What to see, where to stay and the best time to visit Nice, France.
Photo: Hermann / Pixabay
Nice sits on France's Mediterranean coast, with 357,737 people and a mix of beach, old streets and museums. You can walk the Promenade des Anglais, wander the Old Town's markets, or head up to Cimiez for the Matisse and Chagall museums. It's a coastal city, so beach days and seafront walks are part of the appeal. The best months to visit are June, July, August and September, when the weather suits both the beach and sightseeing on foot.
Two to three days cover the main sights: the Old Town, Promenade des Anglais, Castle Hill and one or two museums in Cimiez. Add a day if you want a slower pace or a beach day.
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 reach 12.6°C with 5.6 rain days, the driest start to the year; score 6, a good month for quiet sightseeing rather than beach time.
Highs of 13.5°C and 6.8 rain days with 75mm, still cool and damp; score 6.4, good but not warm enough for swimming.
Highs climb to 15.4°C with 6.8 rain days; sun hours rise to 9.6, giving a good score of 7.3 as spring begins.
Highs of 17.6°C, 7.7 rain days and 11 sun hours mark the start of the best period, scoring 8.3.
Highs of 21°C and sea temp 18.8°C make swimming possible; 9.3 rain days is the year's highest count, yet the score is 8.1, still best.
Highs of 25.4°C, sea temp 23.2°C and only 7.3 rain days bring a best-rated score of 8.6 for warm, mostly dry days.
Highs peak near 28.5°C with just 2.7 rain days and 14mm of rain, the driest month; score 8.6 for reliable sun and warm sea at 26.3°C.
Highs of 28.8°C and sea temp 26.9°C, with only 3.9 rain days, give the top score of 9.5 for peak beach weather.
Highs of 25.1°C, sea still warm at 24.4°C, and 5.8 rain days keep this the second-best month with a score of 9.2.
Highs drop to 20.9°C but rain picks up sharply to 131mm over 8.8 days, the wettest month; score still 8.2 thanks to mild temperatures.
Highs of 16.6°C with 119mm of rain over 8.9 days bring cooler, wetter conditions; score 7.4, a good but rainy month.
Highs of 13.7°C, 6.3 rain days and the lowest sun hours of the year at 7.3; score 6.4, a good month for mild winter visits rather than sun.
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.
This salad comes from Nice and usually has tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, olives, anchovies and raw vegetables. Locals eat it as a light lunch, especially along the Promenade des Anglais in warmer months.
Socca is a thin pancake made from chickpea flour, cooked on a wide griddle and served in slices. People in Nice buy it hot from street stalls, often in the Old Town, as a quick snack.
This is a savoury tart topped with slow-cooked onions, olives and anchovies. It's a common snack or starter sold at bakeries across Nice, eaten at any time of day.
Pan bagnat is a round bread roll soaked in olive oil and filled with the same ingredients as salade niçoise. It's a popular beach food, easy to carry down to the coast for a picnic lunch.
This is a slow-cooked beef stew made with red wine, vegetables and herbs. It's a heartier dish, often eaten in family homes or bistros during cooler months.
These are vegetables like tomatoes, courgettes and onions stuffed with a mix of meat, rice and herbs, then baked. They're a traditional home-style dish found on many local bistro menus in Nice.
Yes. August scores 9.5, the highest of the year. Days reach 28.8°C and the sea is 26.9°C, warm enough for swimming. Rain is light, with only 3.9 rain days and 23mm, and you get 12.7 hours of sun. It's peak summer, so beaches and the Promenade des Anglais get crowded.
August, September, June and July all score 8.6 or higher. September is a strong pick: 25.1°C highs, sea at 24.4°C, and fewer rain days than June. These months combine warm weather with plenty of sun, 10.9 to 14.2 hours a day depending on the month.
Two to three days cover the main sights. The Old Town takes about half a day, and Castle Hill, the Matisse Museum and the Chagall Museum each need 1–2 hours. Add a day for the Promenade des Anglais, Cours Saleya Market and the port if you want a slower pace.
Yes, October is the wettest month on record, with 131mm of rain over 8.8 days. Despite this, it still scores 8.2 and counts as one of the best months, since highs stay near 20.9°C and the sea holds at 21.2°C, mild for walking and light swimming.
Technically yes, but the water is cold. Sea temperatures in January and February sit around 14.2–14.9°C, which feels cold for most swimmers. Air highs of 12.6–13.5°C and 7.4–8.2 hours of sun make this a quieter season better suited to sightseeing than beach time.
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