The Nice Jazz Festival 2017, photo by Alain Morana
Here are my insider tips on making the most of The Nice Jazz Festival, July 16-20, 2019.
Arrival: Tight security causes a bit of an entry bottleneck at the start of the concerts, with the line sometimes wrapping around the block, but once the first concert gets underway the lines quickly abate. I recommend arriving around 8:15pm – you will miss a little of the first concert, but you will get right in, plus avoid the heat as that’s just when the sun dips behind the palms… perfect!
What to bring: To stay hydrated, bring an empty plastic bottle that you can refill in the water filling stations. Wear comfortable shoes or flip-flops; one stage has seats but the other main stage is standing room only. Between the two stages, you’ll find plenty of picnic tables and grassy space to relax. Bring a wrap to spread on the grass, which will also soften your seat if you are seated on the steps at the Verdure stage.
What to eat: Best food trucks are chez Pipo for socca, and Mother Trucker for artisanal cheeseburgers. The food truck lines are slow, but the music is great, so nobody seems to mind. At the drink stands you have to buy a reusable Nice Jazz Festival cup, so if you kept yours from last year, bring it.
Fan fun: After each set, the headliners on the Massena stage often pop out the side entrance behind the right side of the main stage to meet the fans, so that is where to hang out if you want to get an autograph or a quick selfie.
Free concerts: On Tuesday night the concerts on the Verdure stage are free, but space is limited to line up early at the entrance across from the sea.
Passes and discounts: The Nice Jazz Festival is one of the best music bargains on the Riviera, with 5-6 concerts a night for a ticket price of just 39€, and only 29€ if you are 16-25, over 65, a student of any age (bring proof!), or coming with a large family. Teens 10-16 are 17€, and kids under 10 are free. A festival pass for all 5 nights is just 130€, or get a 2-night pass for 60€. The ticket booth is on the other side of Place Massena, or buy online here.
Best parking deal: The best deal is to leave your car in one of the three free Parc Azur park-and-ride lots along the tram line,where parking is free upon presentation of your round trip tram ticket (3€, or 2€ if you have a 10-trip card). The tramway will be reinforced with extra trams, running every 10 minutes from 9pm to the end of the night.
Click here for the stellar line up…
See Related Pages: Nice Jazz Festival, Jazz Clubs in Nice, What do do in Nice in July, Summer in Nice: how to Beat the Heat in Nice
It’s a bit counter-intuitive, but winter can be one of the best times to come to Nice. Not only are 
Updated July 2: The 3 months of rolling strikes are finally over, but the train unions are making one last stand, and doing another 2-day strike July 6-7. 
This train strike is due to the projected privatization of the French train system, which is famously inefficient, late, and beset with surprise cancellations. The train workers’ union has amassed enormous power by threatening paralyzing transport strikes (often targeting peak travel weeks like spring break), resulting in an amazing array of perks for coddled train workers and their families …far beyond those of any other workers in France. Hence those privileged few will do anything to hold on to their awesome perks, including screwing up everyone else’s travel as much and as often as possible. Sympa!
Love it or hate it, the 
tried to write something each day since the horrendous truck attack in Nice, but my words seemed so inadequate I couldn’t bring myself to post them.
In the space of a week, the Promenade des Anglais has gone from one of the most beautiful spots in the world, to a horrific body-strewn massacre, to a sequestered crime scene, to a spontaneous memorial with shocked and silent mourners covering each and every blood stain with flowers, candles, notes, photos, and stuffed animals. Half the Prom remained closed most of the week as these early piles of flowers grew into mountains…
That night, knowing that the Prom had to eventually reopen, hundreds of people gathered in the moonlight to create a mile-long human chain, passing all the flowers, notes and toys, one-by-one, from the spot where each victim was felled, to a memorial at the gazebo, and when that was full, they lined the seaside.
Travel website GoEuro hand-picked a diverse group of travel bloggers to share their insider tips on the Cote d’Azur, and the result is 
If you like vintage glamour, second-hand chic, discount designer duds and unique fashion finds, put on your shopping shoes and head to Old Nice. Here is a circuit over just a couple of blocks where bargain hunters will find their bonheur in boutiques ranging from vintage to retro thrift stores.
In a state of shock after the attacks in Paris, the city of Nice has predictably doubled down on police and military presence, and cancelled all major city-sponsored events and shows over the weekend. But even though public gatherings this weekend were strictly forbidden by the Mayor’s office, this didn’t stop at least 200 people from spontaneously gathering Saturday evening at Place Garibaldi for a candle-lit homage to mourn the victims of the Paris attacks. Unfortunately, however, they weren’t the only ones to show up, as a well-known and rather vocal group of thirty barged on the scene, singing a loud and aggressive version of the French national anthem and brandishing signs with anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant slogans like ‘France for the French’.
The taxi union’s intimidation tactics succeeded in killing off the wildly popular bargain ride-sharing service Uber-Pop this week. …But from the ashes has emerged… Uber-X!
The scene itself should absolutely be experienced even if you don’t stay long, and since the elevator to the Chateau is free, and the festival is free, there is no
€50 million worth of original Picassos to the Fondation Picasso, and each get a two year (suspended) prison sentence, but they also each have to pay punitive damages of… 1€. So in other words, it was a crazy couple of years for the elderly couple, but now life goes on more or less just as before. I just hope ol’ cousin Teddy Bear takes pity on them and cuts them in on a little of his Picasso action!
