# Nice: map, what to do and when to go

A city of Greek origin and Savoyard past on the Baie des Anges, with an old town of narrow streets, a seafront promenade of about 7 km and trains to Villefranche, Èze, Monaco and Menton.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Nice: How do you get from the airport to the center?** Tram 2 links terminals 1 and 2 to Jean Médecin station in under 30 minutes and continues to the port.
- **Nice: How many days should you stay?** I'd stay three days: two in Nice and one on the coast to the east.
- **Nice: How do you get to Monaco?** Monaco is to the east, about 20 minutes by train from Nice-Ville (€6.10 at the full fare), and it combines well with Èze and Villefranche in a single day.

## Vieux-Nice, the Colline du Château and the port
Start at 8:30 a.m. at the Cours Saleya flower market, which runs in the morning Tuesday through Sunday; on Mondays, the antiques market takes its place.
- Cours Saleya
- Colline du Château
- Port Lympia
- Palais Lascaris

## Cimiez in the morning and the Promenade des Anglais in the afternoon
On any day but Tuesday, take bus 5 downtown to the Arènes / Musée Matisse stop and enter the museum at 10 a.m.
- Promenade des Anglais
- Musée Matisse
- Musée national Marc Chagall
- Monastère de Cimiez
- Musée d'Archéologie de Nice-Cimiez
- Promenade du Paillon

