Nice

Understand

thumb|Nice Nice's origins can be found among the Gallo-Roman ruins of Cimiez, in the hills up the boulevard de Cimiez from downtown. Cimiez also contains a monastery and some museums, but nowadays, most of the city's inhabitants live closer to sea level. Nice was part of the Italian Duchy of Savoia and then the Kingdom of Sardinia until it was ceded to France in 1860. The ancient local language is Nissart, and some of the street signs are bilingual. However very few people speak Nissart, and even the elderly know and speak French. Don't assume everyone you encounter will speak English — an effort at French will always be appreciated.

See

thumb|Colline du Château thumb|Museum of Asian Art

The greatest thing to see in Nice is the views along the Promenade des Anglais, which skirts the seacoast for over 5 km, then ends at Nice Airport. These are the views you will have seen in dozens of postcards and in paintings by the 20th-century artist Henri Matisse, who spent so many years living in Nice, but whether you've seen pictures or not, you owe it to yourself to walk along some of this stretch if you have made it to Nice.

The old town (Vieux Nice) beneath the hill is a maze of streets and alleys, with many picturesque houses, boutiques and home to the daily flower and fruit market of the Cours Saleya. In addition, the local cathedral, the Baroque Cathédrale Sainte-Réparate, in the heart of Vieux Nice, is pretty. You'll want to walk through the Place Sainte-Réparate, anyway, while you're in the old city. If the doors are open, go in and look at the interior and paintings.

Buy

thumb|Flower and food market in old quarter Most stores and restaurants in Nice will accept the major credit cards, and debit cards from major banks (anything carrying the EC or Maestro or Visa logos). If this fails you can always get money from any of the numerous ATMs.

All shops are now allowed to open every Sunday.

Postcards (as many other things) vary greatly in price. Do some comparison shopping as the price range is between 20 cents and €1 for a normal postcard.

Nice's main shopping street av. Jean Medecin is home to two giant music/entertainment stores, Virgin Megastore and the French FNAC. FNAC definitely has the edge as their many listening stations allow you to "try before you buy" almost every CD in the house, whilst Virgin push only a few promotional selections. Both run near identical pricing policy on new albums. FNAC is closer to HMV, offering most forms of entertainment including books, games, CDs, and DVDs. The 4-storey store on Av. Jean Medecin is well worth exploring!

Designer label garments are, as everywhere, notoriously expensive but general fashion goods are really cheap compared to most other European countries, and Galleries Lafayette offers a lot under one roof. If that's not enough for you, they also have a huge superstore at Cap 3000 just next to St Laurent de Var past the airport (Lignes d Azur 52 and Zou! bus 200, 400 and 500, stop La Passerelle). This is also home to Galleries Lafayette Gourmand, a food superstore to rival London's Harrods …

Drink

With the hot Niçois summers, carrying a bottle of water is almost a must. Bear in mind the largest single complaint to the municipal authority tourist department is the offering in restaurants of branded water bottles whose seal has been broken – i.e. refilled with tap water – and charged as Perrier or Evian.

You can save a lot of money by buying alcoholic drinks and such in a normal supermarket instead of the vendors geared towards tourists. Carrefour has a huge selection and unlike the other supermarkets has a policy of buying in wine show "prize winners" distinguished by their gold, silver or bronze medal stickers.

Wine in restaurants is often ferociously expensive, so do as the locals and order it by the "pichet" – usually a 50-centilitre jug. However, if you fancy quality appellation French wine to drink back home, Les Caves Caprioglio at 16 Rue de la Prefecture in Vieux Nice has a fabulous cellar of the wines you usually only read about in the fine wines books but rarely see. To see French wine making, the Chateau's Bellet and Cremat in the Var are nearest to Nice and will do tours by arrangement (reachable via the tiny narrow-gauge train from the Chemin de Fer de Provence).

Some popular places to go out for a drink include: Checkpoint — A cozy bar on the ground level, and a great dance floor underground. Ladies night on Monday offers €0.50 champagne (as of Feb 2013). Master Home — A pub by Wayne's and King's Pub. More "French" than Wayne's and King's pub…

Sleep

thumb|The Hôtel Negresco There are a number of hotels within walking distance of Terminal 1 of the airport and a special hotel shuttle bus serves other hotels within Nice itself. The hotels near the airport are a long way away from Nice center (7 km) and it will take a bus journey or taxi to reach the centre. A wide range of modern and traditional French hotels is available in the town, though few in the old quarter itself, which is mainly apartments. Convenient locations are between the main station and the promenade, in particular below Boulevard Victor Hugo and east of Boulevard Gambetta. Hotels further from the seafront are most convenient in the vicinity of the tramway along Avenue Jean Medicine or Avenue de la Republique.

Stay safe

Nice's crime rate is comparable to other cities in western countries. Nevertheless, locals have been grumbling about a number of issues since the 2000s, often with good reasons. Basic precautions are needed at times.

Nice is known to be the city in France with the highest number of police officers per capita – and since the tragic 2016 terrorist attack by the promenade, Nice hosts a large number of military patrols. They can be somewhat intimidating to meet, especially in the middle of the night, however they are there to maintain an air of control. Most French people maintain their weapons are fake, and they will normally never interact with you.

As with other larger cities, Nice has areas that must be avoided. The most commonly cited areas are:

The neighbourhoods of Arianne and Pasteur, located in the eastern parts of the city, and the neighbouring town of la Trinité are known hotbeds for gang violence and drug dealing. It is highly discouraged to wander there at night. Some of the neighbourhoods immediately north of the airport have been the stages of pickpocketing. The Thiers neighbourhood, immediately south of the Nice-Ville train station, has a few unsavoury streets.

A few tips to stay safe are: Don't take unlicensed "taxis"! That applies doubly so at times like the Film Festival, especially if you are female and have been drinking and partying late. Take precautions against pickpockets, who are a constant and serious problem on the Côte d'Azur. They operate usually…

Connect

As of Sept 2021, Nice has 5G from all French carriers. Wi-Fi is widely available in public places, transport, cafes and so on.

Go next

Some nice places just to the west of Nice include Haute de Cagnes, Antibes, Cannes and Saint-Tropez. East of Nice the trains stops at Villefranche, Monaco and Menton, and the border town of Ventimiglia. To the North of Nice in the interior of Provence, Vence and Saint-Paul de Vence are worth a visit for their hilltop old towns and boules pitches.

Villefranche is two stops east of the main station in Nice and is a rather nice village with a small beach (and it is much less rocky than in Nice). The village is quieter and more relaxed than Nice. A train ticket from the main station in Nice is just €1.70 each way. You can also get there by bus 81 or 100 — or by taking the scenic walk by the cliffs in little over an hour. Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat: Among the many expensive villas on this cape, Villa Ephrussi de Rotschild is the most impressive one. You can walk around the cape on a pathway and stop for a swim. Take city bus #15 from Nice, about 40 min. Beaulieu-sur-mer: Right next to Cap Ferrat, this small town is known for the beach and Villa Kerylos, a Greek-style property built in the early 1900s. Take city bus #15 from Nice. Liguria - the Italian Riviera including San Remo that is just a little over one hour away, switch trains in Ventimiglia Èze village — a few hour-long hike (or take citybus #81 from Nice) from Nice, Èze is a medieval village and well worth seeing, if only over a day. Visit the beautiful mountainous Touët-sur-Var, Puget-Théniers, Entrevaux, Annot, and even Ver…