Things To Do in Nice

In 1822, Nice’s orange crop had an awful year. The workers faced a lean time, so the English residents employed them to build the promenade des Anglais, today a wide boulevard fronting the bay that stretches for 7km (4 1/4 miles), all the way to the airport. Along the beach are rows of grand cafes, the Musée Masséna, and the city’s most glamorous hotels.

Crossing this boulevard in the tiniest bikinis are some of the world’s most attractive bronzed bodies. They’re all heading for the beach. Tough on tender feet, la plage is made not of sand, but of pebbles (and not small ones, either).

Rising sharply on a rock at the eastern end of the promenade is the Colline du Château. Once a fortified bastion, the hill has since been turned into a wonderful public park complete with a waterfall, cafés, and a giant children’s play area, as well as an incredibly ornate cemetery. Head up aboard an elevator from the quai des Etats-Unis; more athletic visitors can walk up one of five sets of steep steps. The park is open daily from 8am to dusk.

Continuing east of the Colline, you reach the Vieux Port, or harbor, where the restaurants are filled with locals. While lingering over a drink at a sidewalk cafe, you can watch the ferries depart for Corsica and the yachts for St-Tropez. Just inland, the neighborhood around rue Bonaparte and place Garibaldi has become one of the hippest in town: head here for authentic eateries, hip bars, and the superb MAMAC (Museum of Contemporary Art).

The Vieille Ville, or Old Town, begins at the foot of the Colline and stretches to place Masséna. Sheltered by red-tiled roofs, many of the Italianate facades suggest 17th-century Genoese palaces, including the free museum Palais Lascaris. The Old Town is a maze of narrow streets teeming with local life, flower-strewn squares, and traditional boulangeries: sample a Niçois-style onion pizza (pissaladière) here. Many of the buildings are painted a faded Roman gold, and their banners are laundry flapping in the sea breeze.

From Tuesday through Sunday (8am–1pm), the Old Town’s main pedestrianized thoroughfare, the cours Saleya, is crowded with local producers selling seasonal fruits and vegetables, cured meats, and artisanal cheeses. At the market’s western end is the Marché aux Fleurs. A rainbow of violets, lilies and roses, the market operates Tuesday to Sunday from 8am to around 6pm. On Monday (8am–6pm) the cours Saleya is occupied by a superb antiques market, with vendors carting wares in from across France and Italy.

Nice’s centerpiece is place Masséna (pictured above) with rococo buildings and bubbling fountains, as well as the new Promenade du Paillon parkway that stretches from the MAMAC down to the Jardin Albert-1er. With palms and exotic flowers, this pedestrian-only zone is one of the prettiest places in town. During renovations, the city authorities discovered an Archeological Crypt near place Garibaldi, place Jacques Toja (www.nice.fr/culture; tel. b 5€ adults, 2.50€ children under 16; closed Tues, Thurs, and Fri). The site can now be visited on a 60-min. guided tour.

In the once-aristocratic hilltop quarter of Cimiez, 5km (3 miles) north of Nice, Queen Victoria wintered at the Hôtel Excelsior. Half the English court traveled down from Calais with her on a luxurious private train. To reach this suburb and its attractions, take bus no. 15 from bd. Dubouchage.

Organized Tours

Bus tours — One of the most enjoyable ways to quickly gain an overview of Nice is aboard a Nice Open Top (www.nice.opentour.com; tel. 04-92-29-17-00) double-decker bus. Between 10am and 6pm year-round, one of a flotilla of this company’s buses departs from a position adjacent to the Jardin Albert I. The panoramic 90-min. tour takes in the harbor, the museums of Cimiez, the Russian church, and the promenade. Per-person rates for the experience are 23€ adults, and 8€ for children 4 to 11. Participants can get off at any of 12 stops en route and re-board any other buses, which follow at 30- to 60-min. intervals, depending on the season. Advance reservations aren’t necessary, and commentary is piped through to headsets in seven different languages. For just 3€ more, visitors can purchase a 2-day pass.

