Nice

A city built by winter guests

From 1760 to 1939, Nice was Europe's favorite winter resort. By the late 19th century, up to 150,000 people spent the winter here each year, and the city earned the nickname "the salon of Europe." The district where that era's hotels, villas, gardens and promenades survive was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021 as "Winter Resort Town of the Riviera." At its heart is the Promenade des Anglais, literally "the promenade of the English," which runs 7 km along the Mediterranean. Sit on one of the blue chairs lined up facing the sea, and runners pass in front of you in the morning, people out to watch the sunset in the evening. The Carnival's Battle of Flowers (Bataille de Fleurs) was also created for winter guests. It began in 1876 as a simple exchange of flowers to entertain visitors. The 2027 Carnival runs from February 9 to 28.

The Old Town and Cours Saleya

Walk the narrow lanes of the Old Town (Vieux Nice), between facing ochre walls, and you start to feel you're in a small Italian town rather than a French one. That makes sense: until the Treaty of Turin brought it into France in 1860, Nice belonged to the Kingdom of Sardinia. Step out of the lanes and you're at the Cours Saleya market. Every day but Monday, stalls of locally grown flowers line up here; on Mondays, antique dealers lay out their wares in the same spot. The building at 1 place Charles-Félix, at the end of the market, is where Matisse lived from 1921 to 1938. Near the market, make a point of trying socca: a thin flatbread of chickpea-flour batter baked over a wood fire, best eaten the moment it comes out of the oven.

The lookout on Castle Hill

Rising on the east side of the Old Town, Castle Hill (Colline du Château) is where Nice was founded. The castle that stood on the hilltop for a thousand years survives only as ruins, and the hill is now a park known for its waterfall. Take the free elevator near rue des Ponchettes, or walk up the Lesage steps (escaliers Lesage). From the 92 m lookout, you can take in the beach curving away to the west, the port to the east, and the hills and foothills of the Alps beyond. The park opens daily at 8:30 a.m. and closes at 8 p.m. from April to October, and at 6 p.m. from November to March.

Nice at the table

For traditional Niçois cooking, look for restaurants with the Cuisine Nissarde label. It's awarded each year to places that keep to the original recipes and ingredients of Niçois dishes, and the list is on the Nice tourist office website. Start with ravioli served with daube, a beef stew. Pan bagnat is a round loaf whose inside is soaked with ripe tomato, olive oil and vinegar, then filled with tomato, hard-boiled egg, tuna, anchovies and olives and pressed shut. It works just as well on the go as at a terrace table. Salade niçoise pairs tomatoes with raw vegetables such as artichoke, green pepper and radish, topped with tuna, anchovies, hard-boiled egg and black Nice olives.

Matisse and Chagall

Matisse first came to Nice on Christmas Day 1917 and made most of his work here until his death in 1954. Coming from northern France, he said what kept him in Nice were the great colored reflections of January and the brightness of the day. The Musée Matisse, among the olive groves of Cimiez hill, holds his drawings, paintings and sculptures, and he's buried in the monastery cemetery on the same hill. A 15-minute walk from Nice-Ville station is the Musée national Marc Chagall. It holds the 17 paintings of the Biblical Message cycle that Chagall gave to the French state in 1966. Unlike the 12 on Genesis and Exodus, the five on the Song of Songs hang together in a separate hexagonal room right next door.

Day trip: Èze and Monaco

Between Nice and Monaco, on a rocky peak overlooking the sea 429 m up, sits the village of Èze. From Nice, Lignes d'Azur bus 82 or Zou! bus 602 drops you at the Èze Village stop. Follow the maze of lanes to the top, and on the site of a medieval fortress you'll find a garden of succulents and Mediterranean plants (Jardin Exotique); from that height, you can see as far as Saint-Tropez. On the way back, you can walk down the Nietzsche path (Chemin de Nietzsche) to Èze Bord de Mer on the coast. Bus 602 continues past Èze to Monaco, so it's easy to pair the two in a single day. Le Rocher, the rock where the Prince's Palace stands, is where François Grimaldi seized Monaco by trickery on the night of January 8, 1297. On the same rock, the rooftop terrace of the Oceanographic Museum (Musée océanographique) sits 85 m above the Mediterranean, the highest point of Le Rocher.

A 3-night, 4-day plan

Day 1 — Tram line 2 from the airport into town → sunset walk on the Promenade des Anglais Day 2 — Cours Saleya market and the Old Town → socca for lunch → Castle Hill lookout Day 3 — Bus 602 to Èze village and its garden → bus 602 on to Monaco's Le Rocher and the Oceanographic Museum → back to Nice Day 4 — Musée Matisse → Chagall museum → airport

What to eat

• Socca (chickpea flatbread)
• Pan bagnat (round-bread sandwich)
• Salade niçoise (raw veg, tuna, anchovies)
• Ravioli à la daube (beef stew sauce)

Handy tips

• Tram line 2 gets you from the airport to the city center (Jean Médecin, Port Lympia) in under 30 minutes. A Solo ticket is €1.70 with transfers for 74 minutes, and the airport route also has a separate AERO return ticket for €10.
• The Matisse and Chagall museums both close on Tuesdays. Until April 30, 2027, the Chagall museum also closes from 1 to 2:30 p.m. (the garden and bookshop stay open), and entry is free on the first Sunday of every month. Matisse is €10; the Pass Musées de Nice gets you into the city's municipal museums for four days for €15.
• Monaco's Prince's Palace doesn't open its State Apartments year-round. In 2026 they were open only from March 30 to October 15 (€13 for adults), and the next season opens in spring 2027. Outside that window, or on the F1 Grand Prix weekend, you'll only see the square in front of the palace, and it can also close without notice.