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. Stay in Vieux Nice for the atmosphere and the short walk to everything, and pack water shoes for the pebble beaches. Day one covers the old town, the Cours Saleya market, Castle Hill and the Promenade; day two rides up to the Cimiez and Chagall museums and closes on Place Massena; day three takes the coast east to Monaco and Eze. Time the Cours Saleya for a morning, since it turns to antiques on Mondays, and buy a multi-day Nice museum pass if you plan to see more than one gallery. Trains east are frequent and cheap, so you need no car for any of it.
Duration
3 days
Base
Vieux Nice
Mid budget
450 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
Begin at the Cours Saleya market before 10am while the flower and produce stalls are busy, keeping in mind it switches to antiques only on Mondays. Eat socca hot off the griddle at Chez Theresa, then wander the ochre lanes and baroque churches of the old town.
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, or take the free lift by the Tour Bellanda, for the free aerial view over the bay, the roofs and the port. Go early for the clearest light and an empty terrace, as the park shuts at dusk.
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
Lunch cheaply on a pan bagnat or pissaladiere from a Cours Saleya bakery, finishing with a Fenocchio scoop and its unusual flavours. Keep it light before the beach.
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.
Take the afternoon on the pebble beach, bringing water shoes or renting a lounger at a private club for around 20 to 30 EUR with showers and a restaurant. Reserve a sunbed ahead in high summer.
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 ride a Velo Bleu bike along the Promenade des Anglais, using the free blue chairs to rest and watch the bay. Time it for golden hour, when the whole curve turns 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 in Vieux Nice on a quieter side lane with a Niçois plate and a local rose, then a drink in the lively old-town bars if you have the energy. Everything is a short walk from your base.
Day 2
Morning
Bus up toward Cimiez and start at the Musee National Marc Chagall 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 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 its career-spanning collection, closed Tuesdays. Buy the multi-day Nice museum pass covering all the municipal museums, which quickly pays for itself.
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 to the free Cimiez park for the Roman baths and amphitheatre and the monastery garden over the city, with Matisse's grave in the cemetery. A quiet, green counterpoint to the seafront.
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.
Drop down toward the station for the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St Nicholas, the largest outside Russia, with a couple of euros entry and a dress code covering shoulders and knees. The gilt-and-icon interior is the reason to go in.
TipThe largest Russian Orthodox cathedral outside Russia, its onion domes a legacy of the Riviera's Tsarist-era visitors, sits a short walk west of the station. Entry is a couple of euros, the interior of icons and gilt is the reason to go, and a modest dress code covering shoulders and knees is enforced at the door.
Evening
Finish at Place Massena as the light fades and the lit statue figures glow over the checkerboard square, walking through the Jardin Albert 1er onto the Promenade. A good spot for a seafront aperitif.
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.
If it is a late-opening evening, duck into MAMAC nearby for the New Realists and its free rooftop terrace over the old town; it closes on Mondays. Otherwise save it and eat early, since tomorrow starts on the coast.
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.
Day 3
Morning
Take the regional train from Nice-Ville to Monaco-Monte-Carlo, about 25 minutes for 4 to 5 EUR, and ride the station lifts up to the town. Aim for the Prince's Palace and the 11.55am changing of the guard, then the Oceanographic Museum on the rock and the casino square.
TipThe regional train from Nice-Ville reaches Monaco-Monte-Carlo in about 25 minutes for roughly 4 to 5 EUR each way, dropping you in a marble-lined station with lifts up to the town. Do the old town and the Prince's Palace changing of the guard at 11.55am, the Oceanographic Museum on the rock, and the Monte-Carlo casino square, all walkable once you are up top.
Break for lunch in Monaco's old town on the rock, where the lanes behind the palace are cheaper than the casino side. Keep it quick, as the afternoon runs back along the coast to Eze.
Afternoon
Take bus 82 or 602, or the train to Eze-sur-Mer plus the climb, up to the medieval village of Eze on its peak. Pay the few euros for the Jardin Exotique at the very top for the best view on the coast, and wander the single stone lane.
TipEze is a medieval stone village clinging to a peak above the sea, reached by bus line 82 or 602 from Nice or the train to Eze-sur-Mer plus a steep climb. Pay the few euros for the Jardin Exotique at the very top for the best view on the coast, and go in the morning before the tour coaches fill the single narrow lane.
Evening
Ride the train or bus back into Nice by evening and settle in the old town for a final Niçois dinner of stuffed vegetables or a seafood plate. A last walk on the floodlit Promenade closes the trip.
If tomorrow is an early flight, remember the airport is only about 7km west: tram line 2 runs there from the port and centre in 25 to 30 minutes for a flat 1.70 EUR, so you need no taxi.
For 3 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.
Short on time?
Nice in 2 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. Stay in Vieux Nice for the atmosphere and the short walk to everything, and pack water shoes for the pebble beaches.
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.