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. Base yourself in Vieux Nice or the Carre d'Or so you can walk to almost everything and forget about transport. Pack water shoes, since the beaches are pebbles rather than sand, and time the Cours Saleya market for a morning, as it turns to antiques only on Mondays. Day one covers the old town, Castle Hill and the seafront, with an evening back in the lanes; day two rides up to the Cimiez and Chagall museums, then closes on Place Massena and the Promenade at golden hour. If you want a Riviera day trip to Monaco or Eze, add the third day rather than trying to squeeze the coast into two.
Duration
2 days
Base
Vieux Nice
Mid budget
300 EUR
Best months
May · Jun · Sep
Picks sorted with our recommended base, Vieux Nice, first. Book early: the good-value rooms go weeks ahead.
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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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
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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
Day 1
Morning
Start in the old town at the Cours Saleya market while the flower and produce stalls are still busy, before 10am, remembering it becomes antiques only on Mondays. Eat socca hot off the griddle at Chez Theresa a few steps in, then lose an hour in the ochre baroque lanes.
TipThe Cours Saleya market runs Tuesday to Sunday mornings, flowers and produce until around 1pm, and swaps to a big antiques and brocante market every Monday. Come before 10am to beat the crowds, then eat socca, the local chickpea pancake, hot off the griddle at Chez Theresa a few steps into the old town.
Climb Castle Hill from the old town, or take the free lift by the Tour Bellanda beside the beach, for the free aerial view over the curved bay and the port. The park closes at dusk, so morning light and an empty terrace are the reward for going early.
TipThe hilltop park is free and gives the classic aerial view over the curved bay, the old town roofs and the port; the castle itself is long gone, leaving a garden and a waterfall. Climb the stairs from the old town or take the free lift by the Tour Bellanda beside the beach to skip the ascent, and note the park closes at dusk.
Afternoon
Grab a pan bagnat or a slice of pissaladiere from a Cours Saleya bakery for a cheap lunch, and finish with a scoop from Fenocchio and its dozens of unusual flavours. Keep it light before the seafront walk.
TipNice has its own cuisine worth seeking out: socca, the chickpea-flour pancake, is best eaten hot and cracked with pepper at a market stall before it cools. Try a pan bagnat, the local salade-nicoise sandwich, and pissaladiere onion tart from the Cours Saleya bakeries, and finish with a scoop from Fenocchio in the old town, which runs dozens of unusual flavours.
Spend the warm part of the afternoon on the beach, bringing water shoes for the pebbles or renting a lounger at a private club for around 20 to 30 EUR. Book a sunbed ahead in July and August, when the free stretches fill fast.
TipNice's beaches are smooth grey pebbles rather than sand, so bring water shoes and a padded mat if you use the free public stretches. For comfort, the private beach clubs along the Promenade rent a lounger and parasol from around 20 to 30 EUR for the day, most with showers and a restaurant, and it is worth reserving a sunbed in July and August.
Walk or rent a Velo Bleu bike along the Promenade des Anglais, using the free blue chairs to sit and watch the bay. Aim to be out on the seafront at golden hour, when the light turns the whole curve amber.
TipThe seafront promenade runs about 7km along the Baie des Anges and is free and always open, with the iconic blue chairs to sit on for nothing. Rent a bike or e-scooter from the city's Velo Bleu docking stations to cover the full curve, and walk it at golden hour when the light turns the whole bay amber.
Evening
Dinner back in Vieux Nice, choosing a side lane over the busiest tourist streets, with a Niçois plate of daube or stuffed vegetables and a local rose. The old town stays lively past midnight if you want a drink after.
Day 2
Morning
Ride the bus up toward Cimiez and start at the Musee National Marc Chagall, purpose-built for its huge biblical canvases; it closes on Tuesdays and is free on the first Sunday of the month. Leave time for the garden and the stained-glass concert hall.
TipThis national museum, purpose-built to hold Chagall's huge biblical-cycle canvases, is one of the best small collections on the coast and sits on the way up to Cimiez. It closes on Tuesdays and is free on the first Sunday of each month, when you should arrive early, and the garden and the stained-glass concert hall are worth the extra ten minutes.
Continue up to the red-ochre Musee Matisse for one of the world's largest Matisse collections, closed Tuesdays. Buy the few-day Nice museum pass that covers all the municipal museums, which pays off once you visit more than one.
TipSet in a red-ochre villa on the Cimiez hill, the museum holds one of the world's largest Matisse collections, spanning his whole career in the city he made home. It closes on Tuesdays, and a single Nice museum pass covering all the municipal museums for a few days is far better value than paying entry to each one.
Afternoon
Walk over to the free Cimiez park for the excavated Roman baths and amphitheatre, and the monastery garden looking back over the whole city. Matisse is buried in the monastery cemetery here, a quiet ten-minute detour.
TipThe Cimiez hilltop keeps the excavated Roman baths and an amphitheatre in a free public park, alongside a monastery with a formal garden overlooking the whole city. Pair it with the neighbouring Matisse Museum, and note Matisse and the singer Raoul Dufy are buried in the monastery cemetery here.
Head back down to MAMAC for the Nice-born New Realists, Yves Klein and Niki de Saint Phalle; it closes on Mondays and is on the same museum pass. Go up to the free rooftop terrace for the view over the old town.
TipThe modern art museum is strong on the Nice-born New Realists and Pop art, with Yves Klein and Niki de Saint Phalle among the highlights. It closes on Mondays, is covered by the same municipal museum pass, and the free rooftop terrace gives an unexpected view over the old town and the hills.
Evening
Finish at Place Massena as the light fades and the seven lit statue figures glow over the red-ochre square. Walk through the Jardin Albert 1er onto the Promenade for a last look at the bay.
TipThe city's grand red-ochre square, checkerboard-paved and ringed by arcades, is where the tram cuts through and the seven lit statue figures glow over it after dark. It is free and always open, links straight into the Jardin Albert 1er and the Promenade, and hosts the Christmas market and Carnival stands in season.
Dinner near the Carre d'Or or back in the old town, then a nightcap on a seafront terrace. If you are up for it, the bars of Vieux Nice run late into the night.
For 2 days, base yourself in Vieux Nice. 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. Compare all neighborhoods in the full where-to-stay guide.
Got longer?
Nice in 3 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. Base yourself in Vieux Nice or the Carre d'Or so you can walk to almost everything and forget about transport.
Base yourself in Vieux Nice for this itinerary. 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.
The plan works year round, but May, June, September give you the best weather-to-crowds ratio.