Another easy way to see the city is by the small Train Touristique de Nice (www.trainstouristiquesdenice.com; tel. 06-08-55-08-30), which also departs from the promenade des Anglais, opposite Jardin Albert I. The 45-min. ride passes many of Nice’s most-heralded sites, including place Masséna, the Old Town, and the Colline du Château. Departing every 30 min., the train operates daily 9:30am to 5:30pm (Apr–May and Sept until 6pm and June–Aug until 7pm). The round-trip price is 10€ adults and 5€ children 4 to 12.

Walking tours — The Office du Tourisme organizes a “Discover the heart of Nice” English-language walking tour of Nice Old Town every Saturday morning at 9.30am. It departs from the Tourist Office at 5 promenade des Anglais, and costs 12€, or [6] for children. It winds through markets, artists’ residences, and along the ancient streets.

Cycling tours — Energetic guests may join Nice Cycle Tours (www.nicecycletours.com; tel. 06-19-99-95-22), 3-hr. bike voyages around the city. Tours cost 35€ per person, and the friendly team also run food tours and eBike expeditions. More professional cyclists can join Danish biker Tina Baltzer at Lifesparkz (www.lifesparkz.net; tel. 06-40-52-94-39). Her trips (from 40€ person) run along the Tour de France and Ironman routes that ribbon across the French Riviera.

Boat tours — Nice owes its soul to the sea. In 1993, the nations of France, Italy, and Monaco teamed together for protect an 87,500km² (33,784 square miles) sanctuary for giant pelagics. To spot dolphins, turtles, and the Riviera's seasonal pod of migrating whales, take a trip into the blue with Fastboat (www.dolphins-whales-watching-med.com; tel. 06-12-73-73-90; departures from Nice Port and Beaulieu-sur-Mer). The 4-hour adventure costs 120€, or 70€ for children ages 11 and under. Fastboat’s experienced captain is extremely respectful of local mammals and sea life.

Alternative tours — Possibly the coolest way to get around Nice is by Segway, the two-wheeled electronic scooters. Mobilboard, 2 rue Halévy (www.mobilboard.com; tel. 04-93-80-21-27) runs tours. Children 14 (minimum age) to 17 must be accompanied by an adult. A 1-hr.-long tour of Nice costs 32€ per person. Alternatively, 2CV Escapade, 7 pl. Ile de Beauté (www.2cv-escapade.com; tel. 06-52-01-30-40), in Nice Port, offers multilingual city tours in a classic Citroën convertible from 60€ per group of two or three persons.

More energetic guests may join Nice Cycle Tours (www.nicecycletours.com; tel. 06-19-99-95-22), 3-hr. bike voyages around the city. Tours cost 35€ per person, and the friendly team also run food tours and eBike expeditions. The hottest Cervélo racing bikes are available to rent from Café de Cycliste, 10 quai de Docks (www.cafeducycliste.com; tel. 09-67-02-04-17), a hipster café frequented by Tour de France pros, from 85€ per day. Staff are great for repairs and bike route advice.

Nice’s newest tour is an aerial speedboat parascend from the friendly team at SuperFly (www.superfly-watersport.com), where guests rise 100m into the air for fabulous panoramas. Rides cost 100€ for two guests.

Museum and Travel Passes

Those visiting more than one cultural attraction in Nice,  a city with more museums than any French city outside Paris, should purchase the Pass Musées de Nice (www.nice.fr), It can be bought at any museum or cultural site. For 15€ pass holders are granted four days of complimentary access to all 12 of Nice public museums. Under 18s require no pass for free entry.

Visitors who aim to hit the sights hard across the Riviera can save with two great value travel cards. The French Riviera Pass (www.frenchrivierapass.com) is best for hardcore culture vultures. It costs 26€ for 24 hr., 38€ for 48 hr., or 56€ for 72 hr. and offers access to over 60 choice sights. These include the Villa Kerylos on Cap-Ferrat (usually 10€), the Musée Chagall in Nice (normally 10€), and the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco (a whopping 16€). City tours like the Mobilboard Segway ride (17€) and the snorkeling boat trip to Villefranche (25€) are also included.

