Most people go to Paris when going to France, and I loved Paris, but if you want more of a relaxing vacation with beaches, then go to Southern France! I was only in Nice for a couple days but I absolutely loved it! The people were so much nicer than in Paris (sorry Parisians), the scenery is beautiful, the food is still amazing and there's so much good shopping! So depending what you are looking for Nice could be a great vacation spot for you. So in this post I am going to list some of the must see touristy spots in Nice that I went to and loved!
Place Masséna
This is the main square of the city, it’s really pretty and I learned some cool facts about it thanks to this South
African guy from my hostel (thanks Brad!) who gave me a tour. So in addition to the giant Apollo statue (see photo) in a fountain that looks amazing there are 7 statues in the square and each of these statues represent a continent. In the evening when the sun is setting they change colors representing communication between the continents. Some people hate them and other people think its cool, maybe you guys will like it!
View from Castle Hill
If you are sucker for views like me then you will love this! You will also get a mini workout in from climbing all the stairs. This right next to the Promenade des Anglais, so you get a beautiful view of the water and the city! There is one lower view point (photo with me in sunglasses enjoying the nice weather!) and then there's higher one as well with more of a 360 view (photo with me with lots of gloomy clouds above). There is also plenty of pretty greenery and little water falls to see on the walk up! I found this view beautiful on both a cloudy and sunny day.
Musée Matisse
I learned a lot about Matisse in my art history class that I took while studying abroad in Madrid so this was really cool for me! Even if you aren't a Matisse fan you can definitely still enjoy his work, but I think doing some research on him and his pieces before hand make the museum experience much more meaningful. This is a smaller museum so it won't take too long to get through so it should be easy to fit in to your schedule and plus it is right next to the next place I want to mention!
Jardin des Arènes de Cimiez
This is right next to Musée Matisse so walk around here before or after going to the museum! It’s really pretty and you can see the ruins of the Roman city that used to be there, and then there’s a pretty church, Paroisse Sainte-Marie Des Anges, and a monastery there as well. The park has a big olive grove and also a museum, Musee D'Archeologie! This is a great place to wander. I didn't even really know what it was when I got there and then I just kept finding more cool things to see!
Russian Orthodox Cathedral
The is the biggest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Western Europe!! It is so beautiful! I sat on the bench outside of it and ate some snacks and just stared at it for a while because I was so in awe.
It opened in 1912 and was mainly built for the growing population of Russians living in the French Riviera. Go check it out! Definitely wouldn't want to miss this one!
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