Book a Flight to Nice from €60

Matisse Museum: Enchanted by the golden light of Nice, the leading representative of the Fauvist school confessed that ‘when I realized I would see this light every single day, I couldn’t believe my luck’. The Matisse Museum is located in the house where the artist lived until the end of his life, in 1954, on the hill at Cimiez, and features an impressive collection of paintings, photographs and sculptures.
Address: 164 Avenue des Arènes de Cimiez, 0033 493810808, www.musee-matisse-nice.org/

Fine Arts Museum of Nice: Four centuries of art are housed in the magnificent 18th-century palace, built by a Ukrainian princess. A rich collection of paintings by Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Bonnard, sculptures by Rodin, ceramics by Picasso, and other works by artists inspired by the French Riviera. 
Address: 33 Avenue des Baumettes, 0033 492152828, www.musee-beaux-arts-nice.org/

Nice Museum of Contemporary Art: Better known by its acronym, MAMAC, the museum has an impressive collection of exhibits, and is an imposing architectural design in its own right. Four futuristic towers are joined by glass walkways in a building with a façade of white Carrara marble, designed in 1990 by the architects Yves Bayard and Henri Vidal. Exhibits include major works by representatives of the American pop art movement, such as Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, neo-realists like Yves Klein, and representatives of the arte povera school.
Address: Place Yves Klein, 0033497134201, www.mamac-nice.org/

Marc Chagall National Museum: This is the largest public collection of works by this major figure in modern art. The Chagall Museum represents a thematic and artistic study of the painter, born of his own desire to bring together in one location the 17 works he created under the inspiration of the Old Testament. The Biblical Message series is complemented by a total of 400 works -paintings, gouaches, sketches, water colours and pastels.
Address: 36 Avenue Docteur Ménard, 0033493538720, http://musees-nationaux-alpesmaritimes.fr/chagall/

Terra Amata: A visit to the Terra Amata archaeological site is a thrilling journey back in time, to the remote prehistory of the French Riviera 400,000 years ago, and the first traces in the Nice area of Homo sapiens. Discover the way life was lived by the first inhabitants of the region, who sought refuge by the sea, made tools of whatever was cast up by the waves, and hunted elephants!
Address: 5, boulevard Carnot, 0033 493555993

National Sports Museum: A new arrival on the Nice museum scene, the Sports Museum opened in 2013 with a massive collection of exhibits transferred here from Paris. No fewer than 45,000 items and 400,000 archive files using the last word in technology to set out the history and greatest highlights of sport – from the 14th century to the present day.
Address: Bd des Jardiniers Stade Allianz Riviera, 0033 4 89 22 44 00, www.museedusport.fr/

Church of St. Nicholas: Built in 1912 by the Tsar Nicholas II, the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral adds an exotic note to the skyline of the French Riviera, with its red bricks and the characteristic onion domes of traditional Russian church architecture.
Address: 2 Αvenue Nicolas II, 0033663289899, www.cathedrale-russe-nice.ru/fr/

Village of Saint Paul-de-Vence: Just twenty minutes by car from Nice you will find one of the most beautifully preserved mediaeval villages in all Provence, built on a lush, green hill and surrounded by imposing walls. Wander along the narrow streets and through the arches, browsing in the many little shops, galleries and studios of local artists. Here in the village cemetery you will find the modest resting place of the painter Marc Chagall.

Monaco: Take the train or bus for a trip to the legendary principality of opulence and luxury, just 12km east of Nice. Admire the palace of the Grimaldi family and the Rose Garden of Princess Grace, visit the Oceanographic Museum, where Jacques Cousteau once served as Director, or just head down to the harbour and gaze in awe at the giant yachts of the international jet set.

Explore the delightful little shops along the labyrinth of narrow streets of the old city, looking for souvenirs in the area around the Cours Saleya and Place Garibaldi, which links the old and modern parts of Nice, as far as the big shopping street, the Avenue de la République. Nice is famous for its open-air markets, like the Sunday market in Villefranche-sur-Mer, where the lucky shopper can find little gems in the form of old books, vintage handbags, silver items and jewellery. On Monday, the roses in the Cours Saleya flower market give way to antiques. Local people and tourists alike swarm beneath the striped awnings in search of bargains, rummaging among the stalls laden with porcelain tea services, old postage stamps and maritime goods.

Take a look in the dazzling windows of the jeweller’s stores along the Avenue de Verdun and check out the latest fashions in the chic boutiques of the Rue Paradis. On Avenue Jean Médecin the major chain stores stay open on Sunday from the end of May and all through the summer.

The Mediterranean version of French cuisine found in Nice is based on the fresh fish and seafood of the Cote d’Azur, lamb and kid, as well as herbs and spices from the Provence countryside. Basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, mint and rosemary, which the chefs of the city buy in the open-air Cours Saleya market and dry in little bunches to flavor the local specialties.

You should sample the salade niçoise in its authentic version, as prepared by the priests of 1850, with tomato, cucumber, green beans, peppers, shallots, tuna in oil or anchovy fillets, hard-boiled eggs, local black olives, seasoned with garlic and basil.

In the sophisticated bistros and restaurants of the old city, in the Cours Saleya and Place Rossetti, you will be served traditional raïoles, the Provencal ravioli, bourride soup, a version of the bouillabaisse of Marseille, as well as pissaladière, focaccia with onion, garlic, black olives, fillets of anchovy and thyme, which resembles an Italian pizza a la nicoise. 

You should accompany your meal with the exceptional rosé wine of the region, and finish it with a refreshing ice cream in one of the Provencal flavours – rose, violet, basil or lavender!
Continue your evening with jazz or French music at one of the little bars in the old city, open till dawn, or one of the trendy clubs on the Promenade des Anglais, along the waterfront.

The most important events staged in Nice have a reputation far beyond the Cote d’Azur.

• Nice Carnival: The capital of the French Riviera is transformed into a vast flower garden for two weeks in February, celebrating the most fragrant of carnivals anywhere in Europe. Twenty carriages decorated with impressive arrangements of flowers parade along the Promenade des Anglais, and the event culminates in the battle of the flowers, when the revelers pelt the crowds with lilies, African daisies and mimosa.
• Christmas in Nice: The sun-drenched metropolis of the Cote d’Azur does not hibernate in the winter months, but celebrates Christmas with a traditional market for seasonal crafts in the Place Masséna, an open-air ice rink on the Promenade du Paillon, a funfair and live Christmas music.
• Nice Jazz Festival: The oldest of all the French jazz festivals was first staged in 1948, featuring Louis Armstrong, thrilling audiences with his trumpet, and Suzy Delair singing for the first time the great hit C’est si bon. Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and Miles Davis are just some of the legendary figures who have performed at this, the main summer music event on the French Riviera.
• United Kingz Festival: This is the Cote d’Azur building bridges with the British music industry. The spring festival, staged in Nice every year in March, features established artists and newcomers from the worlds of rock, pop and electronic music in the UK.

Getting to and from the airport in Nice

Aegean Airlines operates through the international Côte d’Azur Airport, which is five kilometres west of Nice city centre. This is the third busiest airport in France, in terms of air traffic, with numerous restaurants, cafes, shops, banks, foreign exchange desks, a hairdresser’s and pharmacy. There is free Wi-Fi, but you need to reconnect every thirty minutes.

You can get into Nice from the airport using bus 98, which takes you to the centre of the city, or bus 99, which will take you to the rail station. You may feel it’s worth taking a taxi, as the distance from airport to city centre is so short.