# Nice

The capital of the Côte d'Azur: an old town, a pebble beach in the very centre and trains that put you in Monaco or Antibes in under half an hour.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/france/provence-alpes-cote-dazur/nice · Revisado: 2026-11-12

## What is Nice like?

A big city facing the sea, with two faces. Vieux Nice, the old town, is a maze of narrow streets with ochre and yellow façades, Baroque chapels and the Cours Saleya market. To the west begins the Nice of the 19th century, that of the English who came to spend the winter: avenues, villas and white-fronted hotels along the Promenade des Anglais, some seven kilometres of seafront. Because of that past as a winter-holiday city it has been a World Heritage Site since 2021.

The beach is in the very centre, but it is pebbles, not sand. Bring jelly shoes or flip-flops for getting into the water. There are public, free stretches and private beaches with paid sunloungers.

## What to see on foot?

Nice is explored on foot. A day that works:

In the morning, the Cours Saleya. The flower and fruit-and-vegetable market opens every morning except Monday, when the same promenade fills with antiques stalls. Around it, in the streets of Vieux Nice, try the socca, a thin chickpea-flour pancake, and the pissaladière, with onion and anchovy.

Mid-morning, the Castle Hill. Almost nothing is left of the castle, but at the top there is a park with an artificial waterfall from 1885 and the best view of the Baie des Anges and the port. You climb by steps from the end of Vieux Nice or in a free lift next to the quai des États-Unis, which doesn't run in the rain or when under maintenance.

In the afternoon, the Promenade des Anglais. On foot or by bike, as far as the Hotel Negresco, with its pink dome, and back along the beach.

At dusk, the port. The Lympia port, on the other side of the hill, with fishing boats and the red façades of place de l'Île de Beauté. From March to October a one-hour boat trip to Villefranche bay leaves from there.

## Which museums are worth it?

The two of painters, on the Cimiez hill, north of the centre, which you reach by bus. The Matisse Museum is in a red Genoese villa, next to an olive grove and the cemetery of the Cimiez monastery, where the painter is buried; admission costs €10 according to the museum (€12 on the city council website), and the four-day pass for the municipal museums, €15. Under-18s and students don't pay. Halfway along is the Marc Chagall National Museum, with the great canvases of the Biblical Message: it is a national museum, so the city pass doesn't cover it.

## Where to eat and sleep?

For eating, three very different places. Chez Pipo, next to the port, has made socca in a wood-fired oven since the 1930s, without booking and at bar prices. Le Safari, on the Cours Saleya itself, is the Niçoise-cooking classic with a terrace over the market, open all day. And Le Plongeoir, on a rock at the harbour mouth, is the special dinner with the sunset.

For sleeping, look to the centre and the tram. The Hôtel Beau Rivage is between Vieux Nice and the beach and admits dogs; the Hôtel Windsor, a few steps from the Promenade des Anglais, has rooms painted by artists and a tropical garden with a pool; the Villa Saint-Exupéry Beach Hostel, next to Masséna, has dormitories and private rooms, all with bathroom.

## How do you get there from Spain?

By plane: there are direct flights from Madrid and Barcelona to Nice Côte d'Azur airport, by the sea, west of the city. From both terminals, tram 2 drops you in the centre and at the port. The single ticket costs €1.70 and there is an AERO return of €10. You pay with a rechargeable €2 card, sold by the machines at the stops, or with the Lignes d'Azur app: there are no paper tickets any more. By car, from the La Jonquera border it is more than 600 km of toll motorway via Montpellier, Aix and the A8. In Nice a car is surplus to requirements: parking is expensive and traffic is dense.

## Which day trips can you make without a car?

Nice is the best base on the coast for getting around by train and bus. The TER regional trains leave Nice-Ville station frequently all day:

Eastwards: Villefranche-sur-Mer, with its bay and citadel, a few minutes away; Beaulieu; Monaco, in under half an hour; and Menton, already next to the Italian border.

Westwards: Antibes, with the walled old town and the Picasso museum, and Cannes.

