Vieux Nice (Old Nice), France: Part 1 - Adjacent Areas and Cours Saleya

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Lightbox (97) Tags: architecture europe france guidebook history landmarks nice tourist-attraction Posted: Feb. 16, 2010 by Bysilot

The original idea behind this photo gallery had much larger scope. I wanted to create a comprehensive photo guide to Vieux Nice (a.k.a Vieille Ville or Old Town Nice). However, the lack of time and proper organization of my effort resulted in something more modest. Still, I believe with the material I have it is possible to convey the atmosphere and environment of the Vieux Nice - area where the city of Nice (Nicaea) was probably founded around 350 BC by Greeks.

What you can find today in Old Town, does not go back more than 300 years ago with most buildings constructed in 18th and 19th centuries. Perhaps the oldest thing you can find in Old Nice (or near it) is the ruins of the Chateau on top of a rocky hill located in the eastern side of Vieille Ville. Interestingly, even today, Old Town is a place that hosts several government departments. Most notably they are Le Palais de la Prefecture, which is home to the President of the General Council and the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes and Le Palais de Justice - a home to the city law courts.

Naviquan Vieux Nice tour - itinerary. Time to complete the mission
depends on your pace. In a hurry, you can probably do it in 30
minutes. If you really interested in Old Town, allocate at least 3 or 4
hours.

You can find many examples of interesting architecture in Vieux Nice; most likely that will be some churches and cathedrals in Baroque and neoclassical styles. But I bet that's not the reason why Vieux Nice is one of the main attractions in Nice today with huge crowds of visitors invading the area every day. It is the charm of the old that attracts many people to this place.

Old Town today is all about tourism - there are many hotels either in the historic district itself or in 5 - 10 minute walking distance from Old Town. There are endless food establishments of any kind in Old Town. Unfortunately both, hotels and restaurants, are really bad. Demand for services and food is so high that it looks like those who prove both simply do not see any reason to care about what and how they serve. No matter what they do, everything will be consumed - very often with flaming reviews on TripAdvisor and other similar places.

No doubt, tourism takes a toll on the same very reason why people are coming to see Vieux Nice. With crowds the captivating nature of the place has been gradually disappearing. I cannot say how it felt visiting Old Town 50 years ago; but changes for the worst are visible even during last 10 years. In no way I am trying to talk you out of visiting Old Nice. It is and will remain in foreseeable future an important tourist destination for many people interested in Europe, its history and culture. All you need to do is to set your expectations. Hopefully, the gallery below (with its second part found here) can give you an idea of Vieux Nice 2009 edition.

Vieux Nice - Adjacent Areas

View on Vieux Nice from Colline du Château (Castle Hill). Knowing nothing about Vieille Ville or Vieux Nice but just looking at this picture taken from Colline du Château (Castle Hill), you can easily identify the boundaries of Old Town Nice, France.	Another view on Vieux Nice from Colline du Château (Castle Hill) - on this picture you can better sea side of Vieux Nice, Quai des Etats Unis and the beginning of Promenade des Anglais.	I want to show some areas adjacent to Vieux Nice. This is Lycée Masséna on Avenue Felix Faure	Restaurant Hippopotamus (16 Avenue Felix Faure, 06000 Nice, France). It is not among the best restaurants in Nice.
View from Promenade des Anglais on Jardin Albert 1er and Casino Ruhl with Mercure hotel on top of it (building on the left).	Place Massena - Nice, France with Fontaine du Soleil	Another view on Place Massena - Nice, France. Building on the right in the background is Magasins Galeries Lafayette	Moving north-east through Jardin Albert 1er - recreational area. At this point a part of Vieux Nice is the right side and part is behind.
Gare Routière de Nice (bus terminal station: 5, Boulevard Jean Jaurès (close to Place Masséna and Vieux-Nice) )	A cozy place for knitting on Boulevard Jean Jaures; Vieux Nice is actually behind this guy.	Vieux Nice has a shape of a triangle with many street going in and out. This is rue Bunico (northern area of the Old Town); most of Vieux Nice is behind the photographer. This street exists into Boulevard Jean Jaures	This is rue des Ponchettes. It is located in the southern part of Vieux Nice and connects to Quai des Etats-Unis close to Ascenseur du Château
View on Ascenseur du Château (Nice, France) and stairs at the front of Colline du Château from the Quai des Etats Unis - this is a eastern end of Vieux Nice	This mini-train (Les Trains Touristiques de Nice) is a convenient way for a quick tour of Nice. Part of the tour goes through Vieux Nice. Although a convenient solution for quick sightseeing, it may be not the most comfortable - you will be jammed into a narrow car with four seats in every row. Train terminal is located on Promenade des Anglais (opposite Jardin Albert 1st)	A sign near the terminal of Les Trains Touristiques. The ride takes about 45 minutes and costs €7 (price 2009). Click thumbnail to enlarge it and you see that the train itinerary goes through Vieux Nice to the top of Colline du Château (Castle Hill).	As you can see, mini trains do not have problems to handle narrow streets of Vieux Nice.

Vieux Nice - rue Saint-François de Paule and Cours Saleya

There are numerous entrances to Old Town - we start our exploration at its western end with rue Saint-François de Paule that will continue as Cours Saleya. This part of the tour will look like a straight line where you will be walking in the direction parallel to the Promenade des Anglais towards Colline du Château.

