Nice

Why Nice works

Nice's Promenade des Anglais, a palm-lined seafront boulevard built in the 1820s by the city's wintering English community, still runs the full curve of the Baie des Anges, past Belle Epoque hotels like the pink-domed Negresco. Behind the beach, Vieux Nice unwinds into narrow ochre and terracotta lanes, its morning market at Cours Saleya piled with socca (chickpea pancake), lavender and Nicoise olives, and its Baroque churches — Sainte-Reparate among them — hiding gilded interiors behind plain facades. Castle Hill, though the castle itself is long gone, offers the city's best panorama and a waterfall built into the cliff. Nice's Mediterranean light and mild winters drew Henri Matisse, who lived here for over three decades and whose chapel at Vence and dedicated museum remain must-visits, alongside the Musee Marc Chagall's biblical-themed canvases. The Promenade du Paillon, a green corridor of fountains and gardens, cuts through the city centre where a motorway once ran. Trains along the coast reach Monaco, Antibes and Cannes within the hour, making Nice the natural base for exploring the wider Riviera, while the pebble (not sand) beaches are best enjoyed with rented mats.

Trip Snapshot

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