The Cote d’Azur Card (www.cotedazur-card.com) costs 45€, or 25€ for children. Holders can visit all the sights featured on the French Riviera Pass and get bus tours and seaside activities too. A more relaxed adventure, it allows for unlimited usage for 3 days out of 6, so you don’t have to kill yourself with culture during a 72-hr. window. Highlights include Nice’s hop-on hop-off Open Top Bus Tour (normally 22€), plus paddleboard trips and island boat rides from Cannes.

Clothes — Clustered around rue Masséna and avenue Jean-Médecin is Nice’s densest concentration of fashionable French labels. For more high-end couture, the streets around place Magenta, including rue de Verdun, rue Paradis, and rue Alphonse Karr are Apple Pay's worst nightmare. A shop of note is Cotelac, 12 rue Alphonse Karr (tel. 04-93-87-31-59), which sells chic women’s clothing. Men should try Façonnable, 7–9 rue Paradis (www.faconnable.com; tel. 04-93-88-06-97). This boutique is the original site of a chain with several hundred branches worldwide; the look is conservatively stylish. For more unusual apparel, Lucien Chasseur, 2 rue Bonaparte (tel. 04-93-55-52-14), is the city’s coolest spot for Italian-designed shoes, scarves, and soft leather satchels. In the Old Town, rue de la Prefecture is home to far-out stores including WeMood (no.17), for vintage French Riviera posters, and Antic Boutik (no.19), for mens fashion. Also try nearby Harrison, 10 rue Alexandre Mari (www.harrison-opticien.com; tel. 04-93-01-69-25), for a decade-by-decade presentation of designer sunglasses, including 1980s Top Gun aviators.

Food — The winding streets of the Old Town and the locals-only streets around rue Bonaparte behind Nice Port are the best place to source foodie purchases. If you’re thinking of indulging in a Provençale pique-nique, Nicola Alziari, 14 rue St François de Paule (www.alziari.com.fr; tel. 04-93-62-94-03), near the Old Town’s Opera house will provide everything from olives, anchovies, and pistous to aiolis and tapenades. For an olive-oil tasting session—and the opportunity to buy the goods afterward—check out Oliviera, 2 rue Benoit Bunico (www.oliviera.com; tel. 04-93-11-06-45), run by the amiable Nadim Beyrouti. Maison Barale, 7 rue Sainte-Réparate (www.barale-raviolis.com; tel. 04-93-83-63-08), is generally regarded as the finest fresh pasta maker in Nice, if not on the entire French Riviera. With 120 years of experience, they makes a mean ricotta ravioli. Caves Caprioglio, 16 rue de la Préfecture (tel. 04-93-85-66-57), is the go-to place for rare Provençal wines and big name Bordeaux vintages. In the port, Confiserie Florian, 14 quai Papacino (www.confiserieflorian.com; tel. 04-93-55-43-50), has been candying fruit, chocolate-dipping roasted nuts, and crystalizing edible flowers since 1949. Tastes become even more offbeat in the rue Bonaparte area. Le Péché Mignon, 41 rue Bonaparte (tel. 04-93-89-75-56), is where three generations of Niçois have gone for high-end patisserie and picnic goodies. Boulangerie Lagache, 20 rue Arson (tel. 04-93-19-04-83), is often the holder of the annual best baguette in Nice award. Italian-operated O’Quotidien, 2 rue Martin Seytour (www.oquotidien.fr; tel. 04-93-55-43-50), is an all-organic local food store: Customers (and lunchtime diners; set menu 16€) can sample, then purchase their weekly wine from huge vats.

Souvenirs — The best selection of Provençal fabrics is at Le Chandelier, 7 rue de la Boucherie (tel. 04-93-85-85-19), where you’ll see designs by two of the region’s best-known producers of cloth, Les Olivades and Valdrôme. Nearby at Atelier des Cigales, 13 rue du Collet (tel. 04-93-85-85-19), for Provençal platters and smart local handicrafts. For antiquarian books, contemporary art, kitsch, and comic books, wander north of place Garibaldi to rue Delille and rue Defly, just past the MAMAC modern art gallery. For art deco objets d’art from the 1930s to 1960s, hit Harter, 36 rue Ségurane (tel. 04-93-07-10-29)—prices are not cheap but the items are museum-quality.