Èze, the stone village hanging over the sea, is reached on Lignes d'Azur bus 82 or on the regional Zou network's 602. If you go by train, get off at Èze-sur-Mer, next to the beach, and go up on bus 83 or on foot along the Nietzsche path, a steep trail among pines that takes a good hour to climb.

## Dónde está
- Cerca: Gorges du Verdon (a 72.6 km)

## Qué hacer
- **Nice Castle Hill: Park, Waterfall and Viewpoint over the Bay** (1 h 30 · All ages; with a pushchair, better by the lift · Free): What it is
Castle Hill is the rock of about ninety metres that rises between Vieux Nice and the Lympia port. For centuries the fortress that protected the city stood at the top; it was demolished in the early 18th century and today only remains of walls and foundations are left. In its place there is a public park with pines, paths, benches and a large artificial waterfall built in 1885, which in summer cools the air across the whole esplanade. It is part of the site that UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site in 2021 as the winter resort city of the Riviera.
You climb up for two things: shade and views. From the terrace facing west you see the whole Baie des Anges, with the roofs of the old town at your feet and the Promenade des Anglais curving towards the airport. From the east side, the port, with its fishing boats and the red and ochre façades of the Place de l'Île de Beauté district.
How to get up
There are three ways. By the stairs that start at the eastern end of Vieux Nice: lots of steps, but in the shade and with viewpoints along the way; allow twenty minutes without hurrying. By the free lift that leaves next to the quai des États-Unis, at the end of the Promenade des Anglais, which does not run in the rain or when under maintenance. Or from the port side, by gentler ramps. The park is accessible by pushchair and wheelchair once you are up.
Opening hours and price
Entry is free. From April to September the park is open every day from 8:30 to 20:00; from October to March, from 8:30 to 18:00. There are public toilets with a baby-changing table and two buvettes, the kiosks for a drink. Picnics are allowed and the tourist office says animals are admitted.
With children
It is one of the best places in Nice for them: there is a play area for ages 2 to 6, a spider-web climbing net from age 6 and a meadow where they run and play ball. The waterfall hooks them. If you have a pushchair, go up in the lift and come down by the ramps on the port side.
- **Cours Saleya Flower Market, in Vieux Nice** (1 h · All ages · Free entry): What it is
The Cours Saleya is a long, narrow promenade between the streets of Vieux Nice and the row of low buildings that separates it from the sea. Every morning from Tuesday to Sunday it fills with striped awnings: it is Nice's flower market, where the Niçois have been buying since 1861. There are bouquets, plants, cut flowers and growers who explain how to care for what you take away. Around the flowers are the stalls of local fruit and vegetables, olives, spices, soaps and sweets, and some crafts. The tourist office points out that the Conseil National des Arts Culinaires classifies it among France's exceptional markets.
Monday changes completely: there are no flowers, and the same promenade fills with antique and second-hand stalls. If you are interested in crockery, frames or old posters, that is your day.
What to do and what to try
Go early, when the stalls have just been set up and the promenade still belongs to the locals. Walk the whole length, from one end to the other, before buying anything. For breakfast, in the surrounding streets they sell socca, the thin chickpea-flour pancake eaten hot and with pepper, and pissaladière, with onion and anchovy. The terraces on the Cours Saleya itself serve coffee from first thing.
On the same square is the Chapelle de la Miséricorde, and at the far end, the yellow building where Henri Matisse lived between 1921 and 1938, on the place Charles-Félix.
Getting there
On foot from anywhere in the centre. Tram 1 has a stop at Cathédrale – Vieille Ville, five minutes away. From the Promenade des Anglais, cross by any of the passages through the low buildings on the sea side. If you go by car, there are underground car parks beneath the Cours Saleya itself and in the Palais de Justice area, but the centre is slow and expensive: better by tram or on foot.
- **Nice's Matisse Museum, in the Genoese Villa at Cimiez** (1 h 30 · All ages; workshops for children aged 6 to 11 on Wednesdays · €10; 4-day municipal museums pass, €15; free under 18 and students): What it is
Henri Matisse arrived in Nice on Christmas Day 1917, stayed first in seafront hotels, lived from 1921 to 1938 in a flat-studio above the Cours Saleya and ended his days at the Regina, the former grand hotel on the Cimiez hill. He died in 1954 and is buried in the Cimiez monastery cemetery, a few steps from the museum. The Matisse Museum is the municipal museum dedicated to him: a 17th-century Genoese villa painted red, the Villa des Arènes, with a modern underground extension, in the middle of an olive grove and next to the ruins of the Roman city of Cemenelum.
