Vieux Nice
First-timers and nightlifeThe old town: ochre lanes, the flower market, the bars and the socca. Loud at night and central.
Nice city guide
Things To Do In Nice
The Riviera base: a long pebble bay, an Italian-feeling old town, and everywhere on the coast within an hour by train.
18
Hostels in the city
8.3
Average, from 52,230 reviews
7 km
Of seafront along the Promenade des Anglais
1860
When Nice became French, having been Italian
Pebbles
Not sand. Bring something to lie on
A Riviera city that spent most of its history Italian
Nice only became French in 1860. Before that it was Savoyard and Italian, and the old town still is in every way that matters — ochre buildings, shuttered windows, socca sold from copper pans and a dialect closer to Ligurian than French.
The Baie des Anges curves for seven kilometres with the Promenade des Anglais along it, built in the nineteenth century when the English aristocracy started wintering here.
The beach is pebbles. Large, round, hard pebbles. Everyone is surprised and everyone should have been told to bring a mat.
What makes Nice worth a base rather than a stop is the train line: Monaco in twenty minutes, Cannes in half an hour, Menton and the Italian border in under an hour, and the hill villages just behind.
Two or three days here, and as many again for the coast.
Where to stay
A flat city between the hill and the sea, walkable end to end in half an hour.
Jean Médecin and the centre
Transport and valueNorth of the old town: the main shopping street, trams, the station end and cheaper beds.
Port and Riquier
Local and quieterEast around the harbour: fewer visitors, good restaurants and a walk round the hill to the old town.
Promenade and Carré d'Or
The seafrontWest along the bay: belle époque hotels, the beach clubs and the priciest rooms in the city.
Orange labels are neighbourhoods, dots are the 11 top-rated hostels. Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Nice
Climb the Colline du Château. There is no castle left, but there is a waterfall, a cemetery and the view straight down onto the old town roofs and the curve of the bay. Free, with a lift at the eastern end if you would rather not walk.
Walk Vieux Nice in the morning, when the Cours Saleya flower and produce market is on and before the crowds. Eat socca — chickpea flour pancake, cooked in a copper pan, served scalding and peppered, about €4.
The Matisse and Chagall museums sit on the hill at Cimiez, both around €10 to €12, and Matisse lived in Nice for decades.
The Promenade des Anglais is seven kilometres of seafront, free, and best early or at sunset.
Then use the trains. Monaco, Èze, Villefranche, Cannes and Menton are all short, cheap hops along one of the most scenic coastal lines in Europe.
Free things
Free things to do in Nice
The Colline du Château is free, including the waterfall and the viewpoints over the bay and the port.
The Promenade des Anglais and the public beaches cost nothing — the private beach clubs charge €20 to €30 for a lounger, and the free stretches between them are just as good if you have a mat.
Vieux Nice and the Cours Saleya market are free to walk, with flowers and produce most mornings and antiques on Mondays.
The Parc de la Colline du Château, the Promenade du Paillon park through the middle of the city, and the walk around the port to Mont Boron are all free.
Several municipal museums have low or free entry on certain days, and the Cathédrale Sainte-Réparate in the old town is free.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Nice
Niçoise food is its own thing and closer to Ligurian than French. Socca at about €4, pissaladière — onion tart with anchovies — pan bagnat, a stuffed tuna and olive sandwich, and petits farcis.
A real salade niçoise has no cooked vegetables and no dressing beyond oil. It is served that way here and nowhere else.
The old town restaurants on the main lanes are aimed at visitors; one street back is better and cheaper, and a lunch formule runs €15 to €20.
The Cours Saleya market does cheap lunch, and the Libération market north of the centre is where locals shop.
A beer is €5 to €8 and a glass of rosé similar. Seafront terrace prices are a step above everywhere else.
Nightlife
Going out in Nice
Vieux Nice is where it happens — a dense grid of bars in the old lanes, busy every night in season and loud enough that sleeping above one is a decision.
The port has the more relaxed bars and a slightly older crowd, and the seafront has the expensive clubs.
A beer is €5 to €8 and cocktails €10 to €15, cheaper in the old town than on the front.
Nice has a substantial summer visitor crowd and a smaller student population, so the season shapes the nightlife more than term time does.
Monaco is twenty minutes away by train if you want the other kind of evening, though the last train back is earlier than you would like — check it before you commit.
Getting around
Getting around Nice
Trams and buses cost about €1.70 with day tickets, and two tram lines cover the city and the airport.
The airport is eight minutes away on tram 2 — one of the shortest airport transfers of any European city — at about €10 including the airport supplement.
The centre is flat and walkable, and the seafront runs the length of it.
The coastal railway is the reason to base here: Monaco twenty minutes, Villefranche ten, Cannes thirty, Menton forty, at €2 to €8 a hop. Trains are frequent and the line hugs the sea.
Buses reach the hill villages — Èze, Saint-Paul-de-Vence — at low flat fares, and are slower but more scenic.
Costs
What Nice costs
The most expensive part of the French Mediterranean after Monaco itself. Dorms are €28 to €50 in summer and €20 to €32 outside it, a lunch formule €15 to €20, and a beer €5 to €8.
