Nice offers rare architectural diversity, with more than 70 listed historic buildings: Baroque, Classical, Belle Époque, Art Deco and Contemporary. It is also emerging into a spectacular cultural city, with 19 museums and galleries, major operatic productions and world premieres comprising some of the 1,000 cultural, festive and sporting events held each year. Nice's popular Carnival is held on the French Riviera in winter.

The Old Town's narrow streets are lined with churches and chapels and baroque treasures with their ochre, yellow and red façades. World-famous Cours Saleya and its markets are ideal for delightful strolls among stalls offering unique emotions and gustatory discoveries.

Stroll, bike, or skate along the city's glorious Promenade des Anglais, which provides Nice with its identity as an aesthetic seaside resort between the sea and palm trees. Discover Nice's scenic parks and gardens, its ponds, fountains, natural forest and hills. Summers are filled with feasts and festivals: Jazz, classical, baroque, mediaeval, sacred, contemporary, Latin, world music.

When to Go: Consider late spring, summer or early fall, when the weather is sunny and warm. But it is also crowded. Rain and wind can be plentiful in the late fall and winter, which are typically cooler. And the tourist crowds are virtually non-existent.

Featured Five Star Super-Luxury Hotel

Boscolo Exedra Nice 12 Boulevard Victor Hugo, Nice +33.(0)4.97.038.989 A magnificent 5-star luxury hotel on the city's main boulevard, in a recently restored historical palazzo from the Belle Époque.

Five Star Luxury Hotels

Hotel Negresco
37 promenade des Anglais, Nice
+33.493.16.64.00 www.hotel-negresco-nice.com
Built in 1912, overlooking the Promenade des Anglais, and classified a National Historic Monument, the hotel is one of the few remaining privately owned palaces still existing in the world. The hotel has a decadent look and feel, and has been turned into a residential museum.

Le Palais de la Mediterranee
13-15, Promenade des Anglais, Nice
+33.492.14.77.00 palais.concorde-hotels.com
This casino-hotel enjoys a magnificent location on Promenade des Anglais. The grand white Art Deco façade created in the 1930s is still fully intact and has been restored to its original splendor beckoning guests inside to savour the many fascinating delights that this legendary luxury hotel has to offer.

Featured Restaurant

Keisuke Matsushima 22 ter, rue de France, Nice +33.(0)4.93.82.2606 This young prodigy, the most Mediterranean among Japanese chefs, arrived in France at the age of 20, and is now one of the country's upcoming fine dining chefs.

Aphrodite - David Faure
10 bd Dubouchage, Nice
+33.493.85.63.53 www.restaurant-aphrodite.com
Cuisine: French

Boni
21 rue Barla et 66 rue Arson, Nice
+33.493.56.35.39
Cuisine: Italian

Café de l'Horloge
Hôtel Aston
12, avenue Félix Faure, Nice
+33.492.17.53.00 www.hotel-aston.com
Cuisine: French

Don Camillo Créations
5 rue des Ponchettes, Nice
+33.493.85.67.95 www.doncamillo-creations.fr
Cuisine: Italian

Flo Brasserie
2-4, rue Sacha Guitry, Nice
+33.493.13.38.38 www.flonice.com/endroit
Cuisine: Mediterranean

Fjord
21 Rue François Guisol, Nice
+33.493.26.20.20 www.fjord.fr
Cuisine: Scandinavian / Seafood

Jouni Atelier du Goût
RdC du Palais de la Réserve - 60, bd Franck Pilatte, Nice
+33.497.08.29.98 www.lareservedenice.com
Cuisine: Mediterranean

L'Ane Rouge
7 quai des Deux 2 Emmanuel, Nice
+33.493.89.49.63 www.anerougenice.com
Cuisine: French

L'Aromate
20-22 avenue Maréchal Foch, Nice
+33.493.62.98.24
Cuisine:

L'Indyana
11 rue Gustave Deloye, Nice
+33.493.80.67.69 www.lindyana.com
Cuisine: Indian

L'Univers-Christian Plumail
54 boulevard Jean Jaurès, Nice
+33.493.62.32.22 www.christian-plumail.com
Cuisine: French

La Rotonde
Hotel Negresco
37 Promenade des Anglais, Nice
+33.493.16.64.00 www.hotel-negresco-nice.com
Cuisine: French

Le Chantecler
Hotel Negresco
37 promenade des Anglais, Nice
+33.493.16.64.00 www.hotel-negresco-nice.com
Cuisine: French

Luc Salsedo
14 rue Maccarani, Nice
+33.493.82.24.12 www.restaurant-salsedo.com
Cuisine: Regional

La Petite Maison
11 rue Saint-François-de-Paule, Nice
+33.493.92.59.59 www.lapetitemaison-nice.com
Cuisine: French, Provençal

La Zucca Magica
4 bis quai Papacino, Nice
+33.493.56.25.27 www.lazuccamagica.com
Cuisine: Vegetarian/Italian

Les Viviers
22 rue Alphonse Karr, Nice
+33.493.16.00.48 www.les-viviers-nice.com
Cuisine: French / Seafood

Cathédrale Orthodoxe Russe St-Nicolas à Nice
Av. Nicolas-II. Off bd. du Tzaréwitch, Nice
+33.4.93.96.88.02
The Russian Orthodox Cathedral is a national monument of France. Opened in 1912, thanks to the generosity of Tsar Nicholas II, it is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral outside Russia.