The collection covers his entire career: paintings, drawings, sculptures, engravings, paper cut-outs from his last years and objects the painter had in his studio that appear in his paintings. The rooms are rehung each season and some works go out on loan, so what you see depends on the moment. Until 18 January 2027 there is a temporary exhibition, Henri Matisse – Alex Katz.
Opening hours and price
Open every day except Tuesday, from 10:00 to 17:00 between 1 November and 31 March, and from 10:00 to 18:00 between 1 April and 31 October. The ticket office closes half an hour earlier. Closed on 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May and 25 December, and exceptionally on Monday 30 November 2026 for maintenance.
The individual ticket costs €10 according to the museum's website. If you are going to see more than one municipal museum, the four-day pass costs €15 and opens all the city's museums and galleries. Under-18s and students pay nothing, with proof. The Chagall Museum is national and is not included in the pass.
Getting there
It is at 164 avenue des Arènes de Cimiez. By bus, lines 5, 16, 18, 33 and 40 stop at Arènes / Musée Matisse. By car you park on the avenue and the place du Monastère. For wheelchair users, entry is by the gate at number 164 or the one on boulevard de Cimiez and then across the villa's south esplanade.
- **Nice's Marc Chagall National Museum and the Biblical Message** (1 h 30 · Adults and teenagers; free for EU under-26s · €12 with a temporary exhibition, €10 without; free on the first Sunday of the month and for EU under-26s): What it is
It is one of the few French national museums created during the lifetime of the artist to whom they are dedicated. Marc Chagall donated to the State the great cycle of the Biblical Message, the large-format canvases he painted on Genesis, Exodus and the Song of Songs, and the museum was built on the Cimiez hillside for them. Besides the paintings, there are drawings, engravings, sculptures, ceramics, stained glass, a tapestry and a mosaic that can be seen from the garden reflected in a pond. It is a small, bright museum, surrounded by a Mediterranean garden, which can be seen in an hour and a half.
For those coming from Spain it works very well as a second stop of the day in Cimiez, next to the Matisse Museum: both painters lived on the Côte d'Azur and both museums are on the same hill, one on the lower part and one at the top.
Opening hours and price
Open every day except Tuesday, 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. From 2 May to 31 October, from 10:00 to 18:00; from 1 November to 30 April, from 10:00 to 17:00. In November and December 2026 it closes at midday, from 13:00 to 14:30. On 24 and 31 December it closes at 16:00. The ticket office stops selling half an hour before closing.
During temporary exhibitions, entry costs €12 (€10 reduced); outside them, €10 (€8 reduced). The price may drop if rooms are closed. It is free for everyone on the first Sunday of each month and, always, for under-26s from the European Union, with ID. There is a joint ticket with the Fernand Léger Museum in Biot, valid for 30 days. The Nice city museum pass is not valid here.
Getting there
It is on avenue du Docteur Ménard. From Nice-Ville station it is about fifteen minutes on foot, and as many from the Gare Thiers stop on tram 1. Bus 5 stops in front, at the Musée Chagall stop. If you go by car, the museum has free parking. At the entrance they check all bags.
- **Boat Trip from Nice Port to Villefranche Bay** (1 h · All ages; under-4s free · Adults €24; ages 4 to 10, €20; under 4, free): What it is
An hour on a passenger boat to see Nice and the neighbouring coast from the water. It leaves from Lympia port, passes in front of Cap de Nice and its villas hanging over the rocks, enters the bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer, with the village of coloured houses and the citadel at the back, and returns west to show you the Baie des Anges and the Promenade des Anglais from the sea. There are no stops: you do not get off at Villefranche. The crew gives commentary on the route in French and English.
It is the most comfortable way to see the east coast of Nice without a car or trails, and it works well with children: it is short, the boat goes slowly and under-4s do not pay.
Times and price
It is run by the Trans Côte d'Azur shipping company. In 2027 it runs from 9 March to 31 October, every day except Monday, at 11:00 and 15:00; there are exceptional departures on Mondays 29 March and 17 May. It costs €24 for adults, €20 for ages 4 to 10 and nothing for under-4s. Booking is compulsory, on the company's website or by phone. From November to early March there are no departures from Nice.
The same company runs, from 5 April to 31 October, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 16:00, a longer two-hour trip towards Monaco, past Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, the village of Èze, the Baie de la Mala and Cap d'Ail. It costs €40 for adults and €36 for ages 4 to 10.
Where you board
In Nice port, at quai Lunel, opposite the Affaires Maritimes building. The ticket office where tickets are collected is right there. From Vieux Nice you walk round Castle Hill by the sea, or down over the hill itself. Tram 2, the same one as the airport, stops at Port Lympia.

