What to see, where to stay and the best time to visit Nice, France.
Photo: Hermann / Pixabay
Nice is a coastal city in France with a population of about 357,737. It combines a seafront with a city break. You can walk the Promenade des Anglais, explore Vieux Nice and the Cours Saleya Market, go up Castle Hill, and see art at the Matisse Museum and the Marc Chagall National Museum in Cimiez. The best months to visit are June, July, August and September.
We have no set recommendation. Use the sights as a guide. Vieux Nice takes half a day. Castle Hill, the port, the Promenade des Anglais and each Cimiez museum take 1–2 hours. Plan enough time to see them without rushing.
Seafront
The long seafront walkway that runs along the Baie des Anges. People come to walk, cycle or sit in the blue chairs and look at the sea. The beaches below are pebbles, not sand, so bring water shoes if you want to swim.
Vieux Nice
A maze of narrow lanes with painted buildings, Baroque churches and small food shops. Try local snacks such as socca, a thin chickpea pancake. It gets very crowded at midday in summer, so go early or in the evening.
Vieux Nice
A long open square in the Old Town with a daily flower and food market. It is a good place to buy fruit, olives and local produce, and the square fills with café tables later in the day.
Vieux Nice
A wooded park on a hill between the Old Town and the port. There is no castle left, but the viewpoints over the bay and the red roofs are the best in the city. You can walk up by the stairs or take the lift near the seafront end.
Cimiez
A museum in a red Genoese-style villa that holds a large collection of Henri Matisse's work, from early paintings to his paper cut-outs. The artist lived and worked in Nice, and he is buried in the nearby Cimiez cemetery.
Cimiez
A museum built for Chagall's large paintings on Biblical themes, with his stained glass and a quiet garden. It is on the way up to Cimiez, so it combines well with the Matisse Museum.
City centre
Place Masséna is the main square, with red-ochre buildings and a black-and-white paved floor. Next to it, the Promenade du Paillon is a long park with lawns and a water mirror where children play in the fountains.
Parc Impérial
A cathedral with green and gold onion domes, built for the Russian community that wintered on the Riviera. The inside has icons and painted wood. Dress modestly, as it is a working church.
Le Port
The old harbour, with colourful buildings, fishing boats and yachts. The streets around it have antique shops and quieter restaurants than the Old Town. From here a path leads around the headland towards Castle Hill.
Cimiez
A Franciscan monastery with a church and a formal garden of lemon trees and roses. The garden has views over the city and is calm and shady. It sits next to the Roman ruins of Cimiez and the cemetery where Matisse is buried.
Average weather and our month score, from 10 years of climate data.
| Month | High / low | Rain days | Sunshine | Sea temp | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C / 5°C | 6 days (47 mm) | 7.4 h/day | 15°C | 6.0/10 |
| February | 14°C / 6°C | 7 days (75 mm) | 8.2 h/day | 14°C | 6.4/10 |
| March | 15°C / 8°C | 7 days (76 mm) | 9.6 h/day | 14°C | 7.3/10 |
| April | 18°C / 10°C | 8 days (63 mm) | 11.0 h/day | 16°C | 8.3/10 |
| May | 21°C / 14°C | 9 days (62 mm) | 12.0 h/day | 19°C | 8.1/10 |
| Best month: June | 25°C / 19°C | 7 days (43 mm) | 13.7 h/day | 23°C | 8.6/10 |
| Best month: July | 29°C / 21°C | 3 days (14 mm) | 14.2 h/day | 26°C | 8.6/10 |
| Best month: August | 29°C / 22°C | 4 days (23 mm) | 12.7 h/day | 27°C | 9.5/10 |
| Best month: September | 25°C / 18°C | 6 days (50 mm) | 10.9 h/day | 24°C | 9.2/10 |
| October | 21°C / 14°C | 9 days (131 mm) | 8.6 h/day | 21°C | 8.2/10 |
| November | 17°C / 10°C | 9 days (119 mm) | 7.5 h/day | 18°C | 7.4/10 |
| December | 14°C / 6°C | 6 days (75 mm) | 7.3 h/day | 16°C | 6.4/10 |
Highs of 12.6°C and 5.6 rain days. Rated good (6). It is cool but fairly dry, so it suits a quiet city break rather than the beach.
Highs of 13.5°C, 6.8 rain days and 75 mm of rain. Rated good (6.4). It is mild enough for walking but too cold for swimming.
Highs reach 15.4°C with 6.8 rain days. Rated good (7.3). Days get sunnier, with 9.6 hours of sun, but the sea stays at 14.2°C.
