In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The paid sights, with prices: Matisse €10, Masséna €10, Chéret €10, the Chagall museum €12 while an exhibition runs and €10 otherwise, the Palais Lascaris €5 and the Russian cathedral €10. The Promenade des Anglais, Castle Hill, the Cours Saleya and the old town are free. Tuesday shuts Matisse, Chagall, Masséna and Lascaris; Monday shuts the Chéret, Photography and Natural History museums. MAMAC and the Terra Amata museum are closed. Castle Hill closes at 18:00 from 1 November and the coastal cruise ends on 1 November 2026. Prices are in euros. Or book a tour: the open-top electric car tourad is from €51 and the Old Town and Castle Hill walkad from €26 (GetYourGuide).
The sights at a glance
Prices are the adult rate in euros, from each operator. What to book in Nice has the hours.
| Sight | Price | Closed |
|---|---|---|
| Musée Matisse | €10 | Tuesday |
| Musée Chagall | €12 while an exhibition runs; €10 otherwise; free on the first Sunday | Tuesday; 13:00 to 14:30 in November and December 2026 |
| Musée Masséna | €10 | Tuesday |
| Musée des Beaux-Arts Jules Chéret | €10 | Monday |
| Palais Lascaris | €5 | Tuesday |
| Archaeology museum, Cimiez | €5 | Tuesday |
| Photography, Naïve Art and Natural History museums | €5 each | Photography and Natural History on Monday; Naïve Art on Tuesday |
| Russian Orthodox Cathedral | €10, as the tourist office prints it | Sunday 9:00 to 12:00 |
| Castle Hill | Free; Bellandarium €5 | Bellandarium Sunday and Monday |
| Promenade des Anglais | Free | Never |
| Cours Saleya market | Free | Flowers not on Monday |
| Old town | Free | |
| Little train | €12; €6 aged 4 to 12 | |
| Nice Le Grand Tour bus | €24 for 1 day | |
| MAMAC | Closed for renovation since 7 January 2024 | |
| Terra Amata museum | Closed since 15 April 2026 |
Tours worth paying for
Four guided options earn their price. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person. For tickets, the operator’s own price comes first.
The Old Town and Castle Hill walking tour
From €26 · 135 minutes · 4.8 stars from 1,035 reviews
Nice Old Town and Castle Hill: Guided Cultural Walking Tourad is the best-reviewed walk. Nice walking tours compares it with the City’s English walks and the free ones.
The one-hour coastal cruise
€23.50 from Trans Côte d’Azur · from €30 on GetYourGuide · 1 hour · 4.6 stars from 3,751 reviews
Trans Côte d’Azur sells its own cruise round Cap de Nice, along the Promenade and into Villefranche bay at trans-cote-azur.co.uk, at 11:00 and 15:00, not on Mondays, to 1 November 2026. Nice: 1h sightseeing cruise to Villefranche bayad is the same operator’s cruise at about €6 more.
Open-top electric car and mini Fiat tours
Electric car from €51 · mini Fiat from €42 · 2 hours each · 4.9 stars
Nice: Panoramic Riviera Guided Tour by Open-Top Electric Carad has 1,583 reviews and is sold by NiceCar. From Nice: Follow a live guide in an electric mini Fiat on the French Riviera!ad has 1,431 reviews and is sold by Riviera Drive Experience. NiceCar also lists a self-drive electric car with a guidead from €42.
Segway, electric quad and perfume workshop
Segway from €35 · quad from €110 for up to two · perfume workshop from €65
Nice: Guided Segway Tourad takes 1 to 1.5 hours and has 581 reviews; Nice: Grand Tour by Segway through Old Town & Castle Hillad is from €60. From Nice: Panoramic Tour on a 100% Silent Electric Quadad takes 2 hours, with a 5.0 rating from 418 reviews. Molinard Parfums Nice: Discovery Perfume Workshopad takes 45 minutes and has 1,103 reviews.
The big sights
Musée Matisse and the Chagall museum
Matisse €10 · Chagall €12 or €10 · both closed Tuesday
The two museums that most visitors pay for. The Matisse page covers the bag rules and the Matisse and Alex Katz exhibition to 18 January 2027. The Chagall page covers the lunch closure and the free first Sundays. Cimiez puts the Roman site and the monastery gardens on the same hill, and the Cimiez walk goes round it from the Chagall museum.
