The deep blue waters of the Côte d’Azur are the backdrop for the elegant Nice Breathe the fresh Mediterranean air as you stroll along the promenade, or admire the magnificent views from the top of the castle hill.
If you are going to enjoy a few days in the beautiful town of the Côte d’Azur, the best option to make the most of your stay and have everything within reach is to stay in a hotel located on the promenade (Promenade des Anglais) in the part next to the town centre.
In this area you will find several high quality hotels, the most exclusive restaurants, the most sophisticated nightclubs and the most glamorous shops in Nice, as well as some emblematic monuments, such as the Masséna Museum, the Notre Dame Basilica and the Fine Arts Museum.
If you are interested in knowing where to stay in Nice , you may also be interested in knowing where to stay in Cannes, where to stay in Marseille, where to stay in Provence and where to stay in Paris.
The promenade and the centre of Nice, the best areas to stay
Nice is a city with a privileged location on the Côte d’Azur that is perfectly connected and can be reached by plane, train, car and bus.In addition to being known internationally for its carnivals, which for 15 days make the city a major tourist destination, this French town is an ideal place to enjoy a few days of rest on the Costa Azul.
The promenade (Promenade des Anglais), popularly known as the “Way of the English”, is the symbol of Nice and a beautiful coastal avenue that runs parallel to the beaches of the French town.In this promenade, very well cared for and always full of flowers, you can find four and five star hotels, as well as restaurants, exclusive fashion shops, and places for gourmets, such as the High Club, and a few steps away from it you can visit the Museum of Fine Arts, located in a beautiful Renaissance style house, which houses European collections from the 17th to the 19th century.
The spectacular Albert I Gardens are also in the centre of Nice, where it is worth taking a long walk and enjoying the attractions it has to offer, such as the Place Masséna, a colourful and busy square with reddish tones in its buildings, one of the meeting points in Nice and home to several bronze statues.In the immense green area occupied by the gardens, which are more than two kilometres long, there is a beautiful fountain, the Fontaine des Trois Grâces, the Theatre de Verdure, where many concerts and shows take place, and other beautiful points of interest. Around the gardens, there are several first-class hotels, shops of exclusive designers such as Louis Vuitton and gourmet restaurants such as the Maison de Marie.
And, at the gates of this urban lung, is the emblematic and famous Ruhl Casino, which in addition to housing an immense gambling hall in which many celebrities have made great bets, hosts a cabaret in which different shows take place throughout the year.The Masséna Museum is also in the center, a wide sample of the art and history of Nice, located inside the Masséna Palace.
Along the Boulevard Victor Hugo in Nice, which crosses the center from east to west, many buildings are lined up whose facades present very different architectural styles, many hotels of high quality and restaurants with the best French cuisine.To the north of this urban artery you can reach the Basilica of Notre-Dame, the largest church in Nice, which stands out for its imposing neo-Gothic structure.
Hotels in the Centre of Nice
The old town, another good choice to stay in Nice
The historic centre of Nice (Vielle Ville), located next to the Gardens of Albert I and on the eastern side of the promenade, is the area of the city that has the most emblematic monuments and a very interesting option to stay, as it has hotels of different categories, restaurants, cafes, clothing shops and museums and cultural spaces.
Continuing along Rue Saint-François de Paule we enter the old town of Nice, a space where narrow streets with buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries converge.Here you will find the town hall (Hôtel de Ville), an 18th century building that was a seminary, hospital and barracks before becoming a town hall and around which you can find cafes, restaurants and terraces where you can stop and have a drink, and the Opera House, built in 1885 as an imitation of the Palais Garnier in Paris.A few steps from the Opera is the area of Cours Saleya, where there is a colorful and varied market that offers visitors from typical sweets to flowers and soaps from Marseille.
A few steps away from this picturesque market is the Chapel of Mercy, a baroque building that houses a multitude of angels fluttering among golden and false marble, the Palace of Justice, a beautiful neoclassical building, the National Theatre and the Sainte-Réparate Cathedral, named after the Catholic patron saint of Nice.Just 300 metres from the cathedral is the Montée du Chateau, a hill from which you can see the promenade on one side and the port of Nice on the other. It is worth climbing this hill on foot (about 20 minutes) or by lift.
