Nice, France: what to see, scams and budget

12verified places · 5 gems off the guidebooks
7things to know first
180-270€Budget per day
April-June, September-OctoberWhen to go · spring and autumn

What to see in Nice?

12 places checked against the sources. The 5 gems the guidebooks skip come first, then the classics: every card has the hard facts on top and the why below.

On the map: yellow pins are the gems. Tap a pin to jump to its card.

✦ Hidden gems · off the standard guides

Museums✦ gem

Cimiez (Matisse and Roman arena)

The upper district, 20 minutes by bus from the centre: here are the Roman arena of Cemenelum, the excavations of the Roman town and the Matisse Museum inside a 17th-century Genoese villa. Nice's municipal museums cost 10 € each, but the 3-day pass covering all of them is 15 €, so it pays from the second museum on; under-18s enter everywhere free. In the monastery cemetery next door Matisse and Dufy are buried, and the olive garden is public and free. It is where people from Nice come to picnic, and in July it hosts the jazz festival among the olive trees.

Photo: ermell, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Monuments✦ gem

Russian Orthodox Cathedral

Hours: 9:00-13:00 and 14:00-18:00

Built in 1912 with funds from Tsar Nicholas II for the Russian community that wintered in Nice: it is the largest Russian Orthodox church outside Russia. Open every day, Monday to Friday 9am-1pm and 2-6pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am-6pm, with a midday closure that catches people out. Guided visits run about 35 minutes. It is ten minutes on foot from the station, off the usual route.

Nature✦ gem

Mont Boron

The hill between Nice and Villefranche is covered by a free public forest park, with waymarked paths and the 19th-century fort at the top. The climb is steep and not shaded throughout: in summer do it early or at sunset, with water. From up there you see the roadstead of Villefranche, one of the deepest bays in the Mediterranean, which is why cruise ships anchor there. Buses run up from the port.

Photo: Thomas Tayler Smith (1834-1909), Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Food✦ gem

Pissaladière

A flat bread covered with long-stewed onions, anchovies and black Nice olives. Tomato has nothing to do with it: anyone adding it is making something else. The name comes from pissalat, a fermented anchovy paste that in the original was spread under the onions. It is bought by weight at bakeries and market stalls, eaten warm mid-morning or as an aperitif, and costs a few euros.

Food✦ gem

Tourte de blettes

A chard tart in its sweet version: the green leaves finely chopped with raisins, pine nuts, apple and fresh cheese, in shortcrust pastry dusted with sugar. It sounds like a joke and is in fact the identity dessert of Nice, in the old town's pastry shops all year. There is a savoury version too, served as a starter. It is bought by the slice and is found almost nowhere else in France.

The classics

Monuments

Vieux Nice (old town)

Until 1860 Nice was not French but Savoyard, and the old town still says so: the ochre and red façades, the shutters, the surnames on the signs and half the cooking come from there. It is a lived-in quarter, with washing lines and workshops, and in the evening the lanes fill. The Gesù church and the cathedral of Sainte-Réparate are Piedmontese baroque and free to visit, on church hours: closed in the middle of the day.

Photo: Virtual-Pano, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Monuments

Place Masséna

The square is crossed free and is where the tram runs through, so it is a junction rather than a drawing room. The black-and-white chequerboard paving is by Jean-Michel Wilmotte; above it, on seven tall masts, are Jaume Plensa's kneeling figures representing the seven continents, which change colour slowly at night. It is worth passing twice, by day and after dark: they are two different squares.

Photo: Ermell, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Nature

Colline du Château

Nothing remains of the castle: Louis XIV had it demolished in 1706 and the hill became a public park, free and open every day. At the top are the 19th-century artificial waterfall and the viewpoint over the Baie des Anges on one side and the port on the other. You go up by the Lesage staircase, a good 15 minutes of steps, or by the art deco lift at the end of the Promenade, which saves you two hundred of them: it is how to get there in summer without arriving wrecked.

Photo: dronepicr, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Other

Promenade des Anglais and Baie des Anges

7 km of public, free seafront, with the blue chairs that are street furniture and are used without paying anything: they have been there since the 1950s and have become the symbol of the city. The beach, though, is coarse pebbles, not sand: walking into the water barefoot is uncomfortable and reef shoes are not an affectation. The name comes from the English who in the 19th century paid for the road so they could stroll in winter.

