Top 10 Sights for Kids Near Your Nice Apartment
This sunny city welcomes little visitors with open arms. Restaurants love kids and almost every establishment offers children's menus and high chairs. Our Nice apartments are mostly very kid-friendly (we have children, as do many of our owners), and every listing details the specific gear that is offered in each individual apartment. Cots, high chairs and baby's goody bags may all be reserved during the booking process.
For any kid, Nice's 5km-long beach is a dream. It's also a pretty attractive day out for parents too: in season, the coastal strip is surveyed by lifeguards, manned by a first-aid team and dotted with beach bars. Downtown, teens can revel in the city's superb art museums, try out hip French fashions (hit Pimkie or Kookai) or soak up the vibrant café culture, sipping espresso and Orangina on bustling car-free piazzas.
Still not sure what you'd like to do? Try our ten top child-friendly activities: each one gives families of all ages a great day out on the Cote d'Azur.
Hop-on Hop-off Bus
www.nicelegrandtour.com. €20 for adults, €5 for children under 11.
Parking in Nice is a pain, and little legs can quickly tire while 'doing the sights'. But fear not: Le Grand Tour is a double-decker, open-top bus, which circles 14 of Nice's top attractions in a 90-minute loop, including the Port, the Russian Church, the Matisse Museum in Cimiez and the Promenade. Families can hop-on and hop-off at leisure, as a constant stream of buses motor along the same loop at 40-minute intervals. Commentary is in many languages, although in our experience kids will tear of their headsets and point out beaches, castles and passing Ferraris from their unique vantage point.
Colline du Chateau
The castle hill towers above the Old Town and Port, separating these two ancient areas of the city. Its original function was defensive, as cannons could blast away at passing ships. But today, its primary function is that of a beautiful hilltop park. Kids can careen around ultra-modern climbing frames, swings and slides, and there's a smattering of cafés for parents. The entire environment is car-free. To get here, it's a stiff climb from either the Old Town or Port (five sets of steps guide the way up). The less sporty can opt for a ride up on the lift at the end of the Promenade (great for pushchairs), and the Colline is also on the route of Nice's electronic Petit Train. Adults may like to poke around the ancient ruins of this former defensive bastion, or wander through the fabulously ostentatious graveyards where Nice's mega-rich were sent off in style.
Petit Train de Nice
Jardins Albert 1er
www.trainstouristiquesdenice.com. €7 for adults, €4 for children under 9.
OK, so it looks a little silly. But Nice's little tourist train winds its away around the Old Town and Port, and it's a great way to get your bearings. The family-friendly ride takes in the Promenade, Place Massena and even climbs up to the Colline du Chateau, where there's a ten-minute stop. Your family could even jump off here and wander back down on your own. The multi-lingual commentary covers Nice's history and its principal attractions.
Musée International de Anatole-Jakovsky
Avenue de Fabron. Free.
As with all the municipal museums in Nice, this one is completely free. It's also the most colourful the city's galleries. Anatole Jakovsky was a bon vivant, art collector and lover of Naïve Art, a school that ranges from tribal sculptures to 3-D technicolour pieces, all of which has sufficient pizzazz to please young and old alike. Several exhibits are made out of felt, yarn and plastic. (We're kind of glad these artists didn't decorate any of our holiday rental apartments in Nice!) Several more mammoth structures sit in the grounds outside. Nearby is a small leafy park and, a short drive away, Nice's best mini-golf course.
Playing on the Promenade
Promenade des Anglais
The wide esplanade of the Promenade des Anglais stretches an amazing 5km. It ripples from the city's airport, past the centre of town, eventually wrapping its way around to the Port, with the section in front of the Old Town becoming a haven for buskers and performers on summer evenings. A slick cycle track also runs its entire length. Nice's bicycle-sharing scheme, Velo Bleu (www.velobleu.org), means that families with teens can rent bikes (one size only) from any of the electronic bicycle stands on the Promenade and go for a roll. Rental outfit Roller Station (www.roller-station.fr) also rents bikes, as well as skateboards, rollerblades and scooters for a few Euros per hour: all fun activities that are a great way for kids to meet new friends.
Confiserie Florian
14 Quai Papacino.
www.confiserieflorian.com. Free.
