The Promenade des Anglais (7 km along the Bay of Angels, created in 1820) is the backbone of Nice — to walk, bike (Vélo Bleu rental) or rollerblade. Exceptional view over the bay. Public or private beach (€15-30/day with sun lounger). The Old Nice (Old Town) unfolds its colourful Italian lanes: cours Saleya (flower market every morning except Monday, antiques market on Monday, terrace restaurants in the evening), Sainte-Réparate Cathedral (17th-century Baroque), opera, Lascaris Palace (museum of Baroque musical instruments), Place Rossetti with Fenocchio (legendary ice cream maker, 95 flavours). The Castle Hill (free, accessible on foot or by free elevator from the Promenade) offers the iconic panoramic view over the bay and Old Nice. The Lympia harbour (18th century) shelters yachts and chic restaurants.
The museums are among France's richest. Matisse Museum (€5, in a 17th-century Genoese villa in Cimiez): unique collection of the painter (who lived in Nice until his death in 1954) with paintings, sculptures, cut-out gouaches. Marc Chagall Museum (€10): 17 paintings of the Biblical Message + exceptional stained-glass. MAMAC (€10, modern and contemporary art museum): Pop Art, New Realism, Yves Klein, Niki de Saint Phalle. Museum of Fine Arts (free), Cimiez Archaeological Museum (free, Roman arenas + ruins).
Excursions from Nice are numerous and easy. Monaco (20 min by train, €7): rock, casino, Exotic Garden, princely palace (visit + changing of the guard at 11:55 am). Cannes (30 min by train): Croisette, Palais des Festivals, old port, Lérins Islands (15 min by boat, monastery). Èze (15 min by bus, medieval village perched at 427 m, one of France's most iconic, Exotic Garden at the top, exceptional view). Saint-Paul-de-Vence (30 min by bus): medieval village + Fondation Maeght (one of the world's most beautiful modern art collections — Chagall, Miró, Calder, Léger). Vence (35 min, Rosary Chapel designed by Matisse, his total work of art). Antibes (15 min, walled old town, Picasso Museum at Château Grimaldi). Menton (35 min by train, Italian border town, Lemon Festival in February, Serre de la Madone Garden). Mercantour valley (1h30 by car towards the Mercantour park, Neolithic petroglyphs — 36,000 rock engravings).