Photo: Lspigon, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Markets

Cours Saleya

Tuesday to Sunday it is the flower and local-produce market, 6am to 5.30pm (Sundays until 1.30pm). On Mondays everything changes: in place of the flowers come about a hundred and eighty brocante and antiques stalls, 7am to 6pm. It is the fact that turns the day around: arrive on a Monday looking for flowers and you will not find them, but you will find the biggest second-hand market on the Riviera. In the evening the square becomes restaurants.

Photo: Mike is Michi, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Food

Socca

A very thin sheet of chickpea flour, water and oil, baked in a copper pan in a wood oven: it comes from the same tradition as Ligurian farinata, because until 1860 this was Savoyard land. It is bought by the slice at the stalls of the Vieux Nice and the Cours Saleya, eaten standing and scalding with a grind of pepper, and it is not ordered to a timetable: it comes out in batches, so you wait for the next one.

Food

Salade niçoise and pan bagnat

A real salade niçoise has no cooked vegetables: no potatoes, no green beans, no rice. Raw only (tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, peppers, hard-boiled eggs, Nice olives, anchovies or tuna) and olive oil. It is a strongly held rule, and restaurants that respect it say so. Pan bagnat is the same salad inside a round roll left to soak up oil and tomato juice: it is beach food and should be bought at a bakery, not a bar.

How to plan your days in Nice?

Three routes for different travel styles, built only from this dossier's verified places. Realistic pace: 2-3 stops a day.

First time

2 days

The landmark sights, at the right pace.

Day 1

Vieux Nice (old town)
Until 1860 Nice was not French but Savoyard, and the old town still says so: the ochre and red façades, the shutters, the surnames on the signs and half the cooking come from there. It is a lived-in quarter, with washing lines and workshops, and in the evening the lanes fill. The Gesù church and the cathedral of Sainte-Réparate are Piedmontese baroque and free to visit, on church hours: closed in the middle of the day.
Place Masséna
The square is crossed free and is where the tram runs through, so it is a junction rather than a drawing room. The black-and-white chequerboard paving is by Jean-Michel Wilmotte; above it, on seven tall masts, are Jaume Plensa's kneeling figures representing the seven continents, which change colour slowly at night. It is worth passing twice, by day and after dark: they are two different squares.
Promenade des Anglais and Baie des Anges
7 km of public, free seafront, with the blue chairs that are street furniture and are used without paying anything: they have been there since the 1950s and have become the symbol of the city. The beach, though, is coarse pebbles, not sand: walking into the water barefoot is uncomfortable and reef shoes are not an affectation. The name comes from the English who in the 19th century paid for the road so they could stroll in winter.

Day 2

Cours Saleya
Tuesday to Sunday it is the flower and local-produce market, 6am to 5.30pm (Sundays until 1.30pm). On Mondays everything changes: in place of the flowers come about a hundred and eighty brocante and antiques stalls, 7am to 6pm. It is the fact that turns the day around: arrive on a Monday looking for flowers and you will not find them, but you will find the biggest second-hand market on the Riviera. In the evening the square becomes restaurants.
Colline du Château
Nothing remains of the castle: Louis XIV had it demolished in 1706 and the hill became a public park, free and open every day. At the top are the 19th-century artificial waterfall and the viewpoint over the Baie des Anges on one side and the port on the other. You go up by the Lesage staircase, a good 15 minutes of steps, or by the art deco lift at the end of the Promenade, which saves you two hundred of them: it is how to get there in summer without arriving wrecked.
Socca
A very thin sheet of chickpea flour, water and oil, baked in a copper pan in a wood oven: it comes from the same tradition as Ligurian farinata, because until 1860 this was Savoyard land. It is bought by the slice at the stalls of the Vieux Nice and the Cours Saleya, eaten standing and scalding with a grind of pepper, and it is not ordered to a timetable: it comes out in batches, so you wait for the next one.

Off the beaten path

2 days

Hidden gems away from the usual circuits.

Day 1

Cimiez (Matisse and Roman arena)✦ hidden gem
The upper district, 20 minutes by bus from the centre: here are the Roman arena of Cemenelum, the excavations of the Roman town and the Matisse Museum inside a 17th-century Genoese villa. Nice's municipal museums cost 10 € each, but the 3-day pass covering all of them is 15 €, so it pays from the second museum on; under-18s enter everywhere free. In the monastery cemetery next door Matisse and Dufy are buried, and the olive garden is public and free. It is where people from Nice come to picnic, and in July it hosts the jazz festival among the olive trees.
Russian Orthodox Cathedral✦ hidden gem
Built in 1912 with funds from Tsar Nicholas II for the Russian community that wintered in Nice: it is the largest Russian Orthodox church outside Russia. Open every day, Monday to Friday 9am-1pm and 2-6pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am-6pm, with a midday closure that catches people out. Guided visits run about 35 minutes. It is ten minutes on foot from the station, off the usual route.
Mont Boron✦ hidden gem
The hill between Nice and Villefranche is covered by a free public forest park, with waymarked paths and the 19th-century fort at the top. The climb is steep and not shaded throughout: in summer do it early or at sunset, with water. From up there you see the roadstead of Villefranche, one of the deepest bays in the Mediterranean, which is why cruise ships anchor there. Buses run up from the port.

