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Sightseeing Overview
The center of Nice is easy to explore as it tumbles southwards from the main railway station to the Promenade des Anglais, the waterfront boulevard that is one of the most famous streets in France.

Behind the pebbly beach (Nice has no sandy beach) is the old town with its rambling old lanes. This is the charismatic heart of the city and it contrasts well with the belle époque buildings that line the waterfront and the west of the city.

Beyond the pleasures of its myriad restaurants, bars, clubs and hotels, there are also a cluster of excellent cultural oases: the highlights are the Musée Matisse, Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, the Musée des Beaux-Arts and the newly revamped Musée Massena.

However visitors spend their days, they are usually drawn back outside to savour another languorous evening that begins with a stroll along the dashing Promenade des Anglais.

Tourist Information
Nice Tourist Office
5 Promenade des Anglais
Tel: (08) 9270 7407.
Website: www.nicetourisme.com

The city’s main tourist office is located right in the city center (see address above). The helpful staff dispense insider information as well as hand out maps and brochures. They can also arrange tours and accommodation, as well as excursions outside of the city. Other branches of the tourist office are located at terminal one at the airport and also in the main railway station.

Key Attractions:

Promenade des Anglais
This waterfront boulevard still retains a faded charm, backed up with grand fin-de-siecle hotels on one flank and the Mediterranean on the other. Those who crave sand between their toes may want to avoid the pebbled expanse of frazzled bodies on the ‘beach’. Alternatively, join the rollerbladers posing on the promenade above.

Musée Massena
This stunning collection reopened in spring 2008 after a massive revamp. It is housed in a gem of a building, with 23 exhibit rooms that tell the story of Nice as well as welcome temporary exhibitions. The lavish gardens are worth the visit alone.

65 Rue de France
Tel: (04) 9391 1910.

Musée Matisse
Works on show by the one time Nice resident include his Blue Nude IV and Woman with Amphora. Nearby, Matisse devotees can also visit his grave in the grounds of the Monastère de Cimiez.

164 avenue des Arènes de Cimiez
Tel: (04) 9381 0808.
Website: www.musee-matisse-nice.org

Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain
Modern art in a strikingly designed gallery with the highlights the work of Warhol and Lichtenstein, as well as an array of domestic avant garde artists. Look out also for the bizarre sculpture of the Loch Ness monster.

Promenade des Arts
Tel: (04) 9713 4201.
Website: www.mamac-nice.org

Musée des Beaux-Arts
There a number of interesting works on display in this impressive cultural oasis, which is housed in a lavish early 20th-century building. Sculptures by Rodin and Degas mingle with painting by Van Dongen and Monet. Well worth the visit.
33 avenue des Baumettes

Tel: (04) 9215 2828.
Website: www.musee-beaux-arts-nice.org

Further Distractions:

Orthodox Cathedral
Nice’s Russian orthodox cathedral is dedicated to St Nicholas and is a national monument. It is impossible to miss with its distinctive half dozen gleaming onion domes. Its 17th-century appearance belies the fact that it was built in 1859, but it still claims to be the oldest orthodox cathedral in Western Europe.

17 boulevard du Tzarewich
Tel: (04) 9396 8802.

Parc du Château
This lofty park rises above the city center and offers a cool and shady place to relax on a hot summer day. The views of Nice and the Mediterranean are worth the effort of climbing up to the spot where the Greeks first set up shop when they colonized the area.

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Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile Arenes d'Arles (Roman Amphitheater in Arles) Bayeux Tapestry (Tapisserie de Bayeux) Cave of Lascaux (Grotte de Lascaux) Chartres Cathedral (Cathedrale de Chartres) Chenonceau Castle (Chateau de Chenonceau) Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie Claude Monet's House and Water Garden (Maison de Claude Monet et Le Jardin d'eau) D-Day Beaches (Plages du Debarquement de la Bataille de Normandie) Disneyland Resort Paris Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel) Louvre (Musee du Louvre) Mont Saint-Michel Abbey (Abbaye du Mont Saint-Michel)	Musee d'Orsay (Orsay Museum) Palace of Versailles (Chateau de Versailles) Parc Asterix Paris Notre-Dame Cathedral (Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris) Pere Lachaise Cemetery (Cimitiere du Pere Lachaise) Planete Futuroscope Popes' Palace (Palais des Papes) Regional Nature Park of the Volcanoes of Auvergne (Parc Naturel Regional des Volcans d'Auvergne) Rocamadour Sacre Coeur Basilica, Montmartre (Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre) St Benezet Bridge (Pont St-Benezet) The Walled Town of Carcassonne (Cite de Carcassonne)