Highs of 17.6°C and 7.7 rain days. Rated best (8.3). It is pleasant for sightseeing, but the sea is still cold at 15.8°C.
Highs of 21°C, but May has 9.3 rain days, the most of any month. It is still rated best (8.1). Pack a light rain jacket.
Highs of 25.4°C, 7.3 rain days and a 23.2°C sea. Rated best (8.6). Warm beach weather begins this month.
Hot and dry, with highs of 28.5°C and only 2.7 rain days. Rated best (8.6). The sea warms to 26.3°C.
The top-scoring month (9.5, best). Highs of 28.8°C, 3.9 rain days and the warmest sea of the year at 26.9°C.
Rated best (9.2). Highs of 25.1°C, 5.8 rain days and a 24.4°C sea. It is great for swimming, without the peak summer heat.
Still rated best (8.2), with highs of 20.9°C. But it is the wettest month, with 131 mm of rain over 8.8 days.
Highs of 16.6°C, 8.9 rain days and 119 mm of rain. Rated good (7.4). Expect some wet days. The sea is still 18.4°C.
Highs of 13.7°C and 6.3 rain days. Rated good (6.4). Days are short, with 7.3 hours of sun, so it suits city walks, not the beach.
Climate averages 2015–2024 · Best time to visit France →
The best areas to base yourself and who each one suits.
Good for first-timers, food lovers, nightlife
Narrow lanes of tall painted houses, the Cours Saleya market and many small restaurants, all a short walk from the beach and the Promenade des Anglais. You can see most of central Nice on foot from here. The drawback is noise: bars stay open late, streets are crowded by day, and many buildings have steep stairs and no lift.
Good for food lovers, budget-minded, longer stays
A residential district north of the centre, known for its daily food market and ordinary neighbourhood shops and bakeries. It gives a sense of everyday life in Nice and is linked to the centre by tram. It is not close to the sea, so beach days mean a tram ride or a long walk.
Good for families, quiet, museum visitors
A calm, leafy hill district of large villas and older apartment blocks, home to the Matisse Museum, the Roman ruins and the monastery gardens. It is a good choice if you want quiet nights and green space. The main drawback is the hill: walking back up from the centre is tiring, so you will depend on buses.
A thin, crisp pancake made from chickpea flour, olive oil and water, baked in a very hot oven. Locals eat it hot as a street snack, often with black pepper, from market stalls in the old town.
A flat, bread-like tart topped with slow-cooked onions, anchovies and black olives. Bakeries sell it by the slice, and people eat it as a snack or light lunch.
A round bread roll filled with the ingredients of a salade niçoise: tuna, egg, raw vegetables, olives and olive oil. It is a common beach or picnic lunch, bought from bakeries and snack stands.
A salad of tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, anchovies or tuna, olives and raw vegetables, dressed with olive oil. Many restaurants in the city serve it at lunch, especially in warm weather.
Small vegetables such as tomatoes, courgettes, peppers and onions, stuffed with a mix of meat, herbs and breadcrumbs, then baked. Families make them at home, and local restaurants often serve them as a main dish.
A pie filled with Swiss chard, often sweetened with raisins and pine nuts and dusted with sugar. It is sold in bakeries in the old town and eaten as a dessert or snack.
August and September score highest, at 9.5 and 9.2 out of 10. August has an average high of 28.8°C and the warmest sea, at 26.9°C. September is a little cooler, with a high of 25.1°C and a sea temperature of 24.4°C. June and July follow, both scoring 8.6. July is the driest month, with 2.7 rain days and 14 mm of rain.
Yes, October still counts as a best month, with a score of 8.2, but expect some rain. It is the wettest month, with 131 mm over 8.8 rain days. Days are mild, with a high of 20.9°C, and the sea is still 21.2°C. November is also wet, with 119 mm, and its score drops to 7.4.
The sea is warmest from June to September. It averages 23.2°C in June, 26.3°C in July, 26.9°C in August and 24.4°C in September. In May it is 18.8°C, which many people find cool. February and March are the coldest months for the water, at 14.2°C, so winter is not a beach season.
Yes, for sightseeing, but not for the beach. January scores 6 and December 6.4, both rated good. January highs are 12.6°C and lows 5.2°C, with 7.4 sun hours and 5.6 rain days. The sea is only 14.9°C. Bring a warm jacket for evenings and plan on museums and walks rather than swimming.
Plan at least one full day, or more if you want to visit Cimiez as well. Old Town (Vieux Nice) takes half a day. The Promenade des Anglais and Castle Hill take 1–2 hours each. The Matisse Museum and Marc Chagall National Museum in Cimiez each take 1–2 hours, so they fit together on another day.
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