## Dónde comer
- **Chez Pipo, Socca by the Port** (Restaurant, Nice (port district), €). Qué pedir: a socca to share fresh from the oven, with pepper, and a pissaladière; for dessert, the sweet tourte de blettes.
- **Le Safari, Niçois Cooking on the Cours Saleya** (Restaurant, Nice (Vieux Nice), €€€). Qué pedir: the Cascade Niçoise to try a bit of everything (farcis, poivrons, truccha, accras) and then the daube with home-made ravioli or the wood-fired lamb.
- **Le Plongeoir, the Restaurant on a Rock at the Harbour Mouth** (Restaurant, Nice (port), €€€€). Qué pedir: a starter to share, such as the courgette flower fritters or the grilled octopus, and a fish of the day; book a terrace table at sunset.

## Car-free: Nice without a Car
Nice is one of the few coastal cities where a car truly gets in the way: the centre is covered on foot, tram 2 brings you from the airport, buses climb to Cimiez and the regional train drops you at Villefranche, Monaco or Antibes. Parking is expensive and traffic slow. Sleep near the tram and you will not miss it.
Presupuesto orientativo: 80–180 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir without a car
- **Hôtel Beau Rivage, between the Cours Saleya and the Sea** (Hotel): Where it is
On the rue Saint-François-de-Paule, the street that separates Vieux Nice from the Promenade des Anglais: on one side you have the Cours Saleya; on the other, across the promenade, the beach. For a first trip to Nice without a car it is hard to find a better-placed spot. The flower market is next door and tram 2 from the airport stops nearby. The hotel reckons 20 minutes by tram from the airport, or 15 by taxi.
It is one of the oldest hotels in the city. Henri Matisse stayed at the Beau Rivage when he arrived in Nice in December 1917, and the hotel recalls that Chekhov also passed through here. Behind the 19th-century façade, the interior is contemporary, with nods to Niçois tradition.
Rooms and apartments
There are many categories. The classic rooms, of 15 to 20 m², look onto the street or a quiet inner courtyard. The superior ones, of 22 m², are on the third floor. The Privilège and Premium rooms, of 24 to 33 m², are the most recent, with Mediterranean décor; some have a private terrace over the courtyard. The junior suite has 35 m² and a terrace with a little sea view. The hotel also rents apartments with kitchens: a studio for two, two 50 m² apartments for four and one 70 m² with two bedrooms and a sea view for six, useful if you travel as a family.
Breakfast, beach and services
Booking on their website or by phone, breakfast is included; through other platforms it costs €22 per person. It is served from 7:00 to 10:30. There is no restaurant in the hotel, but the bar is open from 11:00 to midnight with something to eat. Opposite, across the promenade, is the Plage Beau Rivage, from the same group, with loungers at €35 for hotel guests, payment in cash and booking a day ahead, and a beach restaurant open all year. Animals are accepted, with a supplement of €22 a night. It has no parking of its own: there is a public car park nearby at €22 a day that the hotel books for you if you ask.
- **Hôtel Windsor, the Artists' Hotel with a Tropical Garden** (Small hotel, desde 90 € / night): The house
The Windsor is a stone building from 1896, the work of an architect from the Eiffel school, turned into a hotel in the early 20th century. Since 1942 it has belonged to the Redolfi family, who have raised it from a two-star guest house to a four-star hotel, a category it has held since 2012. It is on the rue Dalpozzo, a few steps from the Promenade des Anglais and the pedestrian zone.
