Eating Out in Nice
You'll find all the flavours of the Mediterranean in Nice's restaurants. Salty >anchovies play a starring role in pissaladière, Nice's take on pizza, and the city's signature dish, salade Nicoise.
Italian influences are strong, with dishes like ravioli and porchetta (slices of whole roast pig) popping up on many menus.
Fillets of rouget (red mullet) are served grilled or fried. Local olives are an essential ingredient in dips like tapenade
You can sample all these delights and more on a gastronomic walking and tasting tour with A Taste of Nice. On a warm evening, dining outdoors at one of the restaurants clustered around Cours Saleya is one of Nice’s great delights.
Dotted along Promenade des Anglais are a number of seaside restaurants with their own private beaches. Lunching here, while looking out over the ocean, is another quintessential local foodie experience.
The chef recommends...
- Socca: Nice's signature street snack. These chickpea-flour pancakes are served crispy on the outside and deliciously gooey inside.
- Bouillabaisse: a spicy stew made with half-a-dozen kinds of fish, including monkfish and red gurnard.
- Anchoiade: a savoury purée of anchovies and capers.
- Courgette flowers: stuffed with minced meat and herbs or vegetables, or chopped and served in beignets (fritters).
Shopping in Nice
Cours Saleya is Nice's most famous market place – and rightly so. It’s bustling everyday with local shoppers and throngs of visitors.
From Tuesday to Sunday, you'll find stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese, bread and other produce from early morning until 1PM, while the flower market is filled with vivid blossoms all day.
On Mondays, Cours Saleya becomes a sprawling brocante (bric-a-brac) market, where you can rummage for vintage linen and crockery, antique jewellery and other collectables.
After 6PM on summer days, the square brims with stalls selling arts and crafts handmade by local artisans.
Vieille Ville is a happy hunting ground for arts and crafts. Things to look out for include soaps made with regional olive oil and spoons, bowls and wooden toys made of olive wood.
Painted pottery figurines called santons, representing villagers and peasant folk in traditional costume, are uniquely Provencal.
You'll find big department stores like Galeries Lafayette close to Place Masséna and along Avenue Jean Médecin. For designer brands like Hermes, Armani, Louis Vuitton and Chanel, check out boutiques on Rue Paradis and Avenue du Verdon.
Picking up a bargain in Nice
Haggling is unacceptable in shops, but it's normal at brocante markets. African street traders, who tout watches, sunglasses and jewellery around town, happily accept a fraction of their asking price.
- The French Riviera Pass offers discounts at boutiques, department stores, craft workshops and artists studios.
- Canny locals shopping for fruit and vegetables wait for late bargains at markets like Cours Saleya. Traders sell the last of their produce cheaply between noon and closing time at 1PM.
Culture & Nightlife in Nice
Nice sparkles after dark. Hubs of the city's glamorous nightlife for more than a century include Casino Barriere le Ruhl, where you can take in glitzy dinner shows and live music. Le Relais, at the Hotel Negresco, is the place to see and be seen while listening to jazz and Latin sounds.
Théatre de Verdure is Nice's big open-air venue for world-class rock and pop acts. It’s hosted performers like Elton John, Iron Maiden, Santana and AC/DC.
If your tastes tend more toward opera, ballet and classical music, you'll find them all at Opéra de Nice, home of two resident ensembles, L'Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice and Ballet Nice Méditerranée.
Fans of cabaret, comedy and live music should head for Théatre de la Cité. At Théatre National de Nice, Centre Dramatique National Nice - Cote d'Azur presents modern French drama.
Live jazz in Nice
- You can rub shoulders with locals at Shapko, where late-night jam sessions follow live jazz, blues and funk acts.
- Le B-Spot hosts jazz and soul musicians, with free jam sessions on Sunday nights.
- Le Jam is a popular venue for electro, rock and a capella music.
Visiting Nice with a Family
Parents and toddlers can discover Nice the easy way on Trains Touristiques mini-trains, which trundle along Promenade des Anglais and around town.
If your kids are older and more energetic, you can rent skateboards, scooters and rollerblades at Roller Station to explore Nice on wheels.
All the city's museums are free for children. Pop-art works at Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain (MAMAC) will amuse younger visitors.
They'll also enjoy colourful animal statues resembling giant toys, and be inspired by childlike paintings at Musée Internationale d'Art Naif Anatole Jakovsy.
On a hot day, children can cool off in town by splashing and paddling in pools and fountains at Place Masséna.
Nice's main stretch of beach is clean but pebbly. For sandy beaches, hop on a bus to St-Laurent-du-Varor catch a train to Villefranche, east of the city centre.
Family-friendly beaches around Nice
- On Promenade des Anglais, Neptune Plage is a private beach on one of the waterfront's few sandy patches. It has a play area for younger children and a child-friendly seawater pool.
- At St-Laurent-du-Var, Bay Star and Lounge has a private artificial beach, where the sand is replaced each summer.
- Plage des Marinieres at Villefranche-sur-Mer, west of the city centre, is a short train ride from Nice. This sandy public beach is free and has showers and toilets, as well as snack bars and cafés that won't break the family budget. In summer, the beach is patrolled by lifeguards.
