Nice Travel Guide
Nice was the first stop on my first trip to the Riviera, and I have come back so many times since that I have lost count. The city is easy to love but riddled with small mistakes that first timers keep making. This is the guide I would hand to someone before they fly in, built from years of getting it wrong so you do not have to.
Set the Right Expectations
Nice is a real working city around a famous beach, not a resort. That is its strength. You get department stores and commuters alongside the boules games on the beach and the ice cream queues. The beach is made of pebbles, not sand, which surprises a lot of people. It is beautiful, the water is clear and surprisingly easy to swim in, but you need a mat or a hired chair unless you enjoy a lumpy seat. Come expecting city life with a seaside soul and you will be exactly right.
Where to Base Yourself
The old town, around the Cours Saleya and the lanes off it, is the atmospheric choice and my usual pick, but it can be loud at night. The area between the old town and the port is quieter and still walkable. The rectangle along the Promenade gives you the sea view and a short stroll to everything. Stay within walking distance of the centre and you will not need a car, which is lucky because parking is a headache. A well located base is worth more than a fancy room out on the edge.
Eat Your Way Through It
Forget what you think you know and eat the real local food. Socca, the chickpea pancake, is the city staple and it is best eaten hot in the old town. The salade nicoise in Nice is lighter and more honest than the salad you have pictured. Try the local seafood as well as the simple market produce, which is astonishingly fresh. The food market on the Cours Saleya runs through the morning, and in the evening the same square becomes the place to drink and graze. Eat where the queue of locals is longest and you will rarely be disappointed.
Get the Big Views Without Fighting
Two viewpoints reward you with very little effort. Castle Hill, with the lift up, gives the classic panorama over the bay and the red rooftops. The top of the Promenade du Paillon garden gives you a fine cityscape without the climb. For a different angle entirely, catch the little coastal train that runs to the villages of Villefranche and Cap Ferrat, or hop to a clifftop spot like the hilltop towns above the coast. The best move is to spread your viewing across a couple of spots so each one stays special.
Use Nice as Your Launchpad
Some of the best Riviera experiences are a short ride away, and Nice is the perfect base for them. The train runs an easy hop down the coast, and a whole string of villages and towns are on your doorstep, from stylish Antibes to the gentle hills above. A day trip or two out of Nice transforms the trip from a single resort stay into a proper Riviera loop, and it costs little in travel time. Mixing one slow Nice day with one exploring day is the rhythm I recommend.
Practical Truths
The tram is cheap and easy and serves the airport, so skip the expensive transfer and ride in. Euros and cards are both fine, but small vendors like the market stalls prefer cash. Learn a handful of French greetings, because even a stumbling bonjour changes how people treat you. And book the popular restaurants and the summer sunbeds ahead, because the shoulders of the season fill faster than you would expect.
Come to Nice ready to walk, eat well and sit a while. Give it three days and the rhythm of the place settles into you. It is a city that rewards the unhurried visitor, so let it set the pace and you will leave planning the next return before you have even flown home.
