Nice and its charms

We are going through very difficult times but the cold is leaving us, the warmer days are approaching and the light at the end of the road begins to flash. Everything happens and this will also happen, they always tell me, so let's project into the future. Where would we like to enjoy the sun and the open air, the sea, a good meal, a beautiful place? Nice!

Nice is the capital of the French Riviera and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Between the Mediterranean Sea and the mountains, with renowned museums, good gastronomy, a lot of culture and treasures, Nice will be there when this eternal winter is over.

Nice

It is a French city that It is in the Provence - Alps - Côte d'Azur region. Is very near the border with Italy, only 30 kilometers away, and even closer to Monaco, only 20 kilometers away. How far is it from Paris? 960 kilometers, but just 230 from Marseille.

Nice is an important city, of a good size and of good purchasing power. Here most of the people who spend the summer have good money, but that does not mean that an ordinary person, without jet set nor lineage, cannot have a good day.

Being so close to Italy, its links with the neighboring country are undeniable, even if it were annexed by France at the end of the XNUMXth century. It has always been an important border city but the real development came from the hand of tourism. The initial push was given by Queen Victoria herself when she chose the city to escape the English winter.

Nice is a city ​​divided into two zones, the oldest part It is the left bank of the Paillon, very similar to neighboring Turin. The right bank is the most French part with a style of the great urban reformer and renovator, Haussmann.

What to see in Nice

Let's start with the oldest part from the city. Here is the call Castle Hill, which is where the medieval fortress stood that lasted 300 years but was demolished. It was destroyed by Louis XIV in the XNUMXth century and finally demilitarized in the XNUMXth century. At that time the upper class inhabited this part of the city so it is the heart of it.

In the old part is the Sainte Réparate Cathedral, Governor's Palace (current Palace of the Prefecture), the Communal Palace or the Saint Francois square and the port that from having fishermen has become expensive yachts. Also, on the Cimiez hill You will see many charming buildings, either from the Belle Epoque, many of them converted today into expensive apartments or expensive hotels. Here, too, there is a pretty pedestrian promenade dating from the 70s and abundant in restaurants and cafes.

The truth is that Nice does not shine for its public transport system, so if you have the strength for me the best is rent a bike or walk. It has 125 kilometers of bike path through the metropolitan area so the bike is super comfortable. It is rented with a bank card and works like the famous Paris bikes, For example.

The truth is that thousands of people enter and move through Nice every day and the geography does not help. There are three tram lines and you can use a single ticket to change within the first 74 minutes for 1 euros. You can also buy a multi-pass of 50 tickets or 10 day or 1 days or round trip ticket. Nice also has more than 130 bus routes that work during the day and the Noctambus that works five times a night between 9:10 pm and 10:10 am.

So, decided my means of transport, What can I see in Nice? We can start with its museums, there are more than 15 between museums municipal, departmental or national: there is the Museum of Natural History, the beautiful building of the Masséna Museum in the Walk of the English, Jules Cheret Museum of Fine Arts, Matisse Museum inside a XNUMXth century Genoese villa, the MAMAC of contemporary art, Palais Lascaris or Marc Chagall National Museum, among others.

For everyone you can buy the Individual Ticket for 24 hours at 10 euros, the Individual Ticket for 7 Days for 20 euros and the Group Ticket for groups from 10 people for 9 euros. In addition to museums, you can know monuments and churches and enjoy the rich architectural heritage of the city.

There is a bit of everything but you cannot leave out of your tour The Place Masséna XNUMXth century, The Punchettes, a succession of constructions converted into galleries, the palace from the 20s or The Mediterranean Palace, Cimiez Monastery cemetery where are the tombs of Matisse, du Gard and Dufy, the Fort of Monte Alban on Boron Hill ...

There are also churches and chapels such as the Church of Saint Marin and Saint Agustín from the XNUMXth century or the Chapel of Mercy from the XNUMXth century, the Notre Dame basilica which is the largest local church and is inspired by the Cathedral of Angers or the Cathedral of Sainte Réparate from the XNUMXth century. Aim the Garibaldi Palace, Le Negresco Palace, the elegant Baroque-style Palais Lascaris, the building of the Opera Nice Côte d'Azur, the old Tower of Saint Francois and the elegant Maison d'Adam et Eve with its peculiar bas-relief from the XNUMXth century.

And of course, you should not stop taking a good walk through it. Walk of the English that always has flowers, always looks at the sea and is always beautiful. There are also parks, gardens and markets so it is really difficult to have a bad time here in Nice. Add up the shops and malls, the coastline, and the fact that there is free WiFi in more than 60 points... I would say that it is a city designed so that the visitor wants to return.

Can we take advantage and do some day trip from nice? Of course, you can take bus 81 and visit the neighbor Villefrance-sur-Mer just five kilometers away. Or continue to the village of Beaulieu or a little further Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. They are the suburbs of Nice and charming places. To the west is also Cannes and Monte Carlo, but if you want more mountains you can approach the Chemin de Fer de Provence Canyon and cross it to reach Annot.

There is a divine cogwheel train that goes up the valley of the river Var, crosses incredible landscapes, passes Annot and reaches Digne, although getting there takes more than a day. Get to Annot if you want a day trip only. As you can see, the Nice location is great for scheduling more tours. Bon voyage!


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