3 days in Nice

Cours Saleya market

Vieux Nice · 60 min

Flowers at the west end, fruit, candied fruit and olives at the east, Tuesday to Sunday mornings. On Monday the stalls are antiques and bric-a-brac from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; still worth the walk.

The old town lanes

Vieux Nice · 60 min

Rue de la Préfecture into rue Droite, the Palais Lascaris, the cathedral of Sainte-Réparate on its square. Fenocchio on Place Rossetti is the ice cream stop; the line is shorter before noon.

Castle Hill

Colline du Château · 90 min

The free elevator is at the east end of the quai des États-Unis (rue des Ponchettes), roughly 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in summer and often out for maintenance; the Lesage steps take ten minutes. The park opens 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. April to October and until 6 p.m. in winter, with a waterfall and a view over the bay at the top.

Chez Pipo

Port · 60 min

At 13 rue Bavastro, down the port side of the hill: socca from the wood oven, pissaladière, a carafe of rosé. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., no booking; on Monday or Tuesday, Chez Thérésa's stall on the Cours Saleya sells socca in the morning.

€12

Promenade des Anglais

Promenade · 60 min

Back under the hill and west along the sea from the Opéra to the Négresco: the blue chairs, the Palais de la Méditerranée front, the cyclists on the inside lane.

A swim from Castel or Ponchettes beach

Baie des Anges · 90 min

The public beaches under the hill are free and the water is clear by three. Pebbles all the way in, so bring water shoes; the paid clubs along the Promenade rent a bed and parasol from about €25 to €40 in high season.

Le Bistrot d'Antoine or Lu Fran Calin

Vieux Nice · 105 min

Rue de la Préfecture and rue Francis Gallo, both in the old town: daube, petits farcis, a salade niçoise done properly. Book a day or two ahead for Antoine; Lu Fran Calin usually has a table.

€40

Musée Matisse

Cimiez · 90 min

Bus to Arènes / Musée Matisse, about twenty minutes from the center; €10 (a bit more during exhibitions), or the €15 four-day pass that covers the municipal museums in Nice. Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. April to October and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. November to March, closed Tuesday, and closed September 29 to October 20, 2026 between exhibitions.

€10

Roman ruins and the monastery garden

Cimiez · 60 min

The arena and baths beside the museum, then through the olive grove to the Franciscan monastery: its terrace garden looks over the whole city, and Matisse is buried in the cemetery next door. Free.

Gare du Sud, Libération

Libération · 75 min

A twenty-minute walk downhill, or two stops on the bus: the old station is a covered food hall with a dozen counters. Pan bagnat or a pizza, eaten at the shared tables.

Musée National Marc Chagall

Cimiez · 75 min

Fifteen minutes on foot, up avenue Docteur Ménard; open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. except Tuesday, but shut 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. until October 31, 2026, then 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in November and December. €12 during exhibitions and €10 otherwise, free on the first Sunday of the month, and the Nice pass does not cover it.

€12

Musée Masséna

Promenade · 60 min

Bus or tram 1 back down to the Belle Époque villa next to the Négresco on the Promenade: Nice's own history, Napoleon's relics and a garden to sit in. Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May to October and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in winter, closed Tuesday; €10 or the pass, and it replaces the MAMAC, which is closed for rebuilding until 2029.

€10

Place Masséna and the Promenade du Paillon

Center · 60 min

The checkerboard square, the fountains in the park where children run through the jets, and the seated figures on their poles that light up at dusk. Walk the park to the end and back; it is the city's living room.

Place Garibaldi and the port

Port · 105 min

Café de Turin on the square for a seafood platter and oysters, no reservations and a line that moves. Or walk on to the quai Lunel for grilled fish with the boats in front of you.

€45

Train to Villefranche-sur-Mer

Villefranche-sur-Mer · 75 min

The TER from Nice-Ville takes under ten minutes for around €3.50; the station sits above the beach, with the harbor, the Chapelle Saint-Pierre that Cocteau painted and the covered rue Obscure below. Alternatively take bus 82 from Vauban to Èze village (about half an hour), then walk the steep Nietzsche path down to Èze-sur-Mer in forty-five minutes, in proper shoes, and take the train on.

Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat · 105 min

Bus 15 round the cape, or the train to Beaulieu and a thirty-minute walk; open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., €18 with the audio guide and €12 for students and children from 7 to 17. The nine gardens with their musical fountains are the point, and the rooms take twenty minutes.

€18

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat harbor

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat · 75 min

Fifteen minutes down to the port: grilled fish or a salade niçoise on the quay. If you took the Èze route, eat in the village before the path, where the terraces are small and the view is the reason to go.

Monaco

Monaco · 150 min

Bus back to Beaulieu and the TER on to Monaco-Monte-Carlo, about fifteen minutes, then up to the Rock for the Prince's Palace (State Apartments open March 30 to October 15, around €13). The changing of the guard is at 11:55 a.m. daily, so swap the day round if you want it; the Saint-Martin gardens and the Casino gardens are free.

Train back to Nice

Monaco · 45 min

Twenty to twenty-five minutes on the TER, around €5; sit on the left for the sea. Buy the round-trip ticket at the machine at Monaco-Monte-Carlo; validation is on the platform.

La Rotonde at the Négresco

Promenade · 120 min

The carousel room in the big hotel on the Promenade, a brasserie menu at hotel prices. Or any terrace at the Castel end of the Promenade for a last plate of fish with the bay in front of you.

€50