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Nice

Nice waterfront .

Hotel Negresco, Nice
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Map of Nice

The capital of the French Riviera has irrepressible energy and joie de vivre. It's bursting with life. True, the stony beach is one of the worst on the Riviera, and the famous Promenade des Anglais long ago became a busy dual carriageway, but Nice is dazzling. The famous waterfront remains beautiful. Shaded with palms, backed with glorious pre-War buildings, that broad, handsome promenade is still one of the world's most extravagantly joyous creations.
   The majestic azure sweep of the bay ends abruptly with palm-tree gardens, a hill called the 'château' and, at its foot, the tiny Old Town - 'Le Vieux', as locals call it. The Old Town is a picturesque haven for strolling or lingering over a coffee, and the area has an astonishing concentration of good restaurants. Its daily flower market sets up a magnificent array of colour and fragrance between cafe tables. It's hardly surprising that the town has fascinated painters, whose presence in the mid-20th century made Nice a great city of art, with world class museums.


 What, why, where

A large coastal town on a wide Mediterranean bay, backed by hills of the Provençal Alps, Nice has a long history and is today the second most important air gateway into France (after Paris). Its origins lie in a Ligurian settlement (from 1000BC), a Greek trading port (from 600BC), and a Roman town (from 200BC) - all of which have left ruins and artefacts. Part of Italy until 1860 (hence the name Riviera), during the 18th-19th centuries Nice became a popular winter resort among Europe's upper classes, especially English and Russian aristocrats. In the 1820s, wealthy English winter residents paid for the building of the seashore walkway which became known as the Promenade des Anglais - still one of the town's main attractions. The 1920s saw a rapid growth of bohemian, arty tourism to the area, and the first summer visitors, but not until the 1960s did mass tourism begin, making Nice a busy all-year-round resort town.

 Getting started

The main Nice tourist office is on the Promenade des Anglais. There's a secondary tourist office at the railway station, off av. Thiers (Winter: Mon-Sun 0800-1900. Summer: Mon-Sat 0800-2000, Sun 0800-1200).
www.nice-coteazur.org/
www.nicetourisme.com

 Compass points

Almost all visitors - whether coming from the airport or by road from the west - enter Nice on the main coastal highway which becomes the Promenade des Anglais.
   For visitors, four areas of town are of special interest: the seafront, including the beautiful beachfront promenade, the port, and ‘Le Château’ hill; the historic and atmospheric Vieux Nice quarter, which is set back from the sea at the end of the promenade; the busy, attractive Centre Ville, or town centre, just five minutes walk from the sea, behind Place Masséna, including pedestrianised streets where many shops and restaurants can be found; and the Cimiez district, further away on the north side of the town centre, for its Classical ruins and museums.

 Get the feel

The sophisticated, ancient worldly-wise "Queen of the Riviera" brings together high life and low life, squalor and style. The town centre's principal boulevard, Blvd Masséna, is wide, noisy and scruffy in parts. The town's older quarters nearer the sea are beautiful with their Italianate architecture. Among the dozens of restaurants, there are many swish, pricey places for putting on the style, but there are also plenty of decent, affordable eateries. In fact, Nice is probably the cheapest place to stay on the Riviera. Yet the sense of past glory is in the air – you can almost see those Russian and English aristocrats strolling on the Promenade.

 Getting around

The Promenade, Vieux Nice and the town centre are easily manageable on foot. Cimiez is better reached by bus (from town centre, nos. 15, 17, 20, 22 – ask for Les Arènes; or no. 25 – ask for Monastère).
- There's plenty of street parking, including along Promenade (max. stay 2 hours), and a dozen car parks near the sea.  

