worth it to know he is safe and comfortable while we are away. Obviously, not having to worry about this expense makes traveling immensely cheaper.
• • •
There you have it – a complete rundown of our French Riviera trip cost. It’s amazing to me how much money you can save in this famously expensive region simply by traveling here in winter. Even if you don’t want to spend a little extra for the heavily discounted room with a view, it remains worthwhile to visit this gorgeous region that remains sunny and mild even in January.
Planning a trip to the South of France? Then make sure to join my Facebook group for the best tips, places, and hotels on the French Riviera.
