Nice walking tours compared: the City's English walks on Mondays, a free tips-based walk at 10:55, paid walks from €23 and the e-bike and Segway tours

💡 The Short Version: For the cheapest guide, take the City’s English walk, Mondays at 10:00 for 1 hour 30 minutes (€8 on the French Riviera Pass’s list), booked at vah.nice.fr. For any other morning, a tips-based walk leaves the Sun Fountain on Place Masséna daily at 10:55, takes 2 to 2.5 hours and must be booked. Paid walks start at €23 (Walkative, 2.5 hours in English), with NiceFunTours’ 135-minute walk at €26 rated 4.8 from 1,035 reviews. Four of the five paid walks include Castle Hill; none lists an entry ticket. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices in euros. Or book now: the Old Town and Castle Hill walkad is from €26 and the English walk with the Promenadead from €23 (GetYourGuide).

The tours compared

Ratings on GetYourGuide are 4.7 from 226 reviews for Walkative, 4.8 from 1,035 for NiceFunTours, 4.8 from 112 for Esplouratour, 4.9 from 379 for Nice Ideal Tours and 4.7 from 426 for Nice Creative Tours. Each lists free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

A stepped lane between ochre houses in the old town. Photo: Lamiot, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The City’s English walks

Mondays at 10:00 · 1 hour 30 minutes · booking compulsory · about €8

The Centre du Patrimoine runs two walks for visitors who do not speak French, The Old Town and When Nice invented the Riviera, from its office at 14 rue Jules-Gilly. Book at vah.nice.fr. The French Riviera Pass’s price list gives €8 for each. The Centre du Patrimoine is closed 2 to 6 November 2026 and reopens on 9 November.

The free walk

Tips-based · daily at 10:55 · 2 to 2.5 hours · English · prior booking mandatory

Free Walking Tours Nice runs a tips-based walk from the Sun Fountain beside the Apollo statue on Place Masséna, with a guide in a red T-shirt carrying a red umbrella. It passes Place Masséna, the Opera House, the Cours Saleya, Place Rossetti, the Palais de Justice and the Promenade des Anglais, and ends on Castle Hill, where the operator says an elevator is available for strollers. The operator says most guests tip between €10 and €50, and groups of five or more pay a flat €10 each.

The Palais de Justice on Place du Palais de Justice. Photo: trolvag, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Paid walks

Old Town and Castle Hill with NiceFunTours

From €26 · 135 minutes · up to 20 people · English · 4.8 stars from 1,035 reviews

The walkad starts at the fountain on Place Masséna, passes the Town Hall, the Opera House and the Palais de Justice, goes through Place Rossetti and a flower market, and finishes on Castle Hill. It is the best-reviewed paid walk here.

Old Town and Castle Hill with Nice Ideal Tours

From €29 · 2.5 hours · English · 4.9 stars from 379 reviews

The walkad starts at the Centenary Monument on the Promenade, spends 20 minutes each at the monument and Place Masséna, an hour in the old town, 15 minutes at the flower market and 35 on Castle Hill.

Old Town and Promenade with Walkative

From €23 · 2.5 hours · English · 4.7 stars from 226 reviews

The walkad starts at Place Masséna, goes along the Promenade des Anglais past the Negresco, and covers the Opera House, the Cours Saleya and Place Rossetti. It is the cheapest paid option here.

Old Town Treasures with a tasting, and the 2-hour walk

Nice Creative Tours’ Old Town Treasures walkad takes up to 14 people, is wheelchair-accessible and stops for a tasting at a local café. Esplouratour’s walk with a certified guidead is wheelchair-accessible, 2 hours, in French and English, from €27. For eating tours see Nice food tours.

On wheels

All four are Mobilboard Nice’s, which also lists a bike or e-bike rentalad from €10.

Doing it yourself

The old town walk is the self-guided version, a route on a map from Place Masséna to Port Lympia with the days each stop is open, and the Cimiez walk does the same for the museum hill. Old Town Nice has the sights, the closed days and the entry prices, Castle Hill the two ways up and the Promenade des Anglais a stop-by-stop walk. None of the walks above lists an entry ticket: the Palais Lascaris and the Bellandarium are €5, the Matisse and Masséna museums €10. The hop-on hop-off bus covers the ground without a guide, and free things to do in Nice gathers what costs nothing.

Before you go

• Meeting points: four of the walks start at the fountain on Place Masséna, so check your operator’s meeting point in the booking confirmation. The free tour’s guide carries a red umbrella.
• Mondays: the Cours Saleya holds the antiques market instead of the flower market, so a Monday walk shows a different market.
• The one thing that ruins a walk: arriving at the Centre du Patrimoine on the wrong day. The City’s English walks run on Mondays only, and the office is closed 2 to 6 November 2026.

What to book in Nice lists the closed days, and things to do in Nice puts the walks in context. Is the French Riviera Pass worth it? has the City walk’s price on its list, and 3 days in Nice puts a walk on a morning. Where to stay in Nice compares the areas.