Confiserie Florian began as a little business dedicated to preserving the fresh fruit that arrived on ships in Nice's Port. It has since developed into one of the biggest jellied fruit producers in southern France. Better still, kids can visit the Confiserie's on-site workshop to check out scores of flavoured fruit being candied by hand—from orange slices to hunks of melon—then sample the goods afterwards. The fruit tastes wonderful; even local resident Matisse was a fan. Candy-making demonstrations take place throughout the day. Crystallised rose petals and fruit sirops are also available to purchase.
Parc Phoenix
405 Promenade des Anglais
www.nice.fr/Environnement/Parc-Phoenix. €2 for adults, free for children under 12.
Take bus 23 back towards the airport to visit Parc Phoenix: across between a botanical garden and a jungle theme park. Horticulturalists will marvel at over 2,500 plant species that are grown here, some rare, and all protected by the Mediterranean setting. The tropical greenhouse, 7,000-m2 and 25-m high, is one of the biggest in the world. It presents visitors with seven different tropical climates, from a forest of tree ferns to a vast collection of rare orchids. The Parc also houses many exotic species from the animal world. Marine animals such as sharks, rays, and spectacled Caymans all feature, as does a tribe of iguanas, brilliantly-feathered macaws, Chinese peacocks and nine birds of prey. There are seasonal exhibitions and kids' activities, ensuring that all age groups are catered for. Younger children will enjoy the extraordinary array of automated dinosaurs and mock temples.
Marineland
Biot-sur-Mer
www.marineland.fr. €36 for adults, €28 for children under 11.
Mega expensive it may be, but Marineland qualifies as a mega day out for most children. Highlights of this partly covered, partly open-air marine park are a glass tunnel that runs through a shark tank, a sea lion sanctuary and a penguin park. The killer whale and dolphin performances are amazing, although parents can decide whether it's a helpful learning experience or sorry situation to keep these marine mammals in captivity. If Marineland doesn't leave children contentedly exhausted, then the surrounding attractions certainly will. On the same site is Ferme du Far West, a Wild West playground for under 9s with a petting farm, electric pony rates and giant inflatable toys. More adventurous is the massive Aquasplash water park and Adventure Golf, with three 18-hole mini-golf courses.
Îles de Lérins
www.trans-cote-azur.com. Ferry from Nice: €34 for adults, €24 for children under 10. Ferry from Cannes: €12 for adults, €6 for children under 10.
Robinson Crusoe eat your heart out. Soaking up the sun in solitude off the coast off Cannes are two heaven-sent islands: Ile St-Honorat and Ile Ste-Marguerite. Both are sub-tropical nature reserves. Cars and smoking are banned, and the only sounds are lapping waves and picnicking families. These islands are popular on summer weekends but are still a decidedly tranquil retreat from the coastal bustle. On weekdays they are nearly deserted. As with all desert islands, you'll need to pack a picnic; wine and a bottle opener are heartily suggested. The snorkelling here is among the best on the entire coast, although sunbathing (and yes, there's plenty of shade) is performed on seaweedy beaches or on the rocks, as there's little sand to speak of. Well-signed pathways loop around both islands.
Train des Pignes
Gare de Chemins de Fer de Provence, 4 Rue Alfred Binet
www.trainprovence.com. Return to Digne-les-Bains from Nice: €17.40 for adults, €8.70 for children under 12.
This vintage set of rolling stock chugs its way from Nice's tiny Gare de Provence along rivers and over mountains, all the way to the ancient spa town of Digne-les-Bains. Although children will love the trip (the train bumps over viaducts and past fairytale hill villages, and you can sit right next to the driver), this route is not a tourist attraction in itself. Rather, it's a working line that still connects isolated villages in the sometimes-snowbound heights of Provence. With four daily trains in either direction, a day out on the rails is a real possibility. Visitors can jump on and off throughout the day, stopping off for country walks around Puget-Theniers, the Lord of the Rings style castle at Entrevaux, or the adventure sports hub of St-Andre-les-Alpes. Want to travel on an authentic choo-choo? On certain weekends between May and October a vintage steam engine hauls the carriages through the hills.
Copyright 2007 - 2012 Nice Pebbles. All rights reserved. Conditions and terms may apply.