Antiques & Vintage Good — Nice’s antique quarter (www.nice-antic.com) on the western side of Nice Port is second only to Paris in terms of serious collecting. Over 100 antiquaires line the streets of rue Foresta, rue Ségurane, and rue Antoine Gautier. Goods range from '50s Milanese furniture to Tibetan art and Dresden ceramics. Harter, 35 rue Ségurane (www.hartergalerie.com; tel. 04-93-07-10-29), is a must visit for mid- to late 20th-century furniture, art, and lighting. Less expensive than bona fide antique stores are Dépôt Ventes. These warehouses are stocked with house clearance goodies and are veritable museums to Nice’s wealthy past. The richest families seem to have shoveled all their Chanel homeware into Mademoiselle, 41 rue de France (www.mademoiselle-nice.fr; tel. 06-88-54-22-00), a Dépôt Vente Luxe near the Negresco Hotel.

For stores selling antiquarian books, contemporary art, kitsch, and comic books, wander north from place Garibaldi to rue Delille and rue Defly, just past the MAMAC modern art gallery. On the latter, l’Ara, 2 rue Delfy (tel. 04-93-87-65-86), sells vintage Scandinavian furniture and objets d’art.  In the Old Town, Caprice Vintage, 12 rue Droite (tel. 09-83-48-05-43), purveys Dior scarves, Zegna silk ties, and '70s Bakelite telephones.

Market Time in Nice

Guests who are picnicking, self-catering, or hunting for antique bargains are in for a treat. The cours Saleya street market (Tues–Sun 7:30am–1pm) is the Old Town’s fruit and vegetable go-to. The impossibly pretty piles of peaches, strawberries, olives, and jams have been painted by Henri Matisse, plus a thousand other amateurs who squat beside the stalls with their easels to this day. An entire section is been given over to organic goods (look out for the “Agriculture biologique” signs above each stall) and locally sourced items. One vendor even claims that his chickens have a panoramic view of the Mediterranean Sea. Tour groups have become a fixture in recent years, as has occasional overcharging, so count your change carefully. The same space hosts an exceptionally offbeat antiques market every Monday (9am–6pm). The daily flower market (Tues–Sun 9am–6pm) takes place at the western end of the cours Saleya.

You will seldom spot another tourist at the Libération fruit and vegetable market (Tues–Sun 7:30am–1pm). The Riviera’s finest street market is as authentic as they come. Some 150 stalls purvey artisanal breads, whole roast chickens, nuts, seeds, flowers, fish, and a thousand other items besides. Some stalls, invariably manned by a weathered local, sell one fruit only, a seasonal local delight. Like the Cours Saleya market, dozens of restaurants, wine shops, and cafés line the market route.

Nice has some of the most active nightlife and cultural offerings along the Riviera. Big evenings out usually begin at a cafe or bar, take in a restaurant, opera, or film, and finish in a club. You have the choice of many cinemas, most of which show films in English with French subtitles, with the art house Cinéma Jean-Paul Belmondo, 16 place Garibaldi (tel. 04-89-04-52-00), particularly recommended for cult version originale films.

The major cultural center on the Riviera is the Opéra de Nice, 4 rue St-François-de-Paule (www.opera-nice.org; tel. 04-92-17-40-00), built in 1885 by Charles Garnier, fabled architect of the Paris Opéra. It presents a full repertoire, with emphasis on serious, often large-scale operas, such as “Tristan and Isolde” and “La Boheme,” as well as a saison symphonique dominated by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. The opera hall is also the major venue for concerts and recitals. Tickets are available right up until the day of performance. You can show up at the box office (Tue–Sat 11am–5pm) or buy tickets in advance online. Tickets run from 12€ to 90€.

A chic gaming spot is the Casino in the Palais de Mediterranée, 15 promenade des Anglais (www.casinomediterranee.com; tel. 04-92-14-68-00), which opens at 10am for slot machines, 8pm for gaming tables.