Best Time to Visit Nice: Mediterranean Climate, Sea Temperatures & Carnival Season

Sheltered from northern winds by the limestone foothills of the Maritime Alps, Nice enjoys a warm-summer Mediterranean climate that attracted British and Russian aristocrats here as winter residents in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. According to 1991 to 2020 climate normals recorded by Météo-France at Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (elevation 4 metres), the city receives 2,760.5 hours of sunshine per year, with an annual mean temperature of 16.3 °C (average daily high 19.8 °C, average daily low 12.8 °C) and 791.3 millimetres of precipitation spread across just 62.1 rain days (days with at least 1.0 millimetre of rain).

Summer (June to August): Peak Sunshine and Dry Riviera Days

Summer is warm, bright, and remarkably dry, tempered by afternoon sea breezes off the Baie des Anges:

• June: Average daily highs reach 24.7 °C (lows 18.1 °C), with 309.8 hours of sunshine and 35.7 mm of rainfall across 3.8 rain days (rounded to 4 days).
• July: The sunniest and driest month of the year records 349.3 hours of sunshine, an average high of 27.5 °C (low 20.8 °C), and only 13.6 mm of rain across 1.8 rain days (rounded to 2 days).
• August: The warmest month averages a daily high of 27.9 °C and an overnight low of 21.1 °C, with 323.2 sunshine hours and 17.2 mm of precipitation over 2.3 rain days.

In July, the city hosts the annual Nice Jazz Festival, which was staged among the Roman amphitheatre ruins of Cimiez every summer from 1974 to 2010 before relocating in 2011 to Place Masséna and the Théâtre de Verdure.

Spring and Autumn (March to May & September to November)

May and September offer warm swimming and coastal hiking weather without mid-summer crowds. In spring, average daily highs climb from 15.4 °C in March (low 8.3 °C, 51.0 mm of rain over 4.9 days, 218.0 sunshine hours) and 17.4 °C in April (low 10.8 °C, 68.8 mm over 6.4 days, 229.2 sunshine hours) to 21.0 °C in May (low 14.5 °C, 40.3 mm over 5.1 days, 270.9 sunshine hours). walking the Cap de Nice coastal path or visiting the nine gardens of Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild is especially rewarding in late spring.

September remains summery with an average high of 24.8 °C, a low of 17.7 °C, and 249.8 sunshine hours (81.0 mm of rain across 4.9 days). October brings mild 21.0 °C highs (low 14.0 °C, 191.1 sunshine hours) alongside autumn Mediterranean downpours: October (127.9 mm over 7.5 rain days) and November (high 17.0 °C, low 9.7 °C, 138.4 mm over 8.5 rain days, 151.5 sunshine hours) are the wettest months of the year.

Winter (December to February) and the Nice Carnival

Winters in Nice are mild and sunny compared with northern Europe, averaging daily highs of 14.1 °C in December (low 6.6 °C, 90.3 mm of rain over 6.0 days, 145.2 sunshine hours), 13.3 °C in January (low 5.8 °C, 73.5 mm over 5.8 days, 156.7 sunshine hours), and 13.5 °C in February (low 6.1 °C, 53.6 mm over 5.1 days, 166.1 sunshine hours).

Every February (occasionally extending into early March), the city celebrates the two-week Nice Carnival (Carnaval de Nice) across three weekends. Recorded in 1294 when Charles II, Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence, wrote of passing the joyous days of carnival in Nice, the modern parade was organised in 1873 under local artist Alexis Mossa and his son Gustav-Adolf Mossa. Today 18 monumental papier-mâché floats parade by day and night alongside floral batailles de fleurs around Place Masséna and the Promenade du Paillon.