 Eat, drink, stay

There are dirt-cheap places to stay around the railway station and in the heart of the town, away from the sea. More interesting are the touristy but inexpensive bars, eating places and 1- or 2-star hotels in the pedestrianised area off Place Massena. Anywhere with a sea view is pricey and must be booked well ahead.
Hi Hôtel  Avenue des Fleurs. Created by top French product designer Matali Crasset, this is more art than accommodation, with uncluttered interiors and sharp blocks of colour, and quirkily individual rooms.
www.hi-hotel.net/
Hotel Negresco  37 Promenade des Anglais. Grandly famous and luxurious pink-domed waterfront landmark. Stays on top of the game and is still has the best restaurant in Nice.
www.hotel-negresco-nice.com/
Hôtel La Pérouse 11 Quai Rauba-Capéu, across the road from the Promenade, at the foot of the Château hill. Charming, stylish and pricey.
www.hotel-la-perouse.com/
Palais de la Méditerranée  Promenade des Anglais. Behind the elaborate white Art Deco façade of the Palais, the rebuilt hotel reopened last year, inspired by the luxurious 30s elegance of the original
www.lepalaisdelamediterranee.com/
Brasserie Karr
  Rue Alphonse Karr. Fashionable spot open for meals and cocktails all day and all evening. Classy interior, inspired cooking, and live jazz on Thursday and Friday nights. 
Kei's Passion 
Rue de France. Round the back of the Palais de la Mediterrann
ée, this is the interesting new restaurant of Japanese chef Matsushima Keisuke, who gives an Oriental flavour to Riviera cuisine. The 23€ lunch menu is a treat.
La Zucca Magica  At the port. A  fascinating vegetarian gem run by jovial Italian TV chef Marco Folicaldi. There’s no menu, so just sit down and eat.

 In the Know

- Eat Nice food: Try Pissaladière (a big onion and anchovy tart on a thin base, like a pizza), Salade Niçoise (salad with olives, egg, anchovies and tuna), Pan Bagnat (salad niçoise in a bun) and Ratatouille (a savoury, olive-oily stew of tomatoes, aubergines and courgettes).
- Book well ahead
if you want to stay in the Old Town or by the sea, even in winter.
- Nice pictures:
Consider buying the bargain priced Carte Musées Côte d’Azur, which allows entry to 60 leading Riviera museums, monuments and gardens; from Nice tourist office.
- Talk Nice!
The natives of Nice have their own lingo, a patois called Nissart. It is still very much spoken today.
- What's on: Pick up a copy of Le Mois à Nice from tourist offices or hotels for all this month’s events listings.
- Nice maps: Detailed online street maps and sight-finder at
www.plan-nice.org/ 

Recommended Guidebooks
Click on title to reach Amazon UK

Landmark Visitors Guide Cote d'Azur Richard Sale
Michelin Green Guide French Riviera  Author not credited
Time Out South of France Several contributors
 Must-see

 Promenade des Anglais 
The Nice waterfront is an awesome, inspiring sight, with palm and mimosa trees, pre-War villas and hotels, notably the pink-domed Hôtel Negresco, and best of all, the dazzling blue sea view over the glittering, luminous Baie des Anges. From spring to autumn, every kind of tourist from all over the world can be seen strolling along the wide walkway - or maybe skateboarding, skating, jogging, walking the dog, or just sitting on one of the sea-facing seats.
  Close to Hôtel Negresco, Musée Masséna (or Musée d’Art et d’Histoire) traces the history of Nice through painting, sculpture, jewellery, tapestries, as well as having an important library of historical documents. The “Promenade des Anglais” ends at Jardin Alber 1er, but the promenade continues as Quai des États-Unis as far as the 'Chateau'. 

 Le Vieux Nice 
At the east end of the promenade, Le Vieux Nice (the old quarter) is a delightful tangle of picturesque narrow lanes, many of them crowded with strollers pausing at the dozens of bars, restaurants and little shops selling souvenirs or traditional Provençal fabrics. There are several interesting small baroque churches too. Focal point is Cours Saleya, a long ‘square’ edged with restaurant tables and filled for much of the day with a big flower market under coloured awnings (except Monday - antiques market instead).

 Château and Port 
The seafront ends at the Château, a high headland between the beach area and the port. The medieval fortress and other buildings which stood here were demolished in 1706 leaving little trace. Today the hilltop is a pleasant shaded park with fantastic views of sea and town. At the foot of the hill, the coast road turns to reach the old port, a busy area with some popular restaurants.

