Car Rental Nice

Driving in Nice and around the Côte d’Azur is generally a pleasurable experience.

The tightly-packed Old Town is closed to traffic, but the outlying sights are easily accessible and there is lots of available parking in the city, including some spots where you can park free for up to an hour.

Nice Côte d’Azur Airport is ideally located, just 10km west of the city centre off the Promenade des Anglais (M6098). The drive from the airport to the centre of the city should take about 25 minutes.

Most of the main sights are huddled around the Old Town, but those farther afield are easily reached.

For those of an artistic nature, Musée Matisse is a 15-minute drive from the seafront on the Avenue des Arènes while Musée Marc Chagall can be accessed via the Tunnel André Liautaud or Boulevard Gambetta.

The pleasures of the Riviera are not too far away and are easily reached via the A8 motorway which runs the length of this beautiful coastline. Menton is 45 minutes east, on the A8 and then D2564.

Antibes is 40 minutes to the west on the A8, then D35BIS and D6107, while St Tropez is an hour and 40 minutes away via the A8, D125, D25 and D559.

The speed limit on the main highways – Autoroutes – is 130 kmh (110 kmh when wet). Autoroutes are toll roads, indicated by blue signs and marