Things to do in Nice
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Cours Saleya Markets
Split between its beautiful flower market and rightly famous food market. On Mondays from 6am to 6pm, flowers and food make way for an antiques market.
reviewed
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Parc du Château
On a rocky outcrop towering over Vieux Nice, this park offers a cinematic panorama of Nice and the Baie des Anges on one side, and the port on the other. The 12th-century castle was razed by Louis XIV in 1706; only the 16th-century Tour Bellanda remains. It is a fabulous place for picnics.
Other attractions include Cascade Donjon, an 18th-century artificial waterfall crowned with a viewing platform, and kids’ playgrounds. To get here, ride the Château Lift from beneath Tour Bellanda, or hike up the staircases on montée Lesage or the eastern end of rue Rossetti in Vieux Nice. From the port, follow montée Montfort.
reviewed
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Jardin du Monastère
Surrounding the Monastère Notre Dame de Cimiez is Jardin du Monastère, filled with cypress trees and an abundance of sweet-smelling roses, and offering a sweeping panorama of the Baie des Anges.
reviewed
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Les Trois Diables
Music is a mix of trip-hop, house and electro at this small club. Thursday is student night (show your ID); Wednesday is karaoke.
reviewed
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Delhi Belhi
An excellent Indian restaurant, ideal if you’ve overdosed on Mediterranean flavours.
reviewed
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Flea Market
A flea market takes over the cours Saleya on Mondays.
reviewed
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Nissa Socca
This inexpensive joint in Nice's ambient old town is a good bet for authentic niçoise cuisine, from the eponymous socca to a slice of pissaladière (a thick crust covered with puréed onions and garlic, topped with anchovies and olives) or its Italian ancestor, the pizza.
reviewed
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Musée des Beaux-Arts
In a resplendent 1878 belle époque villa, the Musée des Beaux-Arts displays works by Fragonard, Monet, Sisley and Rodin, as well as an excellent collection of Dufy works.
Fauvist appreciators will relish a roomful of Raoul Dufy's works. Also impressive are sculptures by Rodin, and some late impressionist pieces by Bonnard, Monet and Sisley. Local lads Jules Chéret (1836-1932), the 'Father of the Poster', and Alexis Mossa (1844-1926), who painted truly hideous symbolist works, also feature. The latter is more famous for adding wildly decorated floats to the Nice Carnival than for his watercolours. From the bus station, take bus 38 to the Musée Chéret stop outside.
reviewed
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Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain
European and American avant-garde works from the 1950s to the present are the focus of this museum. Highlights include many works by Nice's New Realists, Christo, César, Arman, Yves Klein and Niki de Saint-Phalle. The building's rooftop also works as an exhibition space (with panoramas of Nice to boot).
Smartphone users will be able to access audio commentary thanks to flashcodes.
reviewed
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Musée Masséna
The beautiful Musée Masséna, housed in a marvellous Italianate neoclassical villa (1898), retraces Nice and the Riviera's history from the late 18th century to WWII. It’s a fascinating journey, with a roll call of monarchs, a succession of nationalities (British, Russians, Americans), the advent of tourism, the prominence of the carnival and much more.
History is told through an excellent mix of furniture, objects, art deco posters, early photographs, paintings and the lovely setting (note however that captions are in French only). The city of Nice still uses the ground-floor rooms for official occasions so it can sometimes close at short notice.
reviewed
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Plage Publique des Ponchettes
If you don't like sand between your toes, Nice's beaches - covered with smooth, round pebbles - are for you. Free public sections of beach with lifeguards, first-aid posts and cold showers alternate with 15 private beaches equipped with restaurants, comfy sun-lounges (obligatory; at a fee) parasols (optional, at a fee), warm showers and changing rooms.
Plage Publique des Ponchettes, opposite Vieux Nice, is the busiest beach with oiled bodies either baking in the sun or punching a ball on the beach-volleyball court.
reviewed
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Anatole Jakovsky International Naive Art Museum
Over 1000 works of naive art are gathered at the Anatole Jakovsky International Naive Art Museum, inside 19th-century Château Ste-Hélène, 2km west of the centre. Romanian art critic Anatole Jakovsky (1909-83), who moved to southern France in 1932, kick-started the museum by donating his vast collection. Pieces date from the 18th century to the present day. Take bus 8, 10, 11 or 12 from the bus station to the Fabron stop, from where it's a 500m walk, or take bus 34 to the Musée Art Naïf stop.
