# Nice, the Promenade and the Old Town — The South of France
> The capital of the Riviera — a curve of blue bay, a long sea-front promenade, an Italianate old town and a hill of museums above. Nice, on the Côte d’Azur.

*Source : https://the-south-of-france.com/en/french-riviera/nice-vieux-nice/*

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By **The Editors** — _Nice, Alpes-Maritimes_

Spring 20268 min read Share LinkMail

Nice was Italian until 1860 and never quite stopped being so — ochre and red façades, a kitchen of its own, and the wide blue sweep of the **Baie des Anges** that the winterers came for two centuries ago and have never left. It is the capital of the Riviera, and it wears the role lightly.

## I. The Promenade des Anglais

The **Promenade des Anglais** runs the length of the bay, named for the English who paid for it in the 1820s so they could walk the shore in winter. Today it is joggers, cyclists and the famous blue chairs facing the sea; behind it the grand hotels and the **Negresco** hold the line of the belle époque.

“An Italian city that woke up French, and kept the best of both kitchens.”

From the notebook

![A market of flowers and produce under awnings in an old town](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1491166617655-0723a0999cfc?fm=jpg&q=74&w=1400&auto=format&fit=crop)

The Cours Saleya — flowers, socca and the morning market of the old town.

## II. Vieux Nice and the Cours Saleya

Behind the promenade, **Vieux Nice** is a warren of tall ochre houses and narrow lanes opening onto the **Cours Saleya**, where the market sells flowers and produce every morning but Monday. This is the home of **socca**, the chickpea pancake eaten hot from the pan, of **pissaladière** and the true **salade niçoise** — a city that takes its street food seriously.

![A view over a blue bay from a green hilltop](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1547768126-7baafccffdd8?fm=jpg&q=76&w=2400&auto=format&fit=crop)

From the Colline du Château — the whole Baie des Anges at your feet.

## III. The hill and the museums

At the old town’s end the **Colline du Château** — a castle hill with no castle left — gives the great view over the bay and the terracotta roofs. Up in **Cimiez**, among Roman ruins and olive groves, the **Matisse** and **Chagall** museums hold the work of two painters the light here kept for good.

The Practical Carnet · Carnet pratique

### Plan the _visit_

Getting there

Nice has an international airport and the TGV; the tram links station, old town and port.

When to go

Spring and autumn for the city; the Cours Saleya market is best before nine.

Where to stay

**Le Negresco** on the promenade, or a small hotel in the lanes of Vieux Nice.

Read next

[The Riviera in three days, Nice to Menton](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/french-riviera/riviera-in-three-days/)

E

About the Author · L’auteur

#### Élise Marchand

Travel Editor — based in Marseille

Élise has been driving the back roads of the Midi for the journal since its first issue. She pays for her own rooms and her own lunches — and only writes about the places she would return to.

[More by Élise Marchand — voir ses articles](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/journal/)

Continue reading · À lire ensuite

### More from the _South_

[

![A village on the French Riviera](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1582497475588-49b76871cf42?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

Côte d’Azur

#### The Riviera in three days, Nice to Menton

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/french-riviera/)[

![A table on the Riviera](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1503696967350-ad1874122058?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

The Table

#### Six tables worth the detour this spring

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/the-table/)[

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Stays

#### Where to stay on the Côte d’Azur

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/stays/)