Another entrance to Vieux Nice - rue Saint-François de Paule (center-right side of the photo). It starts at the eastern end of the Old Town and continues through it as very well-known Cours Saleya. If you take rue Desboutins (left side of the photo), you will actually miss Vieux Nice.	We are still on rue Saint-François de Paule - several steps from place on previous photo. Building on the left is Hotel de Ville, one of the historic buildings in Old Town Nice, France	We keep moving on rue Saint-François de Paule. On the right - restaurant Le Grand Balcon (10 Rue Saint-François de Paule 06300 Nice, France). It is very close to the opera house. Unfortunately, restaurant reviews are mixed.	Across the street - the store Souvenir de l'Opera
Church Saint-François de Paule - the 18th century built in a mixed Baroque - Neoclassic style	Looking back on restaurant Le Grand Balcon from the other side of rue Saint-François de Paule	I do not think there is a hotel with such name as &qout;Cresp&qout; in Nice, France as one could think looking at the sign on the building next to restaurant Le Grand Balcon. But there is a place called Le Charlot Bar on the ground floor of that building - a night club with strip shows. You can spend the whole night in this place.	Opéra de Nice (4 - 6 rue Saint-François de Paule 06364 Nice, France) built in 1885 by local architect François Aune in a style very close to Opéra Garnier in Paris especially with its grand staircase and painted ceiling. The production quality is very high. Good seats need to be reserved in advance for the opera performances.
Shop Maison Auer across the street from Opéra de Nice. It sells boxed chocolates and bars but mostly known for its preserved fruits since 1820.	Corner rue Raoul Bosio and rue Saint-François de Paule. A lot of places here to explore like Ma Nolan's one of the prominent (Irish, sort of) pubs in Nice (2 rue Saint-François de Paule 06364 Nice, France). It can be excellent or terrible depending on your mood and expectations. In reality it is just another joint in Vieux Nice.	Here we already standing on Cours Saleya - this gallery (passage Gassin) connects it with rue Cité du Parc and after crossing the latter with Quai des Etats-Unis.	It is very easy to find your way in Vieux Nice - not only it is small (and you can always look around and locate Colline du Chateau (Castle Hill) which is on the east side of old town), but there are also plenty of signs like the ones on picture showing directions to various landmarks.
Cours Saleya in Nice, France - a vibrant place for walks, eating out and meeting other people.	Often Cours Saleya is portrayed as a flower market. In reality, you can find almost everything during different market days - fruits, flowers, vegetables, antiques, arts and crafts.	Standing on Cours Saleya and looking back from where we came - rue Saint-François de Paule (center - left). Rue Louis Gassin is on the right. If take this street, in one block you will see Palais de Justice.	Looking onto rue Louis Gassin. If take this street, in one block you will see Palais de Justice (Law Court of Nice - it will be on you right). If you enlarge the photo, you will see the bell tower of Palais Rusca on the other side of the square opposite to Palais de Justice.
But let's continue our tour on Cours Saleya - on this photo you see BeefBar Junior (34 Cours Saleya, 06300 Nice, France - see blue canopy) and Bistro Romain (36, Cours Saleya, 06300 Nice, France). There is nothing about both that deserves special mentioning. Just for regular tourist consumption.	Another restaurant on Cours Saleya - L'Eclat du Cours (11, Cours Saleya, 06300 Nice, France). I would not go there either.	This picture shows how Cours Saleya is packed with restaurants. There is very little I can tell you about them, but mostly they serve their purpose of serving crowd and crowds of hungry tourists. So, if you are one of them, lower your expectations and take your chance.	La brasserie Le Saleya (11 Cours Saleya 06300 Nice, France). All I can say is that this one looks a bit cleaner than some other places on Cours Saleya.
Are we done with restaurants on Cours Saleya and it is time to look at markets in the middle of the street?	Le Palais de la Prefecture - home to the President of the General Council and the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes. It is located at the eastern end of Cours Saleya. There is a French flag on top of the building and usually one or two police cars.	A view across Cours Saleya markets onto another passage to Cité du Parc and Quai des Etats-Unis.	Cours Saleya (Vieux Nice) markets - this vendor sells olives and only olives.
Eastern end of Cours Saleya (towards Colline du Chateau or Castle Hill) becomes less crowded. Here is some art (of dubious qualities) on sale.	Nexus Caffe (14 Cours Saleya, 06300 Nice, France) - another sad story about eating on Cours Saleya.	This menu belongs to Nexus Caffe (14 Cours Saleya, 06300 Nice, France). I added this picture to the gallery to show you typical prices (year 2009) of a restaurant on Cours Saleya: Salade Nicoise €11.50, Soupe de poissons maison &euro13.00, Escargots &euro16.00, etc.	Yet another passage to Cité du Parc and Quai des Etats-Unis. Nexus Caffe I just mentioned is on the right side of the arch.
Place Charles Félix almost at the very end of Cours Saleya - Brasserie L'F (6 Place Charles Felix, 6300 Nice, France). Visitors are not happy with this one either.	Again a lot of olives on Cours Saleya. Price for 1 kg. - €13.90. But they look really good.	We are at the very end of Cours Saleya - it is time to look back.	We are standing on rue des Ponchettes. What you see through the arches is the end of Cours Saleya - the same very spot where the previous phot was taken.