What sets it apart is art. Since 1989, the family has invited contemporary artists to turn entire rooms into works: today there are 33 artist rooms, others with frescoes by Antoine Beaudoin and others dedicated to an artist or a work. The lobby changes with each exhibition and at the end of November the hotel hosts a contemporary art fair in its own rooms.
The rooms and the garden
No room is the same as another. They range from the Intimité, of 15 m² and with a shower, which look onto the street, to the Privilège, of 27 m², with a balcony over the garden; the Premium ones have a whirlpool bath. All have air conditioning.
The garden is the other reason to sleep here: a small tropical forest around a giant ficus, with bamboo, palm trees, fruit trees and an aviary, in the middle of the centre. It has a 10 by 4 metre swimming pool, heated from May to the end of October. In summer breakfast, at €19 as a buffet, is served in the shade of the ficus from 7:00 to 10:30, and the restaurant, with the Maître Restaurateur label, cooks Mediterranean dishes with local produce. There is a hammam, sauna, fitness room and massages by reservation.
Prices and how to get there
The hotel states that in winter, on promotion, a small room on the street can cost from €90, and that in summer the Privilège rooms can exceed €340. Booking on their website or by phone, cancellation is free up to 24 hours before. It has eight parking spaces and a garage, always by reservation. From the airport, tram 2 drops you in the centre.
- **Villa Saint-Exupéry Beach Hostel, a Hostel by Place Masséna** (Hostel): Where it is
On rue Sacha Guitry, a short street behind the Galeries Lafayette, a step from place Masséna. The hostel says it is fifty metres from Vieux Nice and two minutes' walk from the beach. It is a good base if you travel alone, with friends or on a small budget and want to get around on foot and by tram: the Cours Saleya, the Promenade des Anglais and avenue Jean-Médecin are just round the corner.
From the airport, take tram 2 at terminal 1 or 2 and get off at Jean Médecin; from there follow the tram line to the Masséna stop and pass the Galeries Lafayette. From Nice-Ville station it is about ten minutes on foot following the tram line, or two stops to Masséna. The hostel says trams run about every six minutes, from 6:00 to 2:00.
Rooms and dorms
There are private single, double, twin and triple rooms, and shared dorms of 4 to 10 beds. All rooms, dorms included, have their own renovated bathroom and air conditioning, and are cleaned daily. The dorms have lockers. Towels are not included: bring your own or buy one at reception. For groups of young people there is a separate space.
Services and atmosphere
It is a sociable, lively hostel, one of the big ones in Nice. It has a bar with a happy hour from 18:00 to 20:00, a gym, free wifi, free left-luggage, laundry service and access to a kitchen. They organise a free walking tour with a guide and a pub crawl, and sell diving and snorkelling excursions. If you are after silence at midnight, it is not your place; if you want to meet people and spend little in an expensive city, it is.
### Servicios
- **Tram 2, from the Airport to the Centre and the Port**: Leaves from both terminals of Nice Côte d'Azur airport and crosses the centre to the port · Single ticket €1.70 · AERO return €10