Monastère de Cimiez
Place du Monastère, Cimiez
+33.493.81.00.04
The Monastery of Cimiez is a magnificent Franciscan convent, museum and gardens.

MAMAC - Musée d'Art moderne et d'Art Contemporain
Promenade des Arts, Nice
+33.497.13.42.01 www.mamac-nice.org
At the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, French and American avant-garde art from the 1960s until the 21st century.

Musée des Beaux-Arts
33 av. des Baumettes, Nice
+33.492.15.28.28 www.musee-beaux-arts-nice.org
Art collections and galleries spanning the past four centuries in the former residence of a Ukrainian princess.

Musée International d'Art Naïf Anatole-Jakovsky
Château St-Hélène, av. de Fabron, Nice
+33.493.71.78.33
Named for the renowned art critic and patron, the International Museum of Naïve Art features Jakovsky's own vast art collection as well as primitive paintings and 20th century works.

Musée Matisse
At Villa des Arènes-de-Cimiez
164 av. des Arènes-de-Cimiez, Cimiez
+33.493.53.40.53 www.musee-matisse-nice.org
The Matisse Museum is situated on the hill of Cimiez, not far from the Franciscan monastery with its Italianate gardens, the Hotel Regina where Matisse lived, and the Gallo-Roman ruins.

Musée National Message Biblique Marc-Chagall
Av. du Dr.-Ménard, Cimiez
+33.493.53.87.20 www.musee-chagall.fr
A museum devoted to the works of artist Marc Chagall, who became a French citizen in 1937.

Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
Mont Gros, Nice
+33.492.00.30.11 www.oca.eu
Originally the Nice Observatory, this magnificent series of buildings on the summit of Mont Gros was built in 1881by Charles Garnier. Its signature domw was designed by none other than Gustave Eiffel.

Palais Lascaris
15 rue Droite, Nice
+33.493.62.72.40
This historic landmark is linked with the Lascaris-Vintimille family with roots in the 13th century and is filled with elaborate ornaments.

Ensemble Baroque de Nice
25 rue de la Croix, Nice
+33.493.80.08.74 www.ensemblebaroquedenice.org
One of the main Baroque groups in France and abroad. A dozen
string players on ancient instruments strive to recreate the original sound of this music, as illustrated by the world premiere of Vivaldi's opera Rosmina Fedele.

Opéra de Nice
4 rue St-François-de-Paule, Nice
+33.492.17.40.00 www.opera-nice.org
Wthout question, the Riviera's major cultural center. This beautiful, historic structure often features large-scale operas, Nice's Philharmonic Orchestra, the ballet, as well as concerts and recitals.

Explore Nice's boutiques along rue Masséna, place Magenta, avenue Jean-Médecin, rue de Verdun, and rue Paradis.

As you stroll the historic city's streets and alleys, you'll notice confectionaries, chocolatiers, and purveyors of olive oil, arts and crafts, figurines and fabrics.

Nice's exceptional concentration of antique shops - one of the most important
in France - between the Port and Rue Ségurane, provides a wealth of rare
or original objects.

The Flea Market (Marché aux Puces) on Quai Lunel, though less luxurious, is just as exciting for tracking down antiques.

The Fruit and Vegetable Market was selected by the National Council of Culinary Arts as one of the most exceptional markets in France. The Antiques Market (Marché à la Brocante) replaces the fruit and vegetables under their striped awnings on Mondays from 7:30am to 6pm, except on holiday eves.

From June to September, an Arts and Crafts Market livens up Cours Saleya every evening, along with painters displaying their works.

Place du Palais de Justice, a wonderful example of successful renovation, is host to theme markets: the Antique and Used Book Market on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month from 8am to 6pm and the Old Postcard Market on the 4th Saturday of each month.

The Fish Market is held at Place Saint-François every morning except Monday, from 6am to 1pm. Bogue, red mullet, sea bass, sardine, forkbeard and even poutine (tiny fry caught for only one month in the year), can be admired in stalls with regional products offered with the fishermen's cheeky humor.

Cabaret du Casino Ruhl
At the Casino Ruhl
1 promenade des Anglais, Nice
+33.497.03.12.22
Nice's answer to Monte Carlo and Las Vegas.