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Nice

Promenade des Anglais, Old Nice and Monaco Next Door

Plan this trip
3 daysIdeal stay₹10,650From / night₹2,980Food / day₹1,280Entry

The Riviera's capital and its main airport: the Promenade des Anglais along the pebble beach of the Baie des Anges, the Cours Saleya flower market in Vieux Nice, the view from Castle Hill, and the Matisse and Chagall museums. Trains along the coast reach Villefranche, Èze, Antibes and Cannes in under 45 minutes. Monaco is 20-25 minutes by train: it is a separate country (a principality, not in the EU), with an open border and no passport check, and uses the euro; this site plans it as a day trip from Nice, not a stay.

Highlights

  • Promenade des Anglais
  • Cours Saleya market and socca
  • Castle Hill view over the bay
  • Musée Matisse and Musée Chagall
  • Day trip to Monaco and Monte-Carlo
  • Èze hilltop village
  • Villefranche bay
  • Coastal train along the Riviera

Things to do

  • Vieux Nice and the Cours Saleya marketMorning · 2h 30m
  • Castle Hill viewpointAfternoon · 1h 30m
  • Promenade des Anglais walk and the beachEvening · 2h
  • Monaco day trip by train (separate country; no passport check)Morning · 6h
  • Musée Chagall and Musée Matisse in CimiezAfternoon · 3h

Tours & tickets

Tours & tickets in Nicevia GetYourGuideTours & tickets in Nicevia Klook

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When to go

Best time: May – June, September – October

Worth knowing

Peak Summer: Crowds and High Prices on the Coast

July and August are French school holidays: beaches, coast roads and trains along the Mediterranean and the Basque coast are packed, rooms cost 30-100% more and often need a minimum stay, and Corsica's ferries and flights sell out. Book months ahead, or come in June or September, when the sea is still warm.

  • Bastille Day (Fête nationale) — France's national day: a military parade on the Champs-Élysées in the morning and fireworks at the Eiffel Tower at night, with crowds on the Champ de Mars from the afternoon. Carcassonne's fireworks over La Cité are among the biggest in the country. Banks and many shops close; trains run.
  • Fête de la Musique — Free music on streets, squares and bar terraces all evening and night in every town, on the longest day. Public transport runs late in Paris; streets in the centres are packed.
  • Cannes Film Festival — Twelve days in May. Screenings are for accredited film professionals and invited guests; the public sees the red carpet from behind the barriers and the free beach screenings. Hotels in Cannes cost several times their usual price and fill up along the coast to Nice; avoid it unless the festival is why you are going.
  • Nice Carnival and Menton Lemon Festival — Two weeks of parades and flower battles (bataille de fleurs) on the Promenade des Anglais, with ticketed grandstands; Menton, 35 minutes east by train, builds giant sculptures from citrus fruit at the same time.