Nearly 7 km of seafront along the Baie des Anges, shared by walkers, runners and cyclists. Nothing here needs explaining: you walk, the water changes colour, and the pebble beach sits a few steps below you.
Time
1 to 2 h
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Early morning for the runners and the empty benches, or the hour before sunset.
Getting there
Walk down from Place Masséna; the airport tram also runs near its western end.
Tip: Walk west to east in the evening, so the light stays behind you and you end up in the old town for dinner.
Photo: Christopher Politano / Pexels, Pexels License
The green hump between the old town and the harbour, and the place that explains the city’s layout. There is no castle to tour: you come for the view over the bay and the port, the shaded paths and a waterfall that makes a good place to stop for breath.
Time
1 h to 1 h 30 min
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Mid-morning for clear light on the bay; bring a picnic, which is allowed.
Getting there
A short walk up from Vieux-Nice by the steps, or use the Bellanda lift marked on the city map.
Tip: In winter, start down before dusk: the steps feel dark once the sun has gone.
Free. 8.30 am to 6 pm from October to March, to 8 pm from April to September.
Photo: Helena Jankovičová Kováčová / Pexels, Pexels License
Tall ochre and orange houses lean over lanes too narrow for cars, and the shade stays cool even in August. It is touristy on the main drag and much better one street back, so wander without a route and pick lunch where the menu is short.
Time
1 h 30 min to 3 h
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Late morning, once the shutters open, or after dark for the bars.
Getting there
Five minutes on foot from Place Masséna.
Tip: Look for socca, the chickpea pancake sold from market counters. Eat it hot.
The long market square of the old town, filled with flower, fruit and vegetable stalls on most mornings and with restaurant tables at night. It is the easiest place in the city to feel you have arrived.
Time
30 min to 1 h
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Before ten, while the flowers are fresh and you can still move between the stalls.
Getting there
At the seaward edge of Vieux-Nice, one block in from the promenade.
Tip: The stalls take Mondays off, so plan your market morning for later in the week.
Onion domes are the last thing you expect to meet on the Riviera. This Russian Orthodox cathedral went up between 1903 and 1912, and it is still a working parish church, which is why the interior feels lived in, not staged.
Time
30 to 45 min
Setting
Both
Best time
A weekday morning, outside the services.
Getting there
On foot from Nice-Ville station.
Tip: Check the service times first, since visitors are restricted while the liturgy is on.
Monday to Friday from 10 am to 5.30 pm with a lunch break; Saturday to 6 pm; Sunday from 9 am, crypt museum from 2 pm.
The city’s front room: red façades, black and white paving and a giant Apollo towering over the Fontaine du Soleil. Trams glide through without much fuss, and figures on tall poles look down on the crowd.
Time
20 min
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Dusk, when the façades glow and the fountain is lit.
Getting there
Tram line 1 stops on the square.
Tip: Cross the square rather than circling it, and step into the Paillon park right beside it for the reflections.
A 14.5-hectare ribbon of park through the middle of town, with a 3,000 m² water mirror and 128 jets beside Place Masséna. Children run through the mist; adults pretend they are only there for the photo.
Time
30 min to 1 h
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Hot afternoons, when the mist is the cheapest air conditioning in town.
Getting there
Runs inland from the seafront past Place Masséna.
Tip: For the reflection shot, wait until the jets stop and the water goes flat.
Free. Park 7 am to 9 pm from October to March. Water mirror from 9 am, to 8 pm in that season and to 10 pm from April to September.
Pastel façades wrapped around a working harbour, with yachts on one side and ferries on the other. It feels less polished than the old town next door, and that is the appeal: fewer menus in five languages, more people who actually live here.
Time
45 min to 1 h 30 min
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Lunchtime, or late afternoon when the sun lands on the coloured houses.
Getting there
Last stop of tram line 2.
Tip: Walk around the headland from the end of the Promenade des Anglais; the path under Castle Hill is the most scenic way in.
