Walking Tours of Nice

Walking tours are a great way to discover the history, secret places and surprising stories of Nice.  And some are even FREE!

History Headquarters in Old NiceThe official History Headquarters of Old Nice (Centre de Patrimoine) can be found at the top of Cours Saleya, 14 rue Jules-Gilly. They offer 2 different weekly 90-minute walking tours in English with professional guides for just just 8€.  Reservations are a must, either in person or online. The site is only in French but if you scroll down past all the different French tours you’ll come to these two tours that are described in English, and that is where you can reserve your ticket.

On Mondays at 9:30am (10am Oct-March) they give a tour in English called When Nice Invented the Riviera which leaves from the UNESCO World History office at 75 quai des Etats-Unis (just through the archway at the bottom of Cours Saleya.)

On Tuesdays at 10am (9:30am from April) they give a tour of Old Nice in English, and leave from their bureau at Centre de Patrimoine (pictured), at the top of Cours Saleya.

The main tourist office also promote a range of tours by outside vendors (but a lot more expensive).

A medieval column built into a wallFREE Walking Tours

GuruWalk offers 10 different free walking tours in English around Nice with a range of start times so easy to find a free tour that fits perfectly into your vacation schedule!  They even have a free walking tour from Nice to Villefranche-sur-mer.  There is no fee but you can tip your guide at the end if you liked it, which pretty much guarantees it will be good!

Riviera Bar Crawl Tours  most popular tours are their daily FREE walking tours of Old Nice in English.  It starts at 11am at the Apollo statue at Place Massena, lasts 2 hours, and you can tip your guide at the end if you enjoyed it, but there is no fee.  They also do a  free night walking tour, leaving at the same place but at 6pm.  Reservations a must via their site.

The Ville de Nice also offers free tours in English with volunteer greeters, locals that are not professional guides, but possess a passion for Nice that they want to share.  Each Greeter has been vetted for quality by the tourist office, and offers a specialized tour based on his/her interest/expertise, so the tours can range from history, shopping, urban hiking, architecture, churches, gardens, to themed walks on virtually every subject, and whereas the facts might be a little fuzzy, the passion is clear and the price is definitely right!

Self-guided Walking Tours

Nice Uncovered by Jeanne OliverIf you would rather go at your own pace, order Nice Uncovered by Jeanne Oliver, which is in English and offers seven different walking tour itineraries in Nice with in-depth explanations.  It’s 15€ and also available locally at the Massena Around the World English bookstore at 58 rue Gioffredo, tram stop Massena

Or better yet, just hit the easy button: charge up your phone, plug in your earbuds, and for 9€ download Jeanne’s VoiceMap Audioguide Walking Tour! Let your offline GPS (no roaming fees) guide you… and Jeanne’s voice will play automatically at the right place and the right time, telling you all about the various sites.

New for 2025, the city has posted QR codes on some of the most notable streets in Old Nice, linking to a brief historical summary and some vintage photos.  For the moment most are in French but they are all in the process of getting translated into English (in the meantime, hello Google Translate!).

Unusual Tours

Right in Old Nice there is a fun and dynamic tour company that offers innovative tours… their most popular tours are a walking/eating tour of Nice, or a vineyard e-biking tour in the hills above Nice with a picnic among the vines.   Of if you are staying closer to the Negresco, Bike&Wine does a similar tour.

But in the meantime, here is my quick history round-up, plus a few wild stories about Nice that you may or may not hear on your tour…

Photo credits: Best of Nice

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