This is why you should visit Nice in the winter

If you think Nice is just a summer destination then think again. Here is our pick of what to see and do in Nice in winter

1. Enjoy a peaceful lunch beside the beach. Beau Rivage, Lido Plage and Blue Beach are three restaurants that are all open for lunch in the winter, serving food with a view that will be sure to make your Facebook friends back home jealous.

2. Italian-style hot chocolate. Café Antonia on Place Rossetti serves up generously sized cups of this chocolate goodness which you can enjoy inside on a chilly winter or take out to drink to the rhythm of the waves.

3. See Nice from up high. Head to Place Masséna where, only in the winter, can you ascend in a giant ferris wheel and enjoy a wonderful view of Nice and the Côte d’Azur.

4. Shop for the freshest produce at your own pace. The Cours Saleya market is renowned for its top-quality produce but, like all good things, people get to know about it and in high season it can be a bit of a bun fight. Drop by in winter and you’ll have all the space you could wish for to shop for your favourite comestibles.

5. Bag yourself a bargain in the winter sales. Nice, like the rest of France, takes part in the five-week, state-regulated winter sales and is home to a great range of designer boutiques and department stores which are nowhere near as packed as their Parisian counterparts during the winter sales period.

6. Go people-watching in the Old Town. In the high season this delightful part of the city is awash with tourists; however, a visit in the winter months will take you down streets full of locals, providing you with a fabulous insight into how the Niçois live their daily lives.

7. Listen to orchestral music for free. On Sunday afternoons during the winter the Orchestre d’Harmonie de Nice organises free concerts at the Église Notre Dame du Port which is perfect entertainment should the weather take a turn for the worst.

8. Visit the city’s art galleries without the crowds. Nice, the birthplace of Cézanne, today considered the father of modern painting, is home to excellent museums such as the Musée Matisse and Musée National Marc Chagall, which can both become overcrowded during the summer.

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