The Promenade des Anglais
Free · almost 7 km
The seafront, with the blue chairs, the Negresco and Quai Rauba Capeu. The Promenade page walks it from the airport end to Castle Hill. The beaches are pebbles, free on the public stretches.
Castle Hill
Free · 8:30 to 18:00 from 1 November
A park with a waterfall and a belvédère 92 metres above the bay. Castle Hill has the two ways up and the Bellandarium.
The old town and the Cours Saleya
Free · markets Tuesday to Sunday, antiques on Monday
Baroque streets, the Palais Lascaris, the Sainte-Réparate cathedral and the markets. The old town page and the Cours Saleya page have the days, and the old town walk puts them in walking order.
The old town’s roofs and the Sainte-Réparate dome from Castle Hill. Photo: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Russian Orthodox Cathedral
€10 · closed to visitors on Sunday mornings
A Moscow-style church with an iconostasis and a crypt museum. The cathedral page has the hours.
Museums, free days and families
- Museums: best museums in Nice lists the City’s museums with prices, closed days and the €15 Museums Pass.
- Free: free things to do in Nice gathers what costs nothing, with the viewpoints.
- Families: Nice with kids sorts the playgrounds, the little train and Parc Phoenix by age.
- Passes: is the French Riviera Pass worth it? runs the sums.
Beyond the city
Day trips from Nice compares them all. Monaco is about 22 to 26 minutes by train from Nice-Ville, but the Prince’s Palace is closed until spring 2027. Èze is about 30 minutes by bus 82, and Villefranche-sur-Mer 7 minutes by train. Antibes, Cannes, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Grasse and Menton are on the same coast.
What to see
- The Promenade and the beaches. Free, any day.
- Castle Hill and the old town. Free, with the markets from Tuesday to Sunday.
- Matisse and Chagall. The two paid museums most visitors choose, on a Wednesday to Friday.
- The Palais Lascaris. The Baroque palace, €5.
- The little train or the cruise. The easy way to see the coast.
The order that works: 3 days in Nice builds the days round the closed days. What to skip: MAMAC and the Terra Amata museum, which are closed.
The decorated staircase landing at the Palais Lascaris. Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Practical information
- Closed Mondays: the Chéret, Photography and Natural History museums, the Bellandarium and the fish market. Closed Tuesdays: the Matisse, Chagall, Masséna, Lascaris, Archaeology and Naïve Art museums.
- Passes: the City’s Museums Pass is €15 for 4 days, and the French Riviera Pass is €30 for 24 hours.
- The one thing that ruins a visit: planning a Tuesday around Matisse, Chagall or Masséna, or expecting a museum to be free.
For a bed, see where to stay in Nice. Best time to visit Nice has the weather by month, and Nice public transport has the fares. For meals, see where to eat in Nice, best socca in Nice and Nice food tours. The dates that change a visit are in Nice Carnival 2027, Nice at Christmas 2026 and the Monaco Grand Prix 2027.
Common questions
What are the best things to do in Nice?
The Promenade des Anglais, Castle Hill, the Cours Saleya markets and the old town cost nothing. The Matisse and Chagall museums, the Palais Lascaris, the Russian cathedral and the little train are the paid sights.
What is closed in Nice on a Monday?
The Chéret, Photography and Natural History museums, the Bellandarium, the fish market and the archaeological crypt. The Cours Saleya has its antiques market instead of flowers.
What is closed in Nice on a Tuesday?
The Matisse, Chagall, Masséna, Lascaris, Archaeology and Naïve Art museums. The Chéret, Photography and Natural History museums are open.
Which museums in Nice are closed for renovation?
MAMAC, closed since 7 January 2024, and the Terra Amata prehistory museum, closed since 15 April 2026 for accessibility work.
Is Nice worth visiting in winter?
Yes: the museums, the markets, Castle Hill, the Promenade and the old town are open. Castle Hill closes at 18:00, the Matisse museum at 17:00, and the coastal cruise ends on 1 November 2026.
How many days do you need in Nice?
Three days cover the old town, the Promenade, Castle Hill, the Cimiez hill with the Matisse and Chagall museums, and a day trip by train. The closed days decide the order.