## Promenade des Anglais
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/#g-lugar-promenade-des-anglais
Nice · One to two hours
The walkway of about 7 km follows the Baie des Anges from the airport to the Quai des États-Unis. It began in 1820 as a path paid for by the Anglican community to employ beggars, took its current name after 1860 and is now used by people who run, cycle, skate or simply stroll. Along it are the public beaches and the private concessions, and a memorial remembers the victims of July 14, 2016.
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## Vieux Nice
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/#g-lugar-vieux-nice
Nice · One to two hours
The old core between the Paillon and the hill, with narrow streets and ocher and yellow facades. The Sainte-Réparate cathedral, on the Place Rossetti, began construction in 1650 and has an 18th-century dome in the Genoese style. Around it are Baroque chapels, the Palais Lascaris and the shops that sell socca, pissaladière and zucchini-blossom beignets.
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## Cours Saleya
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/#g-lugar-cours-saleya
Nice · Up to half an hour
The long square behind the Quai des États-Unis hosts the flower market on Tuesday through Sunday mornings, with stalls of fruit, vegetables and local products. On Mondays, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., about 180 antiques dealers and brocanteurs take over the Cours Saleya and the Place Pierre-Gautier. At night, restaurant tables fill the space.
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## Colline du Château
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/#g-lugar-colline-du-chateau
Nice · One to two hours
The hill where Greek Nikaia and the medieval castle, razed in 1706, once stood became a 19.3-hectare public park in the 19th century. From the main viewpoint, at 92 m, you see the Promenade on one side and the port on the other. There are ruins of the old cathedral, the Tour Bellanda, rebuilt in 1844, a waterfall from 1885 fed by the waters of the Vésubie and two cemeteries. Entry is free; you climb by the Lesage stairs or by the free elevator next to the Quai des États-Unis. The park opens at 8:30 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m. from October to March and at 8 p.m. from April to September.
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## Port Lympia
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/#g-lugar-port-lympia
Nice · Up to half an hour
The port opened from 1748 east of the hill, with the neoclassical church of Notre-Dame-du-Port, from 1853, on the axis of the Place de l'Île-de-Beauté. Fishing boats, yachts and ferries to Corsica share the docks, and the streets behind the quay hold restaurants and socca spots.
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## Musée Matisse
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/#g-lugar-musee-matisse
Nice · One to two hours
Housed since 1963 in the Villa des Arènes, a 17th-century Genoese villa in the middle of the Cimiez olive grove, it holds nearly 600 works and 138 objects donated by Matisse and his heirs, including almost all of his sculpture. It is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from April to October and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from November to March, closed on Tuesdays, and admission costs €10; the four-day pass for the municipal museums costs €15.
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## Musée national Marc Chagall
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/#g-lugar-musee-national-marc-chagall
Nice · One to two hours
The museum was built between 1966 and 1973 by the architect André Hermant to house the 17 canvases of the Message Biblique: twelve large-format ones on Genesis and Exodus and five on the Song of Songs, in a hexagonal room. The auditorium has Chagall stained-glass windows on the days of creation. It is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2:30 to 6 p.m. from May to October (until 5 p.m. from November to April, and 4:30 p.m. in March), closed on Tuesdays and charges €10, or €12 during exhibitions; on the first Sunday of the month admission is free.
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## Monastère de Cimiez
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/#g-lugar-monastere-de-cimiez
Nice · Up to half an hour
The Franciscan monastery next to the Roman ruins has a garden of centuries-old olive trees and rose bushes with a view over the Paillon valley, free to enter. In the neighboring cemetery is Matisse's tomb.
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## Musée d'Archéologie de Nice-Cimiez
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/#g-lugar-musee-d-archeologie-de-nice
Nice · Up to half an hour
Opened in 1989 on the site of Cemenelum, it shows three bath complexes, a residential quarter, the amphitheater and an early Christian complex, with pieces from the Metal Ages to the early Middle Ages. It stands on the same grounds as the Matisse Museum.
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## Cathédrale Saint-Nicolas de Nice
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/#g-lugar-cathedrale-saint-nicolas-de-nice
Nice · Up to half an hour
The Russian Orthodox cathedral, built from 1903 to 1912 by the architect Mikhail Preobrazhensky, with onion domes, stands near where Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich died in 1865. Since 2013 it has belonged to the Russian Federation, by court decision. The visit is paid and requires suitable clothing; fares vary between sources, so confirm on site.
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## Promenade du Paillon
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/#g-lugar-promenade-du-paillon
Nice · Up to half an hour
The linear park covers the bed of the Paillon river, from the Promenade des Anglais through Place Masséna and north to the Palais des Expositions: 12 hectares inaugurated in 2013, with a reflecting pool, and about 8 more hectares opened in October 2025 on the site of the Palais des congrès and the Théâtre national.
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## Palais Lascaris
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/nice/#g-lugar-palais-lascaris
Nice · Up to half an hour
A Genoese Baroque palace of the mid-17th century, built for the Lascaris-Vintimille family, with a grand staircase and painted ceilings. It houses a collection of musical instruments from the 16th to the mid-20th century, begun with the bequest of the collector Antoine Gautier, in 1904. Closed on Tuesdays.
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**Nice: How do you get from the airport to the center?**
Tram 2 links terminals 1 and 2 to Jean Médecin station in under 30 minutes and continues to the port. The airport has its own fare: the round-trip ticket costs €10.

**Nice: How many days should you stay?**
I'd stay three days: two in Nice and one on the coast to the east. With a fourth day, I'd go to Antibes for the Picasso Museum and the walled town.

**Nice: How do you get to Monaco?**
Monaco is to the east, about 20 minutes by train from Nice-Ville (€6.10 at the full fare), and it combines well with Èze and Villefranche in a single day.

**Nice: How much is the tram, and where do you buy the ticket?**
The Solo ticket costs €1.70 and is valid for 74 minutes with transfers, and there are 1-day (€7), 2-day (€13) and 7-day (€20) passes. Everything goes on a rechargeable card at the machines, sales points or the app, and you must validate at each boarding.

**Nice: Is the beach sandy?**
Nice's shoreline is almost all pebbles, and anyone who arrives in flip-flops struggles to get into the sea; water shoes and a thick mat help. Sand is found only in a few stretches and on the neighboring beaches.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan these 3 days on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/nice/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/nice/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/nice.md