In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The Promenade des Anglais, Castle Hill, the Cours Saleya, the Promenade du Paillon, the public beaches, Mont Boron and the Cimiez olive grove cost nothing. The viewpoints are free too, except the Tour Bellanda terrace (€5) and the Tour Saint-François (€5, one weekend a month). No City museum is free (Matisse, Masséna and Chéret are €10, the others €5), and the Russian cathedral is €10. The national Chagall museum is free for everyone on the first Sunday of the month: 1 November and 6 December 2026, 3 January and 7 February 2027. Prices are in euros. Or book a tour: the English-language old town and Promenade walkad is from €23 and the Old Town and Castle Hill walkad from €26 (GetYourGuide).
What is free
The Promenade des Anglais
Almost 7 km · open every day
The seafront walk along the Baie des Anges, with its blue chairs. The Promenade page takes it from the airport end to Quai Rauba Capeu.
Castle Hill
8:30 to 18:00 from 1 November · to 20:00 from 1 April
A 19.3-hectare park between the port and the old town, with a waterfall, a playground and a belvédère 92 metres above the bay. Castle Hill has the ways up.
The Cours Saleya and the fish market
Flowers Tuesday to Sunday mornings · antiques Monday 7:00 to 18:00 · fish market Tuesday to Sunday 6:00 to 13:00
The old town’s markets cost nothing to walk. The Cours Saleya page has the days, and the old town page the rest of the streets. The old town walk links them to Castle Hill and the port.
Place Masséna and the Promenade du Paillon
Park 7:00 to 21:00 to 31 March 2027 · 7:00 to 23:00 from 1 April
Place Masséna has red arcaded façades and, after dark, Jaume Plensa’s seven lit figures. The 14.5-hectare Promenade du Paillon begins at its edge, with a 3,000 square metre reflecting pool with 128 water jets, a mist garden, wooden sea-animal play sculptures and a carousel in the Albert I garden. The pool’s own hours are shorter than the park’s.
Port Lympia
Free · beyond Castle Hill
The port shows another Nice: the traditional wooden pointus boats in the basin, the quays and their cafés. Tram line 2 stops at Port Lympia.
Mont Boron forest park
Free · open all year · 57 hectares
A hill between Nice and Villefranche with 11 km of walking trails and a view over the Côte d’Azur.
Nice and the bay through the pines from Mont Alban, beside Mont Boron. Photo: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Cimiez olive grove and monastery gardens
Grove 8:30 to 18:00 to 31 March, to 20:00 from 1 April · monastery garden 8:30 to 18:00 to 31 March, to 20:00 from 1 April
Hundreds of century-old olive trees beside the Matisse museum, with lawns, playgrounds and toilets, and next to them the monastery’s rose garden and the cemetery where Matisse is buried. Cimiez puts it on one map, and the Cimiez walk walks it.
Sainte-Réparate cathedral
Monday to Friday 9:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 18:00
The Baroque cathedral on Place Rossetti, with a tiled dome. Saturday and Sunday hours differ: the old town page has them.
The nave of Sainte-Réparate cathedral. Photo: Miguel Mendez, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
The Franciscan museum and the World Heritage centre
Franciscan museum Monday to Friday 10:00 to 12:00 · Centre Nice Patrimoine Mondial Monday to Friday 10:00 to 17:00
The Franciscan museum is in the Cimiez monastery and shows paintings, sculptures and manuscripts on the friars’ life in Nice from the 13th to the 18th century. The Centre Nice Patrimoine Mondial, at 75 quai des États-Unis, explains the World Heritage property with photographs, archives and a 3D model.
The public beaches
Free · pebbles
The public stretches along the Promenade cost nothing; the clubs charge for sunbeds. Nice beaches separates them.
The Chagall museum on the first Sunday
Free for everyone · 1 November, 6 December 2026, 3 January, 7 February 2027
The national Chagall museum is free on the first Sunday of every month. It shuts from 13:00 to 14:30 in November and December 2026. The Chagall museum page has the hours.
The viewpoints
| Viewpoint | Price | What you see | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castle Hill belvédère | Free | The Baie des Anges, the city, the hills and the Préalpes, from 92 m | 8:30 to 18:00 from 1 November |
| Quai Rauba Capeu | Free | The bay, the Promenade and the coast, from the foot of Castle Hill | - |
| Mont Boron | Free | The whole Côte d’Azur | Open all year |
| Cimiez monastery terrace | Free | The Paillon valley and the sea | In the monastery garden |
| Ponchettes steps | Free | The Cours Saleya | Opposite Place Pierre Gautier |
| Tour Bellanda terrace | €5 with the Bellandarium | The bay | Tuesday to Saturday 9:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:00 |
| Tour Saint-François | €5; free under 18 | 360 degrees, with four orientation tables, after 288 steps | One weekend a month: 28 and 29 November, 19 and 20 December 2026, 23 and 24 January, 27 and 28 February, 27 and 28 March 2027 |
The Tour Saint-François climb lasts about 30 minutes and is closed in rain or wind.
Looks free, is not
- The City’s museums. Matisse, Masséna and Chéret are €10 and the others €5; the 4-day Museums Pass is €15. Best museums in Nice has the list.
- The Russian cathedral. The tourist office prints €10 for adults. The cathedral page has the hours.
- The beach clubs. A sunbed at La Plage de l’Opéra is €30 a person.
- The towers and the crypt. The Bellandarium, the Tour Saint-François and the archaeological crypt are €5 each.
- The French Riviera Pass (€30 for 24 hours) pays only on a day with about €30 of paid sights: is it worth it?
The order that works: the Cours Saleya and the fish market in the morning, Castle Hill after lunch, the Promenade at the end of the day; Cimiez for a second day. What to skip: the Promenade at the airport end, where the Mercantour bridge works are.
Practical information
- Getting around: Nice’s centre is on foot; bus and tram tickets are €1.70 a journey. Nice public transport has the fares.
- Families: Nice with kids sorts the playgrounds, the beaches and the little train by age.
- The one thing that ruins a day: expecting the museums to be free, or arriving at Castle Hill after 18:00 in winter.
What to book in Nice has the hours and closed days of every sight, and things to do in Nice lists the paid ones with their prices. For a bed, see where to stay in Nice and hotels near the Promenade des Anglais. The Christmas village is free from 27 November: Nice at Christmas 2026. 3 days in Nice builds a plan around the free sights and the closed days.
Common questions
What is free to do in Nice?
The Promenade des Anglais, Castle Hill, the Cours Saleya and fish markets, the Promenade du Paillon, the public beaches, the Mont Boron forest park, the Cimiez olive grove and monastery gardens, and the Sainte-Réparate cathedral.
Are the museums free in Nice?
No. The Matisse, Masséna and Chéret museums cost €10 and the other City museums €5. The only free day is the first Sunday of the month at the national Chagall museum, for everyone.
Where are the free viewpoints in Nice?
Castle Hill, which is 92 metres above the bay, Quai Rauba Capeu at its foot, the Mont Boron forest park, the terrace of the Cimiez monastery garden and the Ponchettes steps.
Is the Russian cathedral in Nice free?
No. The tourist office prints €10 for adults. You can see the building from outside for nothing.
Is Castle Hill free?
Yes. It is open every day, from 8:30 to 18:00 from 1 November and until 20:00 from 1 April. The Bellandarium in the Tour Bellanda costs €5.
Which day is the Chagall museum free?
The first Sunday of each month: 1 November and 6 December 2026, then 3 January and 7 February 2027.
