Overview
Nice was Savoyard until 1860, and the old town reads as Ligurian: tall narrow houses, painted shutters, baroque churches and washing across the streets. Sainte-Réparate cathedral and the Palais Lascaris, a seventeenth-century mansion with a musical instrument collection, are the set pieces. Streets are barely wide enough for two people, which keeps the cars out.
Highlights
Eat socca — chickpea flour pancake, served hot and peppered, standing up. The Cours Saleya market fills the eastern edge every morning. Come in the evening, when the lanes cool and fill, rather than at midday when the tour groups pass through.