reviewed
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Monaco and Eze Small Group Day Trip from Nice
8 hours (Departs Nice, France)
by Viator
Spend a day on the beautiful French Riviera with a small-group day trip from Nice to Monaco and Eze. See the changing of the guard at the palace in Monte Carlo,…Not LP reviewed
from USD$107.87 -
French Riviera Small Group Day Trip from Nice
9 hours (Departs Nice, France)
by Viator
From Monte Carlo to Cannes you'll see all the fabulous towns of the French Riviera on this small-group day trip from Nice. You’ll delight in the scenic drive…Not LP reviewed
from USD$129.96 -
Provence Countryside Small Group Day Trip
8 hours (Departs Nice, France)
by Viator
See the picturesque villages and lovely countryside of Provence on a small-group day trip from Nice. With your transport taken care of, you can sit back and…Not LP reviewed
from USD$107.87 -
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Église du Gesù
Jutting above the rooflines are the spires of some historic churches including the baroque Cathédrale Ste-Réparate and its stunning glazed terracotta dome, built around 1650; the blue-grey and yellow Église du Gesù, close to rue Rossetti, whose baroque ornamentation also dates from the mid-17th century; and the mid-18th- century Chapelle de la Miséricorde, next to place Pierre Gautier.
reviewed
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Les Épicureans
If you don't have time to visit the glamorous, pint-sized principality of Monaco, 18km east of Nice, this wood-and-white-tableclothed place overlooking a pretty fountained square brings Monégasque cuisine to you. What's more, it's so expertly prepared that Monaco's monarch, Prince Albert, comes to dine here. House specialties include barbajuans (tiny fried ravioli with gaspacho sauce) and cocottes (cast-iron casserole dishes).
reviewed
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Parc National du Mercantour Headquarters
Deeply isolated and breathtakingly beautiful, the Parc National du Mercantour is one of the last bastions of true wilderness in France. Spread across six valleys (Roya-Béréva, Vésubie, Tinée, Haut Var, Haut Verdon and Ubaye) and 685 sq km along the Italian border, it mixes Alpine snowy peaks with Mediterranean warmth. Parc National du Mercantour Headquarters is the headquarters of the Mercantour National Park.
reviewed
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Small-Group Evening Tour and Dinner in Monte Carlo from Nice
5 hours (Departs Nice, France)
by Viator
Enjoy Monaco’s glamorous atmosphere on a small-group evening dinner tour from Nice. You’ll drive along the seaside corniche to Monte Carlo, where elegant…Not LP reviewed
from USD$135.16 -
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La Petite Maison
Nice’s hottest table draws celebs and politicians for its happening scene and elegantly executed Niçois specialities. We love the drama of the noisy, high-ceilinged room, aglow with flickering candlelight, and the contemporary spins of local classics, but waiters putter (unless you’re famous), portions run small and tables are packed together. Still, it’s tops for a splashy night out. Reservations essential.
reviewed
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Restaurant du Gésu
Locals rave about this no-frills eating house, run with dynamism and a huge dose of wit by the most gravelly-voiced patron on the Riviera. The menu is simple - Niçois beignets (fritters) followed by pizza, escalope or homemade pasta with a choice of sauce, house speciality sauce daube (a meaty broth sauce) included. Find Gésu tucked on an old-town square in the shade of a church.
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Kei's Passion
He might only be 26 years old but Japanese hot shot Keisuke Matsushima, alias Kei, makes heads turn at Kei's Passion, a minimalist space dedicated to gastronomy and crowned with a shiny Michelin star within a year of its opening. Cuisine is overwhelmingly Mediterranean (lots of Italian influence in there) with a subtle dash of the Orient, while the wine cellar, notably, is predominantly organic.
reviewed
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Monaco and Eze Small Group Half-Day Trip from Nice
5 hours (Departs Nice, France)
by Viator
While you’re in the French Riviera, see two more of its lovely towns on this small-group half-day trip from Nice to Monaco and Eze. See the changing of the…Not LP reviewed
from USD$74.08 -
Château de l'Anglais
From Nice's port, glance up at Mont Boron, home to celebrities such as Elton John. The pink confection you see is Château de l'Anglais, built in 1859 for an English engineer called Robert Smith, renowned at the time as being the only foreigner to live in Nice year-round. Locals quickly dubbed his castle 'Smith's folly'. The historical monument has since been split into private apartments.
reviewed
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Galerie Ferrero
Small-time artists and crafts people labour in a fascinating line-up of ateliers(workshops) in Vieux Nice on rue Droite. Substantially bigger prices are commanded by the pieces sold in the contemporary galleries and design shops on rue Dalpozzo. Top cat is Galerie Ferrero, Nice's most dazzling, dating to 1954 and specialising in works by Arman, César and other Nice New Realists.
reviewed