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Travel guide
Nice
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to June, and September to October
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Welcome
Nice, in a few days
Nice is not a beach resort but France's fifth-largest city, part of the Kingdom of Sardinia until 1860, with a lived-in old town, markets that serve locals first and a hill for looking down on the bay. People come for the sea and stay for socca, the museums of Cimiez and a tram that runs from the airport to the old port.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Old Nice at sunset free · about 1 h 30In the late afternoon the tour groups leave the lanes between Place Rossetti and the Cours Saleya, and the ochre façades catch their best light.
- Afternoon · Cours Saleya market free · about 1 hFlowers, courgette flowers, chard and Nice olives from local growers, Tuesday to Sunday mornings; on Mondays a flea market fills the whole street.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Le Grimaldi€150 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Plage des Ponchettes free · about 2 hThe public beach below the old town: no sand, only fist-sized pebbles, a steep way into the water and clear sea in the city centre.
- Afternoon · Castle Hill free · about 1 h 30Allow an hour and a half to climb, see the waterfall and both viewpoints, one over the rooftops and sea, the other over the port.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Villa Rivoli€150 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Port Lympia free · about 1 hA twenty-minute loop past hand-painted wooden fishing boats, yachts and the Corsica ferry, best at the end of the day when the ochre walls glow.
- Afternoon · Musée national Marc Chagall · about 1 hBuilt in Chagall's lifetime with André Hermant for the seventeen Biblical Message paintings he gave France, with a blue-windowed auditorium worth the visit alone.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Villa Victoria€170 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Musée Matisse and Cimiez park · about 1 h 30Matisse lived in Nice from 1917 until his death, and this 17th-century Genoese villa holds works he kept, including cut-out gouaches, beside Roman ruins.
- Afternoon · Promenade des Anglais free · about 1 hHalf an hour's walk to the pink-domed Negresco, with free blue chairs facing the sea and planes landing low over the water to the west.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Aria€130 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Baguette: the daily bread, bought fresh from the boulangerie. Ask for a "tradition", made with nothing but flour, water, salt and yeast.
- Croissant and pain au chocolat: breakfast pastries, best in the morning while still warm.
- The cheese course: served after the main dish and before dessert, from Comté to Camembert.
- Steak frites: the bistro standard. Order it "saignant" for rare or "à point" for medium.
- Galettes and crêpes: savoury buckwheat pancakes from Brittany filled with ham, egg and cheese, then sweet ones for pudding.
- House wine: ordered by the carafe or the "pichet" at lunch, and often better value than a bottle.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Say "bonjour" when you walk into a shop, a bakery or a café, and "au revoir" as you leave. Skipping it comes across as rude.
- Lunch runs from about noon to 2pm and dinner starts around 7.30pm. In between, most restaurant kitchens are closed.
- Most shops close on Sunday, and many small towns shut on Monday too. Bakeries and markets open on Sunday morning.
- Do not pay for bottled water at the table: ask for "une carafe d'eau", tap water that is served free with a meal.
- Around the big Paris sights, walk past anyone with a petition or a friendship bracelet. They are there to distract you while someone else takes your wallet.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ French
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour |
| Thank you | Merci |
| Please | S'il vous plaît |
| Yes | Oui |
| No | Non |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi |
| Goodbye | Au revoir |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais ? |
| I don't understand | Je ne comprends pas |
| How much is it? | Combien ça coûte ? |
| Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? |
| The bill, please | L'addition, s'il vous plaît |
| Help! | Au secours ! |
| Cheers! | Santé ! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
BudgetAbout €130 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to June, and September to October
PlugC/E · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink
TippingService is included by law, round up
Emergency112
EntrySchengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
HealthNo specific vaccination needed. Check that tetanus, diphtheria, polio and MMR are up to date.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/nice
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.