Day 2

Pissaladière✦ hidden gem
A flat bread covered with long-stewed onions, anchovies and black Nice olives. Tomato has nothing to do with it: anyone adding it is making something else. The name comes from pissalat, a fermented anchovy paste that in the original was spread under the onions. It is bought by weight at bakeries and market stalls, eaten warm mid-morning or as an aperitif, and costs a few euros.
Tourte de blettes✦ hidden gem
A chard tart in its sweet version: the green leaves finely chopped with raisins, pine nuts, apple and fresh cheese, in shortcrust pastry dusted with sugar. It sounds like a joke and is in fact the identity dessert of Nice, in the old town's pastry shops all year. There is a savoury version too, served as a starter. It is bought by the slice and is found almost nowhere else in France.

Food & markets

2 days

Eat and drink where locals actually go.

Day 1

Socca
A very thin sheet of chickpea flour, water and oil, baked in a copper pan in a wood oven: it comes from the same tradition as Ligurian farinata, because until 1860 this was Savoyard land. It is bought by the slice at the stalls of the Vieux Nice and the Cours Saleya, eaten standing and scalding with a grind of pepper, and it is not ordered to a timetable: it comes out in batches, so you wait for the next one.
Salade niçoise and pan bagnat
A real salade niçoise has no cooked vegetables: no potatoes, no green beans, no rice. Raw only (tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, peppers, hard-boiled eggs, Nice olives, anchovies or tuna) and olive oil. It is a strongly held rule, and restaurants that respect it say so. Pan bagnat is the same salad inside a round roll left to soak up oil and tomato juice: it is beach food and should be bought at a bakery, not a bar.
Pissaladière✦ hidden gem
A flat bread covered with long-stewed onions, anchovies and black Nice olives. Tomato has nothing to do with it: anyone adding it is making something else. The name comes from pissalat, a fermented anchovy paste that in the original was spread under the onions. It is bought by weight at bakeries and market stalls, eaten warm mid-morning or as an aperitif, and costs a few euros.

Day 2

Tourte de blettes✦ hidden gem
A chard tart in its sweet version: the green leaves finely chopped with raisins, pine nuts, apple and fresh cheese, in shortcrust pastry dusted with sugar. It sounds like a joke and is in fact the identity dessert of Nice, in the old town's pastry shops all year. There is a savoury version too, served as a starter. It is bought by the slice and is found almost nowhere else in France.
Cours Saleya
Tuesday to Sunday it is the flower and local-produce market, 6am to 5.30pm (Sundays until 1.30pm). On Mondays everything changes: in place of the flowers come about a hundred and eighty brocante and antiques stalls, 7am to 6pm. It is the fact that turns the day around: arrive on a Monday looking for flowers and you will not find them, but you will find the biggest second-hand market on the Riviera. In the evening the square becomes restaurants.

🧭

Build your itinerary

Tell us how many days you're staying and in which month: we'll compose an itinerary from this dossier's verified places, with notes about the period.

Days of stayPeriod

Your itinerary

Day 1

Vieux Nice (old town)
Until 1860 Nice was not French but Savoyard, and the old town still says so: the ochre and red façades, the shutters, the surnames on the signs and half the cooking come from there. It is a lived-in quarter, with washing lines and workshops, and in the evening the lanes fill. The Gesù church and the cathedral of Sainte-Réparate are Piedmontese baroque and free to visit, on church hours: closed in the middle of the day.
Place Masséna
The square is crossed free and is where the tram runs through, so it is a junction rather than a drawing room. The black-and-white chequerboard paving is by Jean-Michel Wilmotte; above it, on seven tall masts, are Jaume Plensa's kneeling figures representing the seven continents, which change colour slowly at night. It is worth passing twice, by day and after dark: they are two different squares.
Cours Saleya
Tuesday to Sunday it is the flower and local-produce market, 6am to 5.30pm (Sundays until 1.30pm). On Mondays everything changes: in place of the flowers come about a hundred and eighty brocante and antiques stalls, 7am to 6pm. It is the fact that turns the day around: arrive on a Monday looking for flowers and you will not find them, but you will find the biggest second-hand market on the Riviera. In the evening the square becomes restaurants.

