Nice to Eze, Monaco & Monte-Carlo: Half Day Tour with Perfume Stop

4.79

(146 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We curved out of Nice before I’d even finished my coffee, the van windows catching that early light over the Bay of Angels. Our guide—her name was Claire—pointed at these wild villas perched on Cap Ferrat. “That’s the Bay of Millionaires,” she said, like it was just a normal Tuesday. The road climbed fast and suddenly we were high above Villefranche-sur-Mer, everything below looking almost painted on. I could smell jasmine somewhere—might’ve been someone’s garden or maybe just my imagination running ahead to the Fragonard perfumery stop.

Eze really does look like an eagle’s nest. We wandered up stone steps between houses with blue shutters and tiny window boxes spilling geraniums. Claire told us about the medieval walls (she had this way of making history sound like gossip). At Fragonard, the air was thick with citrus and something powdery-sweet—one of those smells you can’t quite name but want to bottle anyway. I tried guessing notes in one of their perfumes; failed spectacularly, but the woman showing us around smiled like she’d seen it all before.

Monaco felt like another world after that—a bit unreal with its guards in white uniforms outside the palace and tourists craning for a glimpse of something royal. We had free time to walk up to the cathedral where Grace Kelly is buried (I didn’t expect to feel anything but… yeah). The changing of the guard was almost exactly at noon; everyone shuffled for photos but it felt oddly quiet for such a showy place.

Driving along part of the Formula One circuit into Monte Carlo was surreal—Claire laughed about how slow we were compared to race day. The casino is as shiny as you’d expect; honestly I didn’t go in (felt underdressed), but standing outside watching people come and go was its own kind of fun. There’s something about seeing all these places stacked together in half a day from Nice—it leaves your head spinning a little, in a good way.