Nice Free Walking Tour

Starting at the Fontaine du Soleil on Place Masséna, this walk threads through the ochre lanes of Vieux Nice — past baroque church facades, the Cours Saleya market stalls and the steep climb to Castle Hill, where a fortress once stood and a viewpoint now looks out over the red-tiled rooftops and the curve of the Baie des Anges.

From there the route drops down to the Promenade des Anglais, the long seafront walkway laid out by wintering English visitors in the 19th century, past the Belle Époque grandeur of the Hôtel Negresco and the pebble beaches that give Nice its particular seaside rhythm. Along the way your guide explains how a border city that only became French in 1860 built an identity out of Italian roots, Riviera glamour and the everyday ritual of socca.