Day 2

Promenade des Anglais and Baie des Anges
7 km of public, free seafront, with the blue chairs that are street furniture and are used without paying anything: they have been there since the 1950s and have become the symbol of the city. The beach, though, is coarse pebbles, not sand: walking into the water barefoot is uncomfortable and reef shoes are not an affectation. The name comes from the English who in the 19th century paid for the road so they could stroll in winter.
Colline du Château
Nothing remains of the castle: Louis XIV had it demolished in 1706 and the hill became a public park, free and open every day. At the top are the 19th-century artificial waterfall and the viewpoint over the Baie des Anges on one side and the port on the other. You go up by the Lesage staircase, a good 15 minutes of steps, or by the art deco lift at the end of the Promenade, which saves you two hundred of them: it is how to get there in summer without arriving wrecked.
Socca
A very thin sheet of chickpea flour, water and oil, baked in a copper pan in a wood oven: it comes from the same tradition as Ligurian farinata, because until 1860 this was Savoyard land. It is bought by the slice at the stalls of the Vieux Nice and the Cours Saleya, eaten standing and scalding with a grind of pepper, and it is not ordered to a timetable: it comes out in batches, so you wait for the next one.

Day 3

Cimiez (Matisse and Roman arena)✦ hidden gem
The upper district, 20 minutes by bus from the centre: here are the Roman arena of Cemenelum, the excavations of the Roman town and the Matisse Museum inside a 17th-century Genoese villa. Nice's municipal museums cost 10 € each, but the 3-day pass covering all of them is 15 €, so it pays from the second museum on; under-18s enter everywhere free. In the monastery cemetery next door Matisse and Dufy are buried, and the olive garden is public and free. It is where people from Nice come to picnic, and in July it hosts the jazz festival among the olive trees.
Russian Orthodox Cathedral✦ hidden gem
Built in 1912 with funds from Tsar Nicholas II for the Russian community that wintered in Nice: it is the largest Russian Orthodox church outside Russia. Open every day, Monday to Friday 9am-1pm and 2-6pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am-6pm, with a midday closure that catches people out. Guided visits run about 35 minutes. It is ten minutes on foot from the station, off the usual route.
Salade niçoise and pan bagnat
A real salade niçoise has no cooked vegetables: no potatoes, no green beans, no rice. Raw only (tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, peppers, hard-boiled eggs, Nice olives, anchovies or tuna) and olive oil. It is a strongly held rule, and restaurants that respect it say so. Pan bagnat is the same salad inside a round roll left to soak up oil and tomato juice: it is beach food and should be bought at a bakery, not a bar.

Want an itinerary tailored to your dates in Nice?

Travel dates, where you stay and the kind of trip: we tailor this same verified dossier to your exact needs.

Coming soon

What to know before going to Nice?

Recurring scams and local rules worth knowing before you arrive.

⚠ Scams to know

Pickpocketing on the seafront and on transport

medium confidence

The UK official advice for France states that pickpockets work in gangs, one distracting you while the other goes into your bag, and names the Métro, the RER lines and the main stations as the places at risk. It also recommends not being distracted around attractions and cash machines and keeping your belongings close in bars and restaurants

How to avoid it: Keep your belongings safe, don't leave bags and phones unattended on café tables or on the beach.

Source

Tourist restaurants around the Cours Saleya

low confidence

There are no official reports of inflated bills: the general rule of reading the displayed price list before sitting down applies, and on the main squares that makes a marked difference against two streets away

How to avoid it: Move a few alleys away from the main squares and check the menus and prices before sitting down.

Source

Taxis with unclear fares

low confidence

The UK advice for France does not document inflated taxi fares: the ordinary precaution stands, use a taxi with the meter running or a flat fare stated before setting off, which on airport runs is the only thing that prevents arguments

How to avoid it: Ask for an estimate or insist on the meter, or use tram 2 for the airport.

Source

⚖ Laws & penalties

Ticket to be validated on every boarding

low riskverified

On trams and buses the ticket must be validated on every boarding and every change within the 74 minutes. Anyone checked without a valid ticket pays €60 if settled immediately, €110 if paid later; improper behaviour costs €100.

Source

Bans on alcohol and behaviour on the beach

low risklow confidence

The City of Nice issues municipal decrees limiting or banning alcohol in some public places and during certain hours (as well as rules on noise and behaviour on the beach), with possible fines. Check the signage and the decrees in force in the nightlife areas.

