France · Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur · Nice
Old Nice, Nice — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Old Nice is the historic old town of Nice, packed below Castle Hill (Colline du Château) at the eastern end of the seafront. Its lanes are lined with ochre houses and Baroque churches, a legacy of the centuries the city spent under the House of Savoy rather than France. The quarter is known for its produce market and its old chapels. It is small, dense, and walkable.
About Old Nice
Where to stay in Old Nice
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
Staying in Old Nice puts you inside the old town, minutes on foot from the beach, the market lanes, and the climb up Colline du Château. Rooms are mostly small hotels and converted townhouses along narrow lanes. Expect character over space.
After dark the bars and restaurants fill the squares, which suits visitors who want nightlife and sightseeing from one base. Light sleepers do better west of the Paillon or up in Nice's quieter hills, where the wider city keeps most of its beds.
About Old Nice
What are the main landmarks in Old Nice?
Baroque churches dominate the old town. The Chapelle de la Miséricorde de Nice and the Church of Gesù, Nice stand a few streets apart, and the Église Saint-François-de-Paule sits near the opera. Further north, the Église Saint Martin-Saint Augustin and the Église Sainte-Rita de Nice serve the lanes below Place Garibaldi, where the Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi honours the general born in the city.
Above it all rises Colline du Château, the wooded hill whose terraces give the widest view over the roofs and the bay. At the quarter's edge, the musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporain de Nice adds a modern note.
What is the history of Old Nice?
Its rulers sat in Turin, not Paris. Nice passed to the House of Savoy in 1388 and stayed under Savoyard and later Sardinian rule for centuries, which is why its churches follow the Italian Baroque and its streets carry Ligurian-style facades. The parish churches and chapels that fill the quarter were largely built in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Giuseppe Garibaldi, hero of Italian unification, was born here in 1807, a few streets from the square that now carries his name. Nice, and the old town with it, was ceded to France in 1860 after a popular vote.
Where is Old Nice?
The quarter sits at the foot of Castle Hill (Colline du Château), wedged between the sea and the covered course of the Paillon river. Its southern edge runs along the Quai des États-Unis, the seafront road that becomes the Promenade des Anglais further west. To the north it opens onto Place Garibaldi, where the musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporain de Nice marks the boundary with the newer city.
West of the Paillon lies the grid of the modern town centre. It covers only a few hectares.
Good for
More areas in Nice
Updated July 2026