## By plane: Direct Flight to Nice and the Tram to the Centre
Nice has its own airport, Nice Côte d'Azur (NCE), by the sea to the west of the city, with direct flights from Madrid and Barcelona and from other Spanish airports depending on the season. From the airport to the centre you do not need a car: tram 2 leaves from both terminals and drops you in the centre and at the port. To continue along the coast, regional trains leave from Nice-Ville station.
### Dónde dormir if you're flying
- **Hôtel Beau Rivage, between the Cours Saleya and the Sea** (Hotel): Where it is
On the rue Saint-François-de-Paule, the street that separates Vieux Nice from the Promenade des Anglais: on one side you have the Cours Saleya; on the other, across the promenade, the beach. For a first trip to Nice without a car it is hard to find a better-placed spot. The flower market is next door and tram 2 from the airport stops nearby. The hotel reckons 20 minutes by tram from the airport, or 15 by taxi.
It is one of the oldest hotels in the city. Henri Matisse stayed at the Beau Rivage when he arrived in Nice in December 1917, and the hotel recalls that Chekhov also passed through here. Behind the 19th-century façade, the interior is contemporary, with nods to Niçois tradition.
Rooms and apartments
There are many categories. The classic rooms, of 15 to 20 m², look onto the street or a quiet inner courtyard. The superior ones, of 22 m², are on the third floor. The Privilège and Premium rooms, of 24 to 33 m², are the most recent, with Mediterranean décor; some have a private terrace over the courtyard. The junior suite has 35 m² and a terrace with a little sea view. The hotel also rents apartments with kitchens: a studio for two, two 50 m² apartments for four and one 70 m² with two bedrooms and a sea view for six, useful if you travel as a family.
Breakfast, beach and services
Booking on their website or by phone, breakfast is included; through other platforms it costs €22 per person. It is served from 7:00 to 10:30. There is no restaurant in the hotel, but the bar is open from 11:00 to midnight with something to eat. Opposite, across the promenade, is the Plage Beau Rivage, from the same group, with loungers at €35 for hotel guests, payment in cash and booking a day ahead, and a beach restaurant open all year. Animals are accepted, with a supplement of €22 a night. It has no parking of its own: there is a public car park nearby at €22 a day that the hotel books for you if you ask.
- **Hôtel Windsor, the Artists' Hotel with a Tropical Garden** (Small hotel, desde 90 € / night): The house
The Windsor is a stone building from 1896, the work of an architect from the Eiffel school, turned into a hotel in the early 20th century. Since 1942 it has belonged to the Redolfi family, who have raised it from a two-star guest house to a four-star hotel, a category it has held since 2012. It is on the rue Dalpozzo, a few steps from the Promenade des Anglais and the pedestrian zone.
What sets it apart is art. Since 1989, the family has invited contemporary artists to turn entire rooms into works: today there are 33 artist rooms, others with frescoes by Antoine Beaudoin and others dedicated to an artist or a work. The lobby changes with each exhibition and at the end of November the hotel hosts a contemporary art fair in its own rooms.
The rooms and the garden
No room is the same as another. They range from the Intimité, of 15 m² and with a shower, which look onto the street, to the Privilège, of 27 m², with a balcony over the garden; the Premium ones have a whirlpool bath. All have air conditioning.
The garden is the other reason to sleep here: a small tropical forest around a giant ficus, with bamboo, palm trees, fruit trees and an aviary, in the middle of the centre. It has a 10 by 4 metre swimming pool, heated from May to the end of October. In summer breakfast, at €19 as a buffet, is served in the shade of the ficus from 7:00 to 10:30, and the restaurant, with the Maître Restaurateur label, cooks Mediterranean dishes with local produce. There is a hammam, sauna, fitness room and massages by reservation.
Prices and how to get there
The hotel states that in winter, on promotion, a small room on the street can cost from €90, and that in summer the Privilège rooms can exceed €340. Booking on their website or by phone, cancellation is free up to 24 hours before. It has eight parking spaces and a garage, always by reservation. From the airport, tram 2 drops you in the centre.
- **Villa Saint-Exupéry Beach Hostel, a Hostel by Place Masséna** (Hostel): Where it is
On rue Sacha Guitry, a short street behind the Galeries Lafayette, a step from place Masséna. The hostel says it is fifty metres from Vieux Nice and two minutes' walk from the beach. It is a good base if you travel alone, with friends or on a small budget and want to get around on foot and by tram: the Cours Saleya, the Promenade des Anglais and avenue Jean-Médecin are just round the corner.
From the airport, take tram 2 at terminal 1 or 2 and get off at Jean Médecin; from there follow the tram line to the Masséna stop and pass the Galeries Lafayette. From Nice-Ville station it is about ten minutes on foot following the tram line, or two stops to Masséna. The hostel says trams run about every six minutes, from 6:00 to 2:00.
Rooms and dorms
There are private single, double, twin and triple rooms, and shared dorms of 4 to 10 beds. All rooms, dorms included, have their own renovated bathroom and air conditioning, and are cleaned daily. The dorms have lockers. Towels are not included: bring your own or buy one at reception. For groups of young people there is a separate space.
Services and atmosphere
It is a sociable, lively hostel, one of the big ones in Nice. It has a bar with a happy hour from 18:00 to 20:00, a gym, free wifi, free left-luggage, laundry service and access to a kitchen. They organise a free walking tour with a guide and a pub crawl, and sell diving and snorkelling excursions. If you are after silence at midnight, it is not your place; if you want to meet people and spend little in an expensive city, it is.
### Servicios
- **Tram 2, from the Airport to the Centre and the Port**: Leaves from both terminals of Nice Côte d'Azur airport and crosses the centre to the port · Single ticket €1.70 · AERO return €10