 Musée des Beaux Arts  (Fine Arts Museum)
At the western end of the seafront, the town’s prestigious Musée des Beaux-Arts (or Musée Jules Cheret) is housed inside a handsome 19th-century mansion. It contains extensive collections of important Italian and French paintings and sculpture of the 17th-19th centuries, including a large, impressive range of works representing the late 19th-century movements, such as works by Degas, Sisley, and Raoul Dufy, who was especially inspired by Nice and the Riviera.
www.musee-beaux-arts-nice.org/

 Musée d'Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain
(Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art)
Several museums are located along the Paillon promenade which divides the old town from the new, including the famously avant-garde Musée d'Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art). Better known simply as MAMAC, it displays European and American late 20th-century artists, with the definitive collection of the “Nice school” of 60s modern artists who lived and worked in the town, and a gallery reserved for Yves Klein (1928-62).  
www.mamac-nice.org

 Cimiez - Arènes and Matisse Museum 
Pronounced Cimié, this hill district on the north side of the town centre was the centre of the Roman town. The main reason to come here is the Roman ruins and museum at the Parc des Antiquités, or ‘Les Arènes’, an archaeological site now laid out as a pleasant little park. The oval-shaped arena itself, still contained within the ruins of its original Roman walls, now serves as a venue for open-air performances and shows. Other 1st-3rd-century ruins at the site include a good example of Roman baths. Beside the park, the Musée Archeologique displays numerous objects found at Nice.
  Opening off the archaeological park is the Musée Henri Matisse (Henri Matisse Museum), mainly in a modern underground building, but also including a 17th-century mansion. The museum deals with the various periods in Matisse’s work, from exquisite line drawings to colourful gouaches to a model of his chapel at nearby Vence. Matisse (1869-1954) and Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) are both buried in nearby Cimiez cemetery.

www.musee-matisse-nice.org/


 Musée Marc Chagall 
At the bottom of the Cimiez hill is the Musée Marc Chagall (with the strange alternative name, Musée du Message Biblique). This is a phenomenal collection of Chagall’s enigmatic work, including his stained glass, mosaic, artbooks as well as the big richly coloured, dreamlike canvases on Biblical and Jewish themes.
www.musee-chagall.fr

 Buy it

Look out for perfumes, including Eau de Nice mimosa scented toilet water, Nice olives and olive oil, and the local Nice wine Le Bellet.

 Party Time

Nice Carnival: 16 Feb-2 Mar (2008)
Although there are several big, festive events during the Nice year, there's nothing to beat the huge, mad annual extravaganza of the Nice Carnival. Dating back at least 700 years, it’s a feast of parades, costumes, masks and mock battles. Highlight is the Bataille de Fleurs (flower battle), not a battle but a cavalcade of bands, fancy-dress, and huge, flower-decorated floats from which pretty girls chuck mimosa at the crowds.
   The Carnival theme for 2008, in alliterative honour of the Chinese Year of the Rat, is <<Roi des Ratapignatas, Raminogrobis et autres ramassis de Rats masqués>>, meaning something like (in obscure, colourful, medieval, local and poetic terminology) King of Bats, Cats, Rats and other legendary creatures. There's also a Battle of the Flowers during the summer. 

www.nicecarnaval.com/

 Getting to Nice

Nice is the main gateway to the south of France. Frequent flights to Nice come from many French and European airports. Andrew Sanger travelled from London to Nice by low-cost airline Easyjet (2 hours). 
www.easyjet.com
.

 Nice Basics

- Where is it?
  It's the largest town on the French Riviera, on the Mediterranean.
- International phone dialling code:
 
00 33 (+ drop initial 0 from local number)
- Time zone:

 
GMT/BST + 1 hour.
- Money:

 
Euro.

 


 

 

 

 
 
 

 


Text © Focus Guides and Andrew Sanger.
Updated 2008
.
All rights reserved worldwide.
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