Things to Do in Nice: 15 Ideas, From the Seafront to Matisse, by Scooter

Looking for the best things to do in Nice? Good news: almost everything worth seeing sits within twenty minutes of everything else. The sea, the old town, the hills, the museums, the cliff-top villages. The catch is the hills, the crowded buses and the near-impossible parking. That is exactly where a scooter earns its keep. Here are 15 ideas, grouped by mood, so you can build each day around how you feel when you wake up.

By the sea: the Bay of Angels

1. Ride the Promenade des Anglais

Around 7 km of seafront between the airport and the old town, lined with palm trees, Belle Époque façades and an almost unreal blue sea. On foot it is a long walk; on a scooter it feels like a tracking shot from a 1960s film. Stop outside the Negresco, then grab one of the famous blue chairs facing the water. It is the most Niçois thing you can do.

2. Swim from a pebble beach

Nice's beaches are pebbles, not sand, and come in two flavours: free public stretches and private beach clubs with loungers and parasols. Bring water shoes and pick your style. Our round-up of the best beaches in and around Nice helps you choose.

3. Dive in at Coco Beach and La Réserve

Just past the port, the coast road runs along rocky coves where locals climb down ladders into remarkably clear water. No sand, a favourite with locals, and the whole bay in front of you. Perfect in the late afternoon.

Old town and markets: the heart of Nice

4. Browse the Cours Saleya market

Flowers, fruit, olives and Provençal herbs under striped awnings. The flower and produce market runs Tuesday to Sunday in the morning, and on Mondays the square turns into an antiques and flea market. Go early, before the heat and the tour groups.

5. Get lost in Vieux-Nice

Ochre façades, washing strung between windows, baroque chapels around every corner. Find Place Rossetti and its cathedral, then queue for an ice cream at Fenocchio, a local institution with flavours you will not find at home. The old town is largely pedestrian, so leave the scooter in a marked two-wheeler bay on its edge and explore on foot.

6. Place Garibaldi and the Promenade du Paillon

With its yellow arcades and Piedmontese façades, Place Garibaldi is a reminder that Nice looked towards Turin until 1860. Next door, the Promenade du Paillon, a green corridor of about 1.2 km opened in 2013, links the theatre to the sea. Its water mirror and fountains are a lifesaver for kids on hot days.

Viewpoints: Nice from above

7. Climb Castle Hill

Colline du Château gives you the postcard view: the curve of the Promenade on one side, the port on the other, and a sea of terracotta roofs in between. The park is free, with a waterfall and shady pines. Walk up the steps or take the free lift at the foot of the hill on the seafront side.

8. Ride round to Port Lympia

The road that wraps around Castle Hill, Quai Rauba-Capeù, is one of the best short rides in town. It ends at Port Lympia, with red and ochre façades, little wooden fishing boats and ferries leaving for Corsica. Park up and wander.

9. Mont Boron

A winding road, Belle Époque villas, a pine forest and two views for the price of one: the Bay of Angels on one side, Villefranche bay on the other. The Mont Alban fort at the top can only be visited on a guided tour, in season, so check before you go. The climb is easy on a 50cc, and it is one of our favourite sunset spots.

Museums and culture: Cimiez, the artists' hill

10. The Matisse Museum and the Roman ruins of Cimiez

Up on Cimiez hill, a red Genoese villa surrounded by an olive grove houses the Musée Matisse. Right next to it lie the remains of the Roman town of Cemenelum, with its amphitheatre and archaeology museum. Finish in the gardens of the Cimiez monastery and its cemetery, where Henri Matisse is buried. The museum is closed on Tuesdays.

11. The Marc Chagall National Museum

At the foot of Cimiez, this museum was built around Chagall's Biblical Message, a cycle of 17 large canvases. The light, the Mediterranean garden and the stained glass make it a moving visit even if you do not consider yourself an art lover. It is also closed on Tuesdays. The hill between the two museums is steep: on a scooter, you will not even notice.

Eat like a local

12. Try socca and Niçois classics

Socca is a thin chickpea pancake baked in a wood-fired oven, eaten piping hot with black pepper and your fingers. Chez Pipo, near the port, has been making it since 1923. Add pissaladière (onion tart), petits farcis (stuffed vegetables), a pan bagnat or a proper salade niçoise, and you have tasted the whole city.

13. Aperitif at the port

As the sun drops, the terraces around Place de l'Île-de-Beauté fill up opposite the columns of Notre-Dame-du-Port. A glass of rosé, a few olives, your helmet on the chair beside you: the Riviera dolce vita, no dress code required.

Easy half-day trips from Nice

14. Villefranche-sur-Mer

Six kilometres along the Basse Corniche, Villefranche stacks pastel houses above one of the loveliest bays on the Riviera. See the Chapelle Saint-Pierre, a former fishermen's chapel painted by Jean Cocteau in 1957, and the citadel. It is also where many cruise ships anchor: our guide to the Villefranche cruise port by scooter covers it in detail.

15. Cap Ferrat, then Èze

Right after Villefranche, the Cap Ferrat peninsula hides coves, a coastal path and the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild with its themed gardens above the sea. A 50cc is fine for the Cap. To climb on to Èze village, perched high above the coast, the 125cc is the better choice. Our full loop is in the Cap Ferrat and Èze day trip.

Seeing Nice by scooter: practical tips

• Plan by area: seafront and old town in the morning, Cimiez after lunch, the port and Mont Boron at the end of the day. Short on time? Our 48 hours in Nice itinerary does the planning for you.
• Park in marked two-wheeler bays, never on the pavement, and lock up every time.
• Pick the right base: our guide on where to stay in Nice compares the neighbourhoods.

For everything on this list except Èze, a 50cc retro scooter is all you need, from 35 euros a day with two helmets, gloves and a lock included. See all rates on our prices page. Delivery is free anywhere in Nice, straight to your hotel or Airbnb.