## As a family: Nice with Children

Nice works well for families if you get around on foot and by tram and alternate a city morning with an afternoon at a park or on a boat. Under-18s do not pay at municipal museums, such as the Matisse, and EU under-26s go into the Chagall free. The beach is pebbles: bring jelly shoes for the little ones.

### What works best
Castle Hill: free park with a waterfall, play area for ages 2 to 6 and climbing net from 6

Boat trip to Villefranche: one hour, €20 for ages 4 to 10 and free for under-4s

Cours Saleya market: flowers, fruit and socca first thing

Matisse Museum: free for under-18s; workshops for children aged 6 to 11 on Wednesdays

### Where to stay
Hôtel Beau Rivage: apartments for four and six people, with kitchen

Hôtel Windsor: garden with pool from May to October; extra bed at €30

### Where to eat
Chez Pipo: socca eaten with the hands, quick and cheap

Le Safari: wood-fired pizza and lamb, continuous service all day

### Good to know
Go up the hill in the lift if you have a pushchair, and come down on the port side

The Matisse and the Chagall close on Tuesdays

Boats from Nice do not run from November to early March

### Qué hacer as a family
- Nice Castle Hill: Park, Waterfall and Viewpoint over the Bay
- Cours Saleya Flower Market, in Vieux Nice
- Nice's Matisse Museum, in the Genoese Villa at Cimiez
- Nice's Marc Chagall National Museum and the Biblical Message
- Boat Trip from Nice Port to Villefranche Bay

## Consejos

### Go to the Cours Saleya before ten
After that time the flower stalls carry on, but the promenade fills with groups and the terraces with people having breakfast.

### Buy the transport card on arrival
At the airport, at the tram machines. It serves for the whole trip on the city's trams and buses.

### Bring jelly shoes to the beach
The pebbles hurt as you go in and out of the water, and the bottom drops away quickly.

### Climb the hill in the morning
The light falls full on the bay and the port. In the afternoon, the sun is straight ahead and the photo comes out backlit.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### How many days do I need for Nice?
Two days for the city: Vieux Nice, the hill, the promenade and a museum. With four you add Monaco, Èze and Antibes, all without a car.

### Is Nice's beach sandy?
No, it is pebbles along the whole city front. There are free public stretches and private beaches with paid sunloungers.

### How do I get from the airport to the centre?
On tram 2, which leaves from both terminals and reaches the centre and the port. The single ticket costs €1.70, with a rechargeable €2 card.

### Can I go to Monaco for the day?
Yes. The regional train takes under half an hour from Nice-Ville station and there are trains all day.

### How much does it cost to enter the museums?
The Matisse Museum, €10 according to its website (the city council's gives €12; confirm at the ticket office), and the four-day pass for the municipal museums, €15. Under-18s enter free. The Chagall Museum is national and has its own ticket.

### Is it worth going in winter?
Yes, if you aren't after the beach. It is often sunny, prices drop and in February the carnival is held.