Walk 49 – Promenade des Anglais, Nice, France – 5.5 miles

This walk takes you along the entire length of the promenade in Nice, between the harbour and Parc Phoenix next to the airport. You will also explore Castle Hill Park (Parc de la Colline du Château), a 19 hectare maze of greenery perched high up above Nice old town, with many areas to be discovered including an impressive waterfall.

Click HERE to view or follow a map of the route

Parking available at harbour or on-street. Place Garibaldi also easily accessible by tram and bus.

Route: Starting at Place Garibaldi, head towards the harbour along Rue Catherine Segurane. When you are in line with the end of the harbour (there is a nice viewpoint a little off the street), look for a minor road on your right leading uphill – Montée Montfort. From the top of this road there are various paths and staircases you can take to reach the Colline du Château area- take time to explore a little before descending down the staircase next to the lifts. This will take you onto the beginning of the promenade. Follow the Promenade des Anglais as far as you wish to. We went all the way to Parc Phoenix beside Nice Airport, because we were meeting family there. If you want to do the same then turn right off the Promenade des Anglais at Avenue Charles Buchet where you will soon reach the entrance to the park. Return via bus to Place Garibaldi.

WALK REPORT: 7th May 2016

When I first found out we were going to Nice on holiday to visit family I instantly thought about doing a couple of walks for my 100 walk challenge while I was there. One which came to mind was the walk along Promenade des Anglais, which I had never done in it’s entirety despite numerous visits to the city! Today was to be the day – our last full day before returning to Scotland. My husband and I arranged to meet the others at Parc Phoenix at the far end of the prom and spend a few hours there entertaining the kids before taking the bus back to the apartment. We started from Place Garibaldi, making a quick pit stop at Pâtisserie Cappa to pick up some pain au chocolat!

Nice1 — View across to the harbour from Rue Catherine Segurane. It was gone by the time we did this walk, but a few days prior a HUGE luxury cruise liner was berthed here: it was called Octopus, and was so impressive that we actually googled who it belongs to. I mean, who would own or have any need for such a massive yacht?! It turns out to be owned by the co-founder of Microsoft Paul Allen – read some crazy facts about it HERE

Castle Hill Park is an area I have visited a few times on holidays to Nice and it never fails to impress. Once up there, I can’t help but think how strange it feels to be in such a quiet, green place right in Nice city centre! And the views from the top are just spectacular – you can see all the way along Nice promenade (where we would soon be walking!). There is so much to see in the park I still don’t think I have seen all of it. No castle, despite the name, however there are some remains of it here and there such as in the photo below. There is a large play area for kids, a lovely waterfall which is very refreshing in the summer because it gives a welcome spray if you stand in the right place, and loads of little footpaths and staircases leading here and there. You could spend hours exploring it!

As we walked along the prom I tried not to stare too much at the inviting turquoise waters of the Med and instead looked out for interesting features on the street side, such as these beautiful buildings.

Nice9 — This particular building is very interesting: the wall facing you (to the left) is actually completely flat – there are no windows, no shutters or little balconies. It has all been perfectly painted on to give the impression of being real!! Stunning!

Some typical features of the promenade included huge palm trees, rows of bright blue bikes for hire, and white sheltered seating areas. These looked perfect to cool down and relax in on a summers day – watching the joggers, cyclists and roller bladers do their thing on one side, and admiring the sparkling turquoise Mediterranean on the other.

Nice10 — The city of Nice tourist train! The kids would have loved this! Also in the background you can see 2 quirky features to be found on the prom: on the right – a giant two-dimensional blue chair sculpture which was erected in memory of the iconic blue chairs which once lined the Promenade des Anglais (now replaced by white benches). And on the left the rather ugly brown steel ‘Neuf Lignes Oblique‘, which apparently symbolises the nine valleys of the old County of Nice and surrounding mountains.

Once in Parc Phoenix at the end of the walk I was once again snap happy photographing all the amazing flowers! It is a great place to visit especially if you have kids: it is a 7 hectare park with play areas, musical fountains, waterfalls, exotic birds, turtles, over 2,500 species of plants….. a great place to end this walk!