Source

Heightened security on the Promenade

low risklow confidence

After the 2016 attack the Promenade des Anglais is closed to traffic and policed during major events, and on busy days there are checks at the access points. The arrangements change event by event and are published by the city: read them beforehand rather than arguing them on the spot.

Source

Taxe de séjour in Nice

low riskverified

Paid per person per night only from age 18, set by the Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur (resolution of 10 July 2024) and valid for all of 2026: base rate €0.80 in 1-star hotels, B&Bs and hostels, €1.00 in 2-star, €1.70 in 3-star, €2.60 in 4-star, €3.50 in 5-star, €4.80 in palaces; in unclassified accommodation, such as many short lets, 5% of the price per person per night, capped at the highest rate. On top of the base come the 34% Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional surcharge (no departmental one): in practice €1.07 in a 1-star or B&B, €2.28 in a 3-star, €3.48 in a 4-star, €4.69 in a 5-star. No night limit; the exact figure is on the national portal taxesejour.impots.gouv.fr.

Source

What happens in Nice through the year?

Hover over a month on the timeline for details.

How much do you spend in Nice, and when to go?

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

90-130€

130-180€

180-270€

130-180€

90-130€

low90-130€per day
mid130-180€per day
high180-270€per day

When it works best, by type of trip

Spring and autumnApril-June, September-October

Ideal weather, the sea warming up and the Riviera enjoyable without August's crush and prices.

Beach summerJuly-August

The sea at its best, nightlife and festivals, but a crowded city and pricey accommodation.

Mild winter and CarnivalFebruary

The Riviera's gentle climate and the great Carnival; lower prices outside the festival dates.

Rough estimate (lodging + meals + local transport), not a precise verified source.

✦

Did you know... Nice's light drew artists like Matisse and Chagall, who have museums dedicated to them here.

How to get to Nice and around?

No car neededThe centre, the old town and the seafront are walkable, and three tram lines cover the rest, airport included. A car is only useful for exploring the Riviera, but parking in the centre is pricey and awkward.

The Lignes d'Azur network (tram and bus): a single ticket €1.70 at machines (€2 on board from the driver), valid 74 minutes with connections. The day pass costs €7; for the airport there's a dedicated return ticket at €10. Tram 2 connects the airport to the port.

Buy your ticket at machines or in the app: on board from the driver it costs more
Tram 2 connects the airport, the centre and the port: handy and cheap compared with a taxi
For the best view, climb the Colline du Château (on foot or by the free lift)
Use Nice as a base for Èze, Villefranche, Monaco and Menton, all reachable by train or bus

Is Nice safe?

⚠ Areas to avoid

Around Nice-Ville station in the late hours, for petty crime

Good to know

Nice is on the whole safe: the main risk is pickpocketing in tourist areas and on transport
Don't leave belongings unattended on the beach or on café tables
In the evening the old town is lively: normal common sense in the busier nightlife alleys

Source

✦

Did you know... The Nice Carnival, in February, is one of the largest in the world, with allegorical floats and flower battles.

Frequently asked questions about Nice

Short answers drawn from the verified data of this dossier: details and sources are in the sections above.

How much does a day in Nice cost?

Season low (November-March (excluding Carnival)): 90-130€ per day; Season mid (April-June, September-October): 130-180€ per day; Season high (July-August (and Carnival)): 180-270€ per day.

When to go to Nice?

Spring and autumn: April-June, September-October. Ideal weather, the sea warming up and the Riviera enjoyable without August's crush and prices. Beach summer: July-August. The sea at its best, nightlife and festivals, but a crowded city and pricey accommodation. Mild winter and Carnival: February. The Riviera's gentle climate and the great Carnival; lower prices outside the festival dates.

Is Nice safe?

Around Nice-Ville station in the late hours, for petty crime Nice is on the whole safe: the main risk is pickpocketing in tourist areas and on transport

Do you need a car in Nice?

No. The centre, the old town and the seafront are walkable, and three tram lines cover the rest, airport included. A car is only useful for exploring the Riviera, but parking in the centre is pricey and awkward.

How do you get to Nice?

Which hidden gems to see in Nice, off the guidebooks?

Cimiez (Matisse and Roman arena), Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Mont Boron, Pissaladière, Tourte de blettes.

Which scams to avoid in Nice?

Pickpocketing on the seafront and on transport; Tourist restaurants around the Cours Saleya; Taxis with unclear fares.

Sources

5 sources cited

Every source below was opened and read, not just cited. Entries that didn't hold up were downgraded to "low confidence" or dropped, not presented as certain.

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