Old Nice

The heart of the old town – Nice’s most colourful quarter – lies behind the seafront, along cours Saleya. A tour on a mini-train from the seafront, in front of Hôtel Meridien, takes in the flower market, the old town and Castle Hill gardens. Lively cours Saleya has a daily market selling fruit, vegetables and flowers, and antiques on Mondays. The Chapelle de la Miséricorde offers shade, tranquillity and a wonderful example of baroque architecture, with frescoes, gilt inlay, lavish chandeliers and a magnificent Bréa altarpiece. North of the market lies the lovely 17th-century baroque Cathédrale de Ste-Réparate (place Rossetti), flanked by its own 18th-century bell tower and known for its glossy ceramic-tile dome. North-east is the quirky, Genoan-style Palais Lascaris (15 rue Droite, 04 93 62 72 40, closed Tue), a treasure trove of 17th- and 18th-century furniture and paintings.

The little Tourist train of Nice

Departs from the Promenade des Anglais by the Albert Premier Gardins every half hour or so and trundles through the Old Town and up the Chateau Hill for a brief stop then back down again. An easy way to take in Old Nice but far less informative than the walking tour.

Has a pre-recorded commentary in both French and English which means that the commentary in often out of sync with the surroundings. Good fun to do once.

Children enjoy this one. I prefer the walking tour of Nice and making my own way up the Chateau Hill. Not to be confused with the double-decker open-top bus tour of Nice which is excellent.

The beaches

The beaches (in French, beach = plage) in Nice start at the airport and follow the 5 km sweep of the Promenade des Anglais all the way round to the foot of the Castle Hill - the 'Chateau'. This is where our favourite beach is - Castel Plage. We also like Beau Rivage and the daughter likes the Blue beach - because it has a small pool for children there. The Port of Nice is on the other side of the Chateau and there is a small public beach here, on rocks, in front of the port wall. If you walk all the way around the Port, you will come to another public beach (one of our favourites, La Reserve) on boulevard Franke Pilatte, just by Nice sailing club. It was very hot in Nice this summer with temperatures in the mid-thirties and not dropping much below 30 degree C at night. The only way to keep cool was to stay indoors with the a/c racked up or to get as close to the sea as possible. There are fifteen private beaches in Nice with plenty of free public beaches between them. If you splurge on a private beach, ask for the "premier ligne" - closest to the cooling sea breezes. For more information about public and private beaches in Nice have a look at my best beaches in Nice page for tips on how to get the best out of the Nice beaches.