Nice

About Nice

Visitors have been drawn to Nice in Provence in search of scenic beauty and culture for more than 300 years. Originally a minor Roman outpost and then a sleepy fishing village, the nineteenth century saw the city besieged by French, English and Russian aristocrats. England's Queen Victoria vacationed in Nice for five consecutive years and for several months each winter, staying in the Cimiez neighbourhood where Henri Matisse was later buried. Today Nice is the fifth most populated city of France and second in Provence after Marseille.

The landscape of Nice

Nice occupies a place between two large bays on the Mediterranean Sea. The bay of Villefranche is one of the deepest natural harbours of any port in the region, and is framed by hills extending north-east to where leafy Mont-Luze sits at an altitude of 520m, offering spectacular views across the sea.

Cultural Nice

It is no coincidence that Nice is France's second most visited city after Paris: the region of Provence has a vibrant culture to rival that of the capital, and has attracted influential artists and writers such as Chagall and Nietzsche. The Nice Jazz Festival and Carnaval de Nice are two of the city's biggest cultural highlights, the latter taking place over two weeks and ending on Mardi Gras.