A day is €60 to €100.
The free tier holds up well: the beaches between the private clubs, the Château hill, the old town and the Promenade all cost nothing.
The private beach clubs at €20 to €30 for a lounger are the classic avoidable spend — the public stretches have the same water.
Marseille, two and a half hours west, runs about a third cheaper for a comparable trip.
Safety
Staying safe in Nice
Nice is a safe city and the crime affecting visitors is theft.
Bag snatching and phone theft happen along the Promenade, in Vieux Nice at night and around the station. Nothing should be left on a beach towel while you swim.
The pebbles are hard and slippery at the waterline, and the beach shelves steeply in places — water shoes make a real difference and are sold everywhere.
The sea looks calm and is deep close in. Swim where other people are swimming, and be aware that most beaches are only lifeguarded in season.
The station area is scruffier late at night without being dangerous. Emergency number is 112.
Day trips from Nice
The whole Riviera is within an hour, and most of it by train.
Monaco
A principality of two square kilometres: the casino, the palace, the harbour and the Formula 1 circuit as public roads.
Villefranche-sur-Mer
A deep natural harbour and an ochre fishing village, with the best swimming near the city.
Èze
A medieval village on a crag 400 metres above the sea, with a cactus garden at the top.
Cannes
Sand rather than pebbles, the Croisette, and the island of Sainte-Marguerite offshore.
What's on
What is on while you are there
A two-week carnival in February, and a jazz festival in the Roman ruins in July.
Staff pick
29 Oct – 1 Nov
HYROX Nice
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8 November
Alpes-Maritimes Nice-Cannes Marathon
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30 Sep – 6 Oct
Orlando
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2–9 October
Un Festival C'est Trop Court
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3 October
DJADJA & DINAZ
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9–11 October
Evo
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10 October
The Stone Lady
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17–25 October
Jean-Christophe Maillot & Ioannis Mandafounis
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Hostels
Where to stay in Nice
A good scene near the old town and the station, with prices spiking in July, August and Grand Prix week. Live from Hostelworld.
Sustainable
SLO Nice
Dorms from €31 a night
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Hostel Meyerbeer Beach
Dorms from €21 a night
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Sustainable
Auberge de Jeunesse HI Nice Les Camélias
Dorms from €26 a night
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Villa Saint Exupery Beach
Dorms from €17 a night
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Antares Hostel
Dorms from €21 a night
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Hostel OZZ
Dorms from €18 a night
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Open House Hostel
Dorms from €28 a night
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Hostel Baccarat
Dorms from €22 a night
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Backpacker's Hostel Chez Patrick
Dorms from €24 a night
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Hostel Pastoral
Dorms from €25 a night
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Hostel Belle Meuniere
Dorms from €45 a night
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When to go
May, June, September and October. July and August are hot, full and priced accordingly.
Jan
Mild and bright. Cheapest beds and empty promenade
Feb
Carnival takes over the city for two weeks
Mar
Warming and quiet. Good for the hill villages
Apr
Very good. Warm days, cold sea, thin crowds
May
Excellent. Everything open before the peak
Jun
The best month. Warm sea and long evenings
Jul
Hot and full. Highest prices of the year
Aug
The same. Beaches shoulder to shoulder
Sep
Superb. Warmest sea of the year and crowds thinning
Oct
Very good value, still swimmable early on
Nov
The wettest month. Quiet and cheap
Dec
Mild and bright. Christmas market on the Promenade du Paillon
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs. The sea is warmest in September, not August, and the shoulder months of May and October give you most of the summer at noticeably lower prices.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros.
These are summer figures — May and October run roughly a third lower. The transport line assumes a couple of coastal train hops.
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- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Nice travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
Is the beach sand?
No. Large, round, hard pebbles the whole way. Bring a mat and consider water shoes — the stones are slippery at the waterline and the beach shelves steeply in places.
Do I have to pay for the beach?
No. The private clubs charge €20 to €30 for a lounger, but the public stretches between them are free and the water is the same. Bring something to lie on and skip the club.
Is Nice a good base for the Riviera?
The best one. The coastal train puts Villefranche at ten minutes, Monaco at twenty, Cannes at thirty and Menton at forty, all for €2 to €8, and buses reach the hill villages.
Why does the old town feel Italian?
Because it was. Nice only became French in 1860 — before that it was Savoyard and Italian, and the architecture, the dialect and the food all still reflect it. Socca and pissaladière are closer to Ligurian cooking than French.
When is the sea warmest?
September, not August. The shoulder months of May, September and October give you most of the summer at noticeably lower prices and with far fewer people on the pebbles.
How do I get from the airport?
Tram 2, eight minutes, about €10 including the airport supplement. It is one of the shortest airport transfers of any city in Europe.
Is it expensive?
The priciest part of the French Mediterranean after Monaco. Dorms €28 to €50 in summer, beer €5 to €8, a day around €60 to €100. Marseille runs about a third cheaper if budget is the deciding factor.
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