WHERE TO RIDE IN NICE

VENCE.

Take the piste cyclable (cycle path) west and then climb the side of the Var valley and over to the pretty artists’ town of Vence. Fill up with water at the fountain before tackling this climb that’s a favourite training ground with locals. On the top of the Col de Vence there are beautiful views over all the coastal towns, but once you pass to the other side (and climb ever so slightly higher), you’ve left civilisation behind, and you’re out in the wilderness.

Bouyon is a good stop for water, and Le Broc has a boulangerie and café, and then you descend back down the Var. If you want to dial the difficulty down, keep on going on the piste cyclable to the coast as shown; otherwise, there’s the option of crossing the Var and taking the signed road to Castagniers and then Aspremont for one more climb and a back-roads descent into Nice.