The capital of the Riviera in two easy days: the Promenade des Anglais, the ochre lanes of Vieux Nice and a bay of pure azure.
Nice works best as a 2-day city break. Nice packs its highlights into a flat, walkable seafront strip, so you can cross the whole centre on foot and skip taxis entirely. Know before you go that the famous beaches are smooth grey pebbles, not sand, so pack water shoes or plan on a paid beach club with loungers. The old town and its open-air Cours Saleya market sit a few minutes from Castle Hill, whose free terrace gives the postcard view over the curving Baie des Anges. The tram runs straight from the airport to the centre for 1.70 EUR, and Nice makes an easy base for day trips to Monaco, Eze and Antibes by train.
Ideal stay
2 days
Best months
May · Jun · Sep
Mid budget
150 EUR/day
Airport
Nice Cote d'Azur is France's second-busiest airport and sits right on the coast about 7km west of the centre
Four picks that cover the realistic range, from splurge to budget. Prices are low-season starting points; check live rates for your dates.
Special occasions€€€Belle Epoque palace · Carre d'Or
The pink-domed 1913 landmark on the Promenade des Anglais, still family-owned and stuffed with a serious art collection from Old Masters to a Niki de Saint Phalle. Sea-view rooms cost a fortune, but even non-guests can dress up for a drink under the Gustave Eiffel glass dome of the Salon Royal.
from ~350 EUR/night
Check prices
First visit€€Old town boutique · Vieux Nice
A small modern hotel right on Place Rossetti in the middle of Vieux Nice, so the Cours Saleya market and the cathedral are a two-minute walk and the famous Fenocchio gelato is downstairs. Ask for a higher floor, as the square stays lively with diners late into the evening.
from ~125 EUR/night
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Couples€€Belle Epoque villa · Cimiez
A restored Belle Epoque villa up in leafy Cimiez, once home to the actor Sacha Guitry, with a terrace looking out over the rooftops to the bay. It is a calm, residential base a short bus or fifteen-minute walk above the old town, near the Matisse and Chagall museums.
from ~145 EUR/night
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Budget€Design hostel · Le Port
A well-run design hostel between the port and the beach with private rooms as well as dorms, a bar and a busy events calendar. It is walkable to Vieux Nice and steps from the tram, which makes it the easiest cheap base for the Riviera.
from ~40 EUR/night
Check pricesReal hotel photos · prices are indicative from-rates, not live quotes · booking links support the site at no extra cost
A little history
Nice spent most of its history looking to Italy rather than France: it belonged for centuries to the House of Savoy and only became French in 1860, after a plebiscite, which is why the old town feels Ligurian and the local dialect and food are closer to Genoa than to Paris. The city grew rich in the 1800s when British and Russian aristocrats came to spend the winter on the coast, and it was their money that paid for the seafront walk that still carries their name, the Promenade des Anglais. Matisse and Chagall both settled here for the light and left museums up in the leafy hills of Cimiez, on the site of the Roman town of Cemenelum. Today Nice is the unofficial capital of the Riviera and the gateway to Monaco, Cannes and the perched villages along the Cote d'Azur.
Nice is known for
Pick the itinerary that matches your trip. Each one is a full day-by-day plan, not a list of 30 things to squeeze in.
2
days
Two full days is enough for the heart of Nice, because the centre is flat and everything worth seeing sits within a walkable seafront strip. The old town, the Cours Saleya market, Castle Hill, the Promenade des Anglais and Place Massena all fit comfortably, plus a hill museum or two once you have the core.
See the itinerary →
3
days
Three days is the comfortable amount for Nice: enough for the walkable centre plus a full Riviera day trip that a rushed two-day visit cannot fit. The extra day frees you to ride the train or bus along the coast to Monaco and the perched village of Eze, which is the reason most people base themselves in Nice in the first place.
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Nice has a walkable center, so the neighborhood you pick sets the tone of the whole trip.
Vieux Nice
First visit
The old town is a warren of ochre lanes, baroque churches and the open-air Cours Saleya market, all a few minutes from the beach and Castle Hill.
Carre d'Or
Romantic
The golden square between Place Massena and the Promenade des Anglais is the upscale core, home to the belle-epoque Hotel Negresco, designer shops and the grand seafront hotels.
Le Port
Local life
Port Lympia gathers bobbing yachts, tall painted facades and a run of seafood restaurants around the working harbour east of Castle Hill.
Colored months are the sweet spot. Struck-through months come with a warning. Each page covers weather, crowds, prices and what to pack.
Tight budget?
Nice on a budget: same trip, around 75 EUR a day
Read the budget guide →
Pairs well with
2 days is the sweet spot for Nice. The old town, the Cours Saleya market, Castle Hill, the Promenade des Anglais and Place Massena all fit comfortably, plus a hill museum or two once you have the core
The best months are May, June, September, October. Think twice about July / August: Hot and busy with highs near 27C, packed pebble beaches and the seafront alive after dark. The Nice Jazz Festival fills mid-month around Place Massena and the Jardin Albert 1er; book rooms early and expect the highest rates of the year alongside the Bastille Day fireworks on the 14th.
Nice sits above the European average. Plan roughly 75 EUR per day on a tight budget, 150 EUR for a comfortable mid-range trip, and 300 EUR and up if you want top hotels and restaurants.
Vieux Nice is the safest first-visit base. The old town is a warren of ochre lanes, baroque churches and the open-air Cours Saleya market, all a few minutes from the beach and Castle Hill. It is the most atmospheric base and the loudest, with bars and restaurants packed into narrow streets that stay lively past midnight. Pick it on a first visit if you want to step out of the door into the heart of it.
Yes. Nice has a walkable center, so most of a short trip is done on foot. Nice Cote d'Azur is France's second-busiest airport and sits right on the coast about 7km west of the centre, so transfers are short. Tram line 2 runs underground from both terminals to the port and the centre in around 25 to 30 minutes for a flat 1.70 EUR, with a stop near the main hotels around Jean Medecin and Massena. Airport express buses cover the same route, while a taxi into town runs a roughly fixed 32 to 37 EUR depending on the zone and the hour.
Nice Cote d'Azur is France's second-busiest airport and sits right on the coast about 7km west of the centre, so transfers are short. Tram line 2 runs underground from both terminals to the port and the centre in around 25 to 30 minutes for a flat 1.70 EUR, with a stop near the main hotels around Jean Medecin and Massena. Airport express buses cover the same route, while a taxi into town runs a roughly fixed 32 to 37 EUR depending on the zone and the hour. It is the cheapest and usually the fastest option.
Nice is best known for Promenade des Anglais, Vieux Nice, Cours Saleya market, Pebble beaches, Socca, Riviera day trips. Nice spent most of its history looking to Italy rather than France: it belonged for centuries to the House of Savoy and only became French in 1860, after a plebiscite, which is why the old town feels Ligurian and the local dialect and food are closer to Genoa than to Paris.