Car Hire Nice

Mini guide to Nice

Situated in the sweeping Baie des Anges, Nice is a delightful and historical town with easy access to Antibes, St Tropez, Monaco and the Provence region.

Popular by day and lively by night, the old town is a delightful mish-mash of winding streets, and squares full of Genoese, Provençal, medieval and Baroque architecture. It’s all presided over by a 92m hill known as Le Château. Beyond this is the port with its pretty Île-de-Beauté square.

The city has many outstanding architectural features and perhaps the most exotic is the Russian Orthodox Cathedral with its six onion domes. Other notable baroque architecture includes the Cathédrale Sainte Réparate, Saint-François-de-Paule, Saint-Martin-Saint-Augustin and Chapelle de la Miséricorde. The Palais Lascaris is a beautiful example of Genoese Baroque architecture. Nearby, the Cours Saleya, includes a bustling flower and vegetable market. The belle époque Opéra house is just off the cours Saleya.

The more modern art deco Palais de la Méditerranée casino and grand Hôtel Negresco add a touch of class to the palm-lined Promenade des Anglais.

Nice certainly attracted artists and Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Kadinsky and Miro are just some of the French and European painters whose works are displayed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Saint-Paul-de-Vence Musée International d'Art, Naïf Anatole-Jakovsky Musée, Matisse Musée, National Message Biblique and Marc-Chagall Musée d'Art et d'Art Contemporain.