Nice 3-Day Itinerary: Old Town, Promenade des Anglais, Cimiez & Coastal Capes

Three full days in Nice give you time to cover the Baroque Old Town, the 93-metre hilltop park of Colline du Château, the modern and Belle Époque districts west of the Paillon, the hilltop museums of Cimiez, and the dramatic limestone headlands stretching east toward Monaco.

Day 1: Vieux-Nice, Cours Saleya, Colline du Château & Port Lympia

1. Morning on Cours Saleya and Place Rossetti: Begin early on Cours Saleya, where the flower, fruit, and vegetable market has operated since 22 July 1861. Step inside the Piedmontese Baroque Chapelle de la Miséricorde (built 1747 to 1770 by Turin architect Bernardo Antonio Vittone), then walk north to Place Rossetti to admire the glazed Genoese-tiled dome and ten guild chapels of Cathédrale Sainte-Réparate (built 1650 to 1685, consecrated in 1699).
2. Late Morning at Palais Lascaris & Lunch: Climb Rue Droite to number 15 to tour Palais Lascaris, a seventeenth-century aristocratic palace displaying more than 500 historical musical instruments around the 1901 bequest of Antoine Gautier. Stop for freshly baked chickpea-flour socca and pissaladière from our Niçoise food guide.
3. Afternoon on Colline du Château and Port Lympia: Ascend past the Tour Bellanda viewing terrace to the summit of the 93-metre Colline du Château (listening for the daily noon pyrotechnic coup de canon), walk beneath the artificial waterfall and past the historic Cimetière du Château, then descend the eastern slope to the 20-hectare harbour basin of Port Lympia (begun in 1750) and the 1840s red-ochre porticos of Place Île-de-Beauté.

Day 2: Place Masséna, Promenade du Paillon, Chagall & Cimiez

1. Morning along the Promenade du Paillon & MAMAC: Start at Place Masséna, laid out by Joseph Vernier in 1843 to 1844 and crowned by Jaume Plensa's 2007 seven-continent sculptures. Walk through the 20-hectare Promenade du Paillon past the 3,000-square-metre water mirror (128 jets) to Place Garibaldi and the white Carrara-marble towers of MAMAC (opened 21 June 1990).
2. Midday at Musée National Marc-Chagall: Head up the lower slope of Cimiez to the Musée Marc-Chagall (inaugurated in 1973), created with the support of André Malraux to display Chagall's 17 large canvases of the Biblical Message donated to France in 1966.
3. Afternoon in Roman Cemenelum & Musée Matisse: Continue up Boulevard de Cimiez (1892) past the Excelsior Régina Palace to the Musée Matisse inside the seventeenth-century Villa des Arènes (1670 to 1685), housing 68 paintings and 236 drawings by Henri Matisse (who lived in Nice from 1917 to 1954). Explore the adjacent Roman amphitheatre and third-century baths of Cemenelum, then stroll the gardens of the Franciscan Monastery of Cimiez (chapel recorded in 1010, ceded to the Franciscans in 1546) to see Louis Bréa's altarpieces from 1475, 1512, and 1515 and Matisse's grave.

Day 3: Russian Cathedral, Promenade des Anglais & Riviera Capes

1. Morning at St Nicholas Cathedral & the Seafront: Visit the five onion domes of the St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral (built 1903 to 1912 by Mikhail Preobrazhensky), then walk south to the Promenade des Anglais past the 1912 Hotel Negresco and Jardin Albert Ier.
2. Afternoon Coastal Excursion: Take the coastal path or bus/TER train east to Villefranche-sur-Mer and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (touring the 1907 to 1912 Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild and its nine gardens) along with the 427-metre cliffside village of Èze or Monaco.