Districts of Nice

Old Town (Vieille Ville)

Until the 1970’s Nice’s Old Town was a decaying slum seldom visited by tourists.  Today it is one of the liveliest, most colorful neighbors in the city, and is constantly filled with visitors.  Interesting old houses, baroque churches, and 17th-18th century civic buildings have been restored. 

Cimiez

Set above the town center, this was a residential area for the wealthy in Roman times, and remains so today. The Romans called it Cemenelum.  Cimiez was the capital of the Maritime Alps province.  Within the district, a Roman site has been excavated revealing the remains of an amphitheater and Roman public baths.  Housed in a nearby archeological museum are the treasures uncovered there.

Seafront (Promenade des Angláis)

Early in the 19th century the English discovered the mild winters of the French  Mediterranean coast.  As thousands flocked to Nice and surrounding area, afternoon strolls became fashionable.  The rocky footpaths bordering the sea proved unacceptable for strolling ladies and gentlemen.  In 1820, Reverend Lewis Way took the matter in hand and inspired construction of a sweeping promenade planted with palm trees and flowers.  Thus was created “The Englishman’s Walk” (Promenade des Angláis). 

Masséna

Elegant, arcaded Place Masséna  is located behind the Promenade des Angláis, and is considered by many to be at the heart of the city.  In the center of the square is a sparkling fountain from which broad boulevards, lined with designer stores, extend.  On both sides of the square run more than a mile of gardens.  Among these are the Jardin Albert I and the Promenade du Paillon, a stepped  garden filled  with azaleas, camellias and aromatic pines.

Attractions

Museums

Note:  There is free admission offered to the museums of Nice on the first Sunday of each month.

Carte Musées Côte d’Azur is a pass which entitles the holder to visit 62 museums on the French Riviera for the price of the pass.

Or buy a  Carte Passe-Musée from the local tourist office in Nicefor a 3-day pass, or 140 F or a 4-day pass. There are no reductions for students or children. It will allow you admission into seven of the city's largest museums.

Anatole Jakovsky International Museum Of Modern Art

Château Sainte-Hélène, Avenue de Fabron

04 93 71 78 33

10 a.m. - noon and 2 - 6 p.m., closed Tuesday and some holidays

Admission charged

Opened on 5 March 1982 in the former residence of the perfumer François Coty, this Museum owed its existence to the large donation by Anatole and Renée Jakovsky: 600 paintings, drawings, engravings and sculptures retracing the history worldwide of Modern Art from the 18th century to the present. Works by Bauchant, Bombois, Rimbert, Séraphine... Croatian, Haitian, Brazilian artists... completed by a rich State collection from the National Museum of Modern Art Centre Georges Pompidou.

Archaeology Museum Of Nice–Cimiez

160, Avenue des Arènes

04 93 81 59 57

10 -noon and 2 - 6. 1 April - 30 September; 10 - 1. and 2 - 5:   1 October - 31 March, closed Monday and some holidays

Admission charged

Founded by Augustus in 14 BC, Cemenelum was, from the 1st to the 4th century, the capital of the Alpes Maritimae province. You can visit the amphitheatre, the public baths (3rd century AD), see the paved streets and the Palæochristian Episcopal Group (5th century AD).

The Museum, inaugurated in January 1989, offers collections ranging from the Bronze and Iron Age (1100 BC) to the Dark Ages: ceramics, glass, coins, jewelry, sculptures, and tools.

Asian Arts Museum

405, Promenade des Anglais - Arénas,

04 92 29 37 00 - fax 04 92 29 37 01

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. (6 p.m. in summer), except Tuesday

Admission charged

Designed by the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange, in the heart of Parc Phœnix, in a subtle architecture of glass and steel, this museum offers classical works and contemporary creations. The tea pavilion evokes the aestheticism of the Zen ceremony.

Cathédrale Orthodoxe Russe St-Nicolas à Nice

Av. Nicolas-II  From the central rail station, head west along av. Thiers to bd. Gambetta; then go north to av. Nicolas-II. Off boulevard  du Tzaréwitch

 04-93-96-88-02

May-Sept, daily 9-noon and 2:30-6; Oct-Apr, daily 9:30-noon and 2:30-5 

Admission charged.

Ordered built in 1903 by Tsar Nicholas II, in memory of his son, Nicholas, who is buried on the grounds. This is the most beautiful Orthodox edifice outside Russia and is the perfect expression of Russian religious art abroad. It dates from the belle époque, when some of the Romanovs  frequented the Riviera. The cathedral is richly ornamented and decorated with many icons. It is crowned by ornate onion-shaped domes. Church services are held on Sunday morning.

Centre Du Patrimoine (Prieuré du Vieux-Logis)

59, Avenue St Barthélemy

04 93 84 44 74

Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and 1 Sunday each month, 3 - 5 or by appointment for groups

Admission free

A late medieval interior reconstructed in a 16th-century home with collections of 14th, 15th and 16th-century objects.

Fine Arts Museum  (Musée des Beaux-Arts)

33 av. des Baumettes   

04-92-15-28-28

Tues-Sun 10am-noon and 2-6pm 

Bus: 3, 9, 12, 22, 23, or 38 

Admission charged.

