We have always watched on enviously at the baggage carousel as those with ‘hand luggage only’ flights stride straight for the airport exit with no delays so we decided to try it on a 5 night break to Nice. The first hurdle was getting the Easyjet hand luggage dimensions and rules right as these are not always the same across different airlines. Having checked we had bags that complied we then did a trial pack and realised that we needed to be a bit clever with our choice of clothes and items to take.
Relying on the hotel to provide the basic shower gel and shampoo we were able to pare down toiletries to the absolute essentials decanted into smaller bottles if necessary to comply with the regulations for taking liquids in hand luggage.
We opted to take clothes that we could easily rinse out and that would mix and match to cover daytime and evening use but had to limit ourselves to only one pair of shoes which we wore and a pair of flip flops for the beach. We couldn’t fit in beach towels of course but managed to hire some with the sunbeds when we were there. We wore our thicker jumpers and coats as there was no room to pack them but we were lucky with the weather and didn’t even need them in Nice. We left all the gadgets like kindles and iPad at home and used the Kindle app on our phones for reading, the only problem was that it tended to use more battery power so a day of reading on the beach was not possible.
During the trip we made full use of the brilliant Nice tram system which links the airport with the centre of the city and also the port area. We stayed at the Best Western Lakmi which proved to be an excellent choice as it was close to the tram stops and right on the main shopping street, Ave Jean Medecin.
In 5 days we had time to explore Nice old town, Promenade Des Anglais and the Chateau area with its fabulous views. We took a bus to Beaulieu for a beach day and could easily have fitted in a visit to the stunning Villa Ephrussi gardens nearby which we had visited in the past. We visited Antibes for a day by train but after spending a long time queuing for tickets at a machine at the station I would definitely buy these online if we go again. One morning we decided to book a sightseeing boat trip from Nice port which took us around the headland to Villefranche pointing out all the properties owned by the rich and famous on the way.
We will definitely travel with hand luggage only in the future and a city break is the perfect place to go as you will never be too far from a shop in case you can’t pack all you need. The only downside to travelling with the luggage restriction is that you can’t take advantage of the shopping opportunities although I think my husband might argue that this was actually a good thing!
