This will be pretty short, just some final thoughts on the Nice trip and some things to keep in mind as I travel again in the future. No pics in this one, sorry! Previous posts (which may be more interesting!) are at day 1, day 2, day 3.

The Nice trip had a few things that I’ve never done before:

• Spontaneously decided on and booked the trip with the flight out on the same day
• Unplanned day-to-day until the night before
• Travelling solo (I’ve done some solo professional travel in the past but that’s a different beast)
• And related, travelling/touristing entirely on my own schedule and doing my own things (hence all the walking and climbing!)

It was awesome.

Overall cost of this trip, including flights, two nights accommodation and all spending, was £330. Not too bad, but inflated by the cost of the short-notice flight (£200) spread over such a short trip.

Some things I learned:

• Preparing to cook in the hostel is a good idea, that way the evening meal is cheaper and can be sized appropriately to what I’ve been doing for the rest of the day.
• Prefer street/market food to eating at restaurants. My restaurant lunch on Monday wasn’t too pricey but still much more than I spent on various eats in Nice on Tuesday. Street food is also usually more interesting and varied (not that I needed any convincing on this score anyway).
• Don’t trust airport “express” routes, figure out what the local services are doing.
• My strenuous Monday and Tuesday (climbing and walking, especially Monday) were excellent but that concentration of activity isn’t sustainable over a longer trip. Keep that in mind.
• Relax time is excellent and should be planned for, or just spontaneously taken when the opportunity comes up.
• Airport food is ridiculously expensive, don’t turn up for flights hungry.
• Jeans aren’t the ideal clothing for strenuous climbs or hikes, shorts may be useful.
• Don’t forget sunblock.
• Never forget water.
• Beware of the days that different cultures shut things down. Nice was dead on Sunday evening, and a lot of museums in Nice were closed on Tuesday.

Ok, fine, I’ll end with a picture! These guys seemed to be on every billboard and bus stop in Nice. Creepy.