Best things to do in Nice
The capital of the Riviera and fifth-largest city in France, Nice boasts wonderful street life and excellent shopping, eating and drinking, while its museums are a treat for art lovers.
Viewpoints and panoramas
Parc de la Colline du Château: For initial orientation, with brilliant sea and city views, fresh air and a cooling waterfall, head for these ancient ruins. It’s a bit of a climb, but you can take an elevator part way up.
The best districts
Old Town (Vieux Nice): From the flower market at dawn to bar-hopping in the early hours, Nice’s mellow, Mediterranean heart buzzes with street life night and day.
Promenade des Anglais: The point where the Paillon flows into the sea marks the start of the famous palm-fringed promenade, lined with some of the most fanciful architecture on the Côte d’Azur.
Cimiez: Nice’s northern suburb, Cimiez, has always been posh, punctuated by vast belle époque piles, many of them former hotels such as the gargantuan Hôtel Régina, built for a visit by Queen Victoria.
Museums
Musée Chagall: Custom-built to house Marc Chagall’s Biblical Message paintings, the Musée Chagall is unmissable for fans of the artist’s work.
Musée National du Sport: Spanning the 16th century to the present, the focus is on French sport, but many of the artefacts – from Marcel Cerdan’s boxing gloves and Yannick Noah’s tennis racquet to the football used in the 1998 World Cup – have international resonance.
Musée Matisse: Fine collection with work from every period, including an almost complete set of his bronze sculptures and sketches for one of the Dance murals.
Parks and gardens
Historical monuments
Russian Orthodox Cathedral: Not only one of the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in Western Europe, this is also the most gilded, elaborate edifice in the city.
Negresco Hotel: One of the great surviving European palace hotels, still independently run and with an interior that is both opulent and occasionally downright odd. Want to stay here? It’ll certainly cost you a pretty penny.
Day trips from Nice
Niçois villages: Explore craggy Peillon and unspoiled Lucéram, the villages perchés of Nice’s wild and underpopulated hinterland, where locals still live off the land, producing olives, goat’s cheese, herbs and vegetables.
Monaco: Experience Monaco’s status as an independent principality up close by watching the changing of the guard in front of the Palais Princier; alternatively, you could try and break the bank at the world’s most famous casino.
Activities for families in Nice
Nice holidays can be enjoyed by all the family, with activities ranging from beaches and parks to zoos and fantastically scenic train rides.
Aquariums and zoos: Phoenix Parc Floral de Nice is a cross between a botanical garden, bird-and-insect zoo and theme park, with everything from Mediterranean and acid-tolerant plants to caimans, wallabies and free-flying exotic birds, all grouped around a lake with fountains.
Train rides: The Chemins de Fer de Provence runs one of France’s most scenic and fun railway routes, the line running up the Var Valley into the hinterland of Nice to Digne-les-Bains, climbing through spectacular scenery as it goes.
Beaches: Those with kids should hit Nice’s beaches, which are plentiful: a lesser-known favourite is La Réserve tucked away to the east of Nice town in the port area, while Ruhl Plage along the Promenade des Anglais is a great choice for families, and also has lifeguards.
Free things to do in Nice
Nice may be one of the most expensive destinations in southern France but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty of free entertainment to be had.
Walk Old Nice: The real magnet of Vieux Nice is the cours Saleya, and on summer nights, cafés and restaurant tables fill the cours to create the Riviera’s most animated free show.
Visit the markets: Cours Saleya is the site of the city’s main market, where there are gorgeous displays of fruit, vegetables, cheeses and sausages – along with cut and potted flowers and scented plants.
Beaches: Nothing shouts a freebie like a beach and Nice has plenty: the main beach stretches west of Le Château along the shores of the Baie des Anges and is backed by the promenade des Anglais.
Festivals: Of Nice’s many festivals, several are free, including the celebrated Mardi Gras Carnival and associated flower processions in February, and the Ironman France Nice in June, when competitors from all around the world swim 3.8km in the Baie des Anges, cycle 180km in the hills behind the city and run 42km, ending up along the promenade des Anglais.
Nature and outdoor activities
The coast is your obvious adventure playground but head inland and there are marvellous pursuits to be enjoyed, not least hiking, but perhaps more surprisingly, skiing.
Water sports: The sea here is warm and placid and there are plenty of places where you can rent equipment, be it for scuba diving, snorkelling, kayaking or stand-up paddleboarding. The western suburb of Saint-Laurent-du-Var is where kitesurfers gather.
Hiking: Inland, and north of Nice, the Parc National du Mercantour is a true hiking mecca, the park crossed by numerous paths, equipped with refuge huts that provide basic food and bedding for trekkers. Closer to the city, the Parc du Mont-Boron trail is one of the area’s most beautiful and well-appointed, spanning almost 57 hectares of natural woods and signposted walkways.
Cycling: Nice’s on-street bicycle rental scheme, Vélo Bleu, has 175 rental stations scattered throughout the city, extending into Cagnes-sur-Mer and St Laurent-du-Var.
Fishing: As you’d expect, the waters here are rich in all kinds of fish species, so why not have a go at a catch yourself; plenty of local fishermen offer their services, with all equipment provided.