The collection is housed in the former residence of the Ukrainian Princess Kotchubey. There's an important gallery devoted to the masters of the Second Empire and belle époque, with an extensive collection of the 19th-century French experts. The gallery of sculptures includes works by J. B. Carpeaux, Rude, and Rodin. Note the important collection by a dynasty of painters, the Dutch Vanloo family. One of its best-known members, Carle Vanloo, born in Nice in 1705, was Louis XV's premier peintre. A fine collection of 19th- and 20th-century art is displayed, including works by Ziem, Raffaelli, Boudin, Renoir, Monet, Guillaumin, and Sisley.

Franciscan Museum, Church And Monastery Of Cimiez

Place du Monastère

04 93 81 00 04

daily 10 a.m. - noon and 3 - 6 p.m., except Sunday and holidays.

Admission free

A re-creation of the life of Franciscan monks in Nice from the 13th to the 18th century intended as  an illustration of the spiritual and social message of Saint Francis of Assisi through paintings, sculptures, engravings, illuminated manuscripts, frescoes, reconstructed chapel and monk’s cell, prayer-books on parchment. 

Matisse Museum

164 Avenue des Arènes de Cimiez

04 93 81 08 08

open 10 - 6 1 April - 30 September and 10 - 5 1 October to 31 March, closed Tuesday and some holidays. For annual closing: contact the Museum.

Admission charged

This completely renovated 17th-century Genoan-style villa in the heart of the olive grove in the Gardens of Cimiez houses the personal collection of the great Fauvist painter who lived in Nice from 1917 until his death in 1954.

Works from all periods of his life offer a comprehensive panorama: from the first paintings made in 1890 to the famous gouache cutouts, 236 drawings, 218 engravings and the complete presentation of the books illustrated by the artist.

Marc Chagall National Bibilical Message Museum

Avenue du Dr Ménard, corner of Boulevard de Cimiez

04 93 53 87 20

10  - 6 :   1 July to 30 September and 10  - 5  October to June (without interruption), closed Tuesdays

Admission charged

Biblical scenes illustrated in 17 large paintings, sculptures, stained glass windows, mosaics and tapestries, 205 preparatory sketches, 39 gouaches (1930), 105 engravings (1956) and 215 lithographs.

Museum Of Art And History (Palais Masséna)

65, Rue de France and 35, Promenade des Anglais

04 93 88 11 34,

Check first, as this museum has been closed for renovations

In a splendid Empire setting, the museum houses collections of late Gothic “Primitive” painters from Nice and Europe, from the 15th to the 18th centuries, regional porcelain and faïence and a department reserved for local painters: watercolors, Napoleonic Empire, Masséna, and Garibaldi among others.

Museum Of Contemporary And Modern Art

Promenade des Arts

04 93 62 61 62

10 a.m. - 6 p.m., except Tuesday and holidays

Admission charged.

This original architecture (four grey marble towers linked by transparent walkways) and a major permanent collection trace the history of the European and American avant-garde since the early 1960s.

Naval Museum

Tour Bellanda (Castle Hill)

04 93 80 47 61

10 - noon and 2 - 7. 1 June to 30 September and 10 a.m. - noon and 2 - 5 p.m. 1 October to 31 May, closed Monday, Tuesday and some holidays

Closed from mid-November to mid-December.

Admission charged

Located in Tour Bellanda, a listed historic monument, this museum has a large collection of weapons, models of boats, instruments of navigation, engravings and paintings on the theme of the sea.

Palais Lascaris

15 rue Droite   

04-93-62-72-40

Tues-Sun 10am-noon and 2-6pm 

Bus: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 14, 16, or 17 

Free admission

The baroque Palais Lascaris in the city's historic core is intimately linked to the Lascaris-Vintimille family, whose recorded history predates the year 1261. Built in the 17th century, it contains elaborately detailed ornamentation. An intensive restoration undertaken by the city of Nice in 1946 brought back its original beauty, and the palace is now classified as a historic monument. The most elaborate floor is the étage noble, retaining many of its 18th-century panels and plaster embellishments. A circa-1738 pharmacy, complete with many of the original Delftware accessories, is on the premises. Every Wednesday between 2 and 4pm, the museum presents programs of appeal to children, inviting craftspeople to show the details of how they accomplish their art forms through live demonstrations.

Terra Amata Human Paleontology Museum

25, Boulevard Carnot

04 93 55 59 93

open daily 10  - noon and 2 - 6 , except Monday and some holidays.

Library  by appointment 8:30 - 5

Reconstruction of a prehistoric (Acheulean) occupation site, plaster casts, documents on the site of an elephant hunters’ camp in Nice 400,000 years ago.

Theatre De La Photographie Et De L'image

27, boulevard Dubouchage

04 93 80 11 00

free entrance from 10-12  and from 2-6

Closed Mondays and certain holidays.

The "Théâtre de la Photographie et de l'Image" in the heart of Nice in the building which formerly housed the "Théâtre de l'Artistique", has maintained its charm and elegance of the Belle Epoque period. Its mission is to collect photographs of Nice and its region by researching ancient documents but also sending photographers to "report" on the city's human, urban, historic and industrial heritage.

Villa Arson

20, Avenue Stephen Liégeard,

04 92 07 73 73,or 04 92 07 73 80

daily 1 - 7 July - September and 1 - 6   October - June. Closed Mondays October - June

Splendid 18th-century villa, surrounded by contemporary architecture of concrete and pebbles. This site covers acres of terraces and gardens housing the National Art School and a Contemporary Art Center and residence for artists.