Nice trips

French is the official language, and Niçois appreciate any effort you make, even a single word attempted with genuine enthusiasm goes a long way. Here are the essentials: 

• Hello: Bonjour (bon-ZHOOR)—use it every time you walk into a shop, café, or restaurant. Not using it is considered rude. Just say bonjour. Always. 

• Good evening: Bonsoir (bon-SWAHR)—swap this in for bonjour after around 6 pm. 

• Goodbye: Au revoir (oh ruh-VWAHR). For something more casual: À bientôt (ah bee-en-TOH), meaning “see you soon.” 

• Yes: Oui (wee) 

• No: Non (nohn) 

• Please: S’il vous plaît (seel voo PLAY)—add it to everything. 

• Thank you: Merci (mair-SEE). For extra warmth: Merci beaucoup (mair-SEE boh-KOO). 

• You’re welcome: De rien (duh ree-EN). Or the slightly warmer Je vous en prie (zhuh voo zon PREE). 

• Excuse me: Excusez-moi (ex-kyoo-zay MWAH)—for getting attention or squeezing past someone at the market. 

• Do you speak English? Parlez-vous anglais? (par-lay voo ong-LAY)—polite, always appreciated, and usually followed by a yes. 

• The bill, please: L’addition, s’il vous plaît (lah-dee-SYON seel voo PLAY)—nobody brings it without asking in France. This phrase is your best friend. 

• Cheers! Santé! (son-TAY)—eye contact required. Always. 

• One glass of rose, please: Un verre de rosé, s’il vous plaît (un vair duh roh-ZAY seel voo PLAY)—the single most useful sentence on the French Riviera. Practice it now.

Nice moves at the pace of somewhere that has figured out what actually matters. 

• Lunch is sacred: Restaurants fill up between noon and 2 pm and the city slows down. Sit down, take your time, order a carafe of wine. You’re doing it right. 

• The market is a morning ritual: Niçois shop at Cours Saleya before work—socca for breakfast, vegetables, cheese, olives. Join them. 

• Dinner starts late: Don’t show up before 7:30 pm. Eight or nine is more local. Nobody rushes. 

• The beach is for everyone: Niçois swim before work, at lunch, and after dinner. The Mediterranean is right there. Use it. 

• Café culture is serious: A café crème and a croissant at a pavement table is not just breakfast—it’s a philosophical statement about how mornings should be spent. 

• The French Riviera lifestyle is real: Sun, sea, good food, long evenings. Nice is one of the best places in the world to practice slowing down.

Niçoise cuisine is its own distinct culinary tradition—Mediterranean in influence, deeply French in execution, and unlike anything you’ll find north of Lyon: 

• Socca: A thin, crispy chickpea pancake cooked in a scorching wood-fired oven, eaten hot from paper with black pepper. Queue at Chez Pipo. Non-negotiable. 

• Salade Niçoise: The real version—tuna, olives, hard-boiled eggs, green beans, anchovies, tomatoes, and never cooked vegetables or pasta. Order it at a terrace and understand immediately why the exported version is a tragedy. 

• Pan bagnat: All the Niçoise salad ingredients pressed into a round bread roll and eaten on the beach. Perfect lunch. Zero regrets. 

• Pissaladière: A Niçoise flatbread topped with caramelized onions, anchovies, and black olives. What pizza would be if it grew up on the Riviera. 

• Daube Niçoise: A slow-braised beef stew with olives, tomatoes, and herbes de Provence. Rich, warming, and perfect with a carafe of local red. 

• Tourte de blettes: A sweet tart made with Swiss chard, pine nuts, raisins, and sugar. Sounds strange. Tastes completely wonderful. Very Niçoise. 

• Rosé: Mandatory. The Provence region produces some of the world’s best dry rosé. Drink it cold, drink it often, drink it with everything.

From the Gatorade-blue Mediterranean waters to charming local markets,  Nice is an absolute gem.  

• Climb Castle Hill for the view: 15 minutes up (or take the free elevator). The panorama over the bay is one of the great free views in Europe. 

• Spend a morning at Cours Saleya market: Go before 11 am, eat socca for breakfast, buy flowers, and watch the city wake up. 

• Walk the full Promenade des Anglais: Start at one end, walk the whole thing, stop for a swim, end up somewhere with rosé. 

• Day trip to Monaco: Train from Nice Ville, 20 minutes. Casino, palace, harbor. Lunch. Back feeling very cosmopolitan. 

• Visit the Musée Matisse: Free on the first Sunday of every month. The permanent collection is extraordinary. 

• Eat dinner in Vieux-Nice: Pick a square, sit outside, order the Niçoise classics, stay for dessert. This is exactly what you came here for. 

• Swim in the Mediterranean: The water is cold in May, perfect in July, still warm in October. There’s no wrong time. Just get in.

Nice sits at the crossroads of French and Italian culture—it was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia until 1860—and its identity reflects both: 

• The Italian influence is real: The baroque architecture, the pasta on restaurant menus, the operatic quality of everyday conversations—Nice has never fully let go of its Italian roots. 

• Art is woven into the city: Matisse and Chagall both lived and worked here. The light that attracted those painters is still exactly as good. 

• Pride in Niçoise identity runs deep: Niçois are French, but they’re also very specifically from Nice. The local dialect, cuisine, and traditions are distinct and celebrated. 

• The pace is Mediterranean, not Parisian: Things move slowly here, and not apologetically. Enjoy it. 

• Carnival is a big deal: The Nice Carnival in February is one of the largest in Europe—two weeks of parades, flower battles, and celebrations that take over the entire city. 

• The outdoor lifestyle shapes everything: People eat, drink, exercise, and socialize outside. The climate makes this possible almost year-round, and Niçois take full advantage.

Nice has over 300 days of sunshine a year. There’s genuinely no bad time to visit.

• May–June: The sweet spot. Warm, sunny, not yet peak-summer crowded, and the Mediterranean is just getting swimmable. 

• July–August: Hot, brilliant, and busy. The city is fully alive. Book accommodation early. 

• September–October: Arguably the best time. Summer crowds gone, sea still warm, restaurants less hectic, and that golden autumn light that made the Impressionists obsessed with this coastline. 

• November–April: Quieter, cooler, and surprisingly lovely. The city stays open year-round, and the Nice Carnival in February brings the whole place back to life.