Old Town Nice (Vieux Nice): what to see and skip, the Monday English walks and what is shut on Monday and Tuesday

💡 The Short Version: Vieux Nice is Baroque, built between 1642 and 1790 under the Duchy of Savoy, and most of it is free to walk. The paid sights are the Palais Lascaris (€5, closed Tuesday), the Photography museum (€5, closed Monday) and the archaeological crypt (€5). The City runs English-language walks on Mondays at 10:00, booking compulsory. Monday is the Cours Saleya antiques market; the fish market on Place Saint-François is shut. Tuesday to Sunday the flower and fish markets run in the morning. Castle Hill is at the east end, with the Tour Saint-François open one weekend a month. Prices are in euros. Or book a tour: the Old Town and Castle Hill walking tourad is from €26 and the English-language old town and Promenade walkad from €23 (GetYourGuide).

Tickets and prices

The streets, squares and markets are free. These are the paid sights in and beside the old town, with prices from the City’s pages.

The 4-day Museums Pass (€15) covers the Lascaris and Photography museums. The Tour Saint-François, the crypt and the City’s walks are sold by the Centre du Patrimoine at 14 rue Jules-Gilly and at vah.nice.fr; it is closed 2 to 6 November 2026 and reopens on 9 November. The crypt needs flat shoes, and its guided visit must be booked; the audio guide is in English. The Tour Saint-François has 288 steps, takes about 30 minutes and is closed in rain or wind.

The corner of Place du Jésus and Rue Droite. Photo: Fred Romero, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Tours worth paying for

The City’s English walks are the cheapest guided option. The paid walks below are GetYourGuide’s best-reviewed old town walks, at their lowest “from” prices, per person.

The City’s English walks

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

The Centre du Patrimoine runs The Old Town and When Nice invented the Riviera, both from the Centre du Patrimoine, 14 rue Jules-Gilly, for visitors who do not speak French. Book at vah.nice.fr. The French Riviera Pass’s list prices the old town walk at €8.

Old Town and Castle Hill: Guided Cultural Walking Tour

From €26 · 135 minutes · 4.8 stars from 1,035 reviews

Nice Old Town and Castle Hill: Guided Cultural Walking Tourad is sold by NiceFunTours.

Old Town and Promenade Walking Tour in English

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

Nice: English Walking Tour, Old Town & Promenade des Anglaisad is sold by Walkative Tours. Old Town Treasures Walking Tour & Local Food Tastingad, from €29 and 1.5 to 3 hours with 426 reviews, adds a tasting.

What to see

Nice belonged to the Duchy of Savoy for centuries and so has a Baroque heritage unusual in France, mostly in the old town and built between 1642 and 1790. The style was so complete that it swept away the earlier buildings.

1. The Cours Saleya. The old town’s market square. Flowers, fruit and vegetables Tuesday to Sunday mornings, and about 180 antiques dealers on Monday from 7:00 to 18:00. The Cours Saleya page has the days and what to buy. The Chapelle de la Miséricorde stands on the square, a Baroque chapel with murals by Bistolfi.
2. The Palais Lascaris. The City calls it the most remarkable civil Baroque monument in Nice, with a frescoed monumental staircase, decorated salons and a collection of musical instruments. Allow an hour.
3. Place Rossetti and the Sainte-Réparate cathedral. The cathedral dominates the square, with a colourful tiled dome and ten or so chapels once kept by wealthy families and guilds. Terraces fill the square, and the tourist office names the Fenocchio ice-cream parlour as part of its identity.
4. Place Saint-François. A clock tower, a Baroque former town hall first built in the 16th century and a fish market every morning except Monday, from 6:00 to 13:00, around the dolphin fountain.
5. The Photography museum. On Place Pierre Gautier, with temporary exhibitions of major photographers.
6. Castle Hill and the port. The hill is at the east end of the old town, and Port Lympia lies beyond it, where the traditional wooden pointus boats moor in the basin. Castle Hill has the two ways up.

The palais communal on Place Saint-François. Photo: Broenberr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

The order that works: the fish and flower markets first, before they close at 13:00; the Palais Lascaris from 10:00; the cathedral before noon or after 14:00; Castle Hill in the afternoon. On Monday, swap the fish market for the antiques market and take the 10:00 English walk. The old town walk puts these sights on a map in walking order, from Place Masséna to Port Lympia, with the days each is open. What to skip: the Photography museum unless an exhibition appeals; the archaeological crypt unless you like fortifications.

The tiled dome of Sainte-Réparate cathedral from a lane in the old town. Photo: GFreihalter, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Monday and Tuesday in the old town

Practical information

• Getting there: bus 12 serves the stops Opéra and Cathédrale along the old town, and bus 57 runs from Thiers station to Cathédrale Vieille Ville. Tram line 2 stops at Port Lympia. Nice public transport has the fares.
• Eating: socca, the chickpea pancake, is served on rue Droite and on the Cours Saleya: best socca in Nice names the counters and their days. Where to eat in Nice lists restaurants, and Nice food tours compares the guided tastings.
• The one thing that ruins a visit: arriving at the fish market after 13:00, or on a Monday, or expecting the Palais Lascaris on a Tuesday.

What to book in Nice has the hours of every sight. The Promenade des Anglais runs along the bay beside the old town. Best museums in Nice covers the museums, free things to do in Nice the viewpoints, and things to do in Nice lists the rest. Nice walking tours compares the free, City and paid tours. For a bed, see where to stay in Nice, and 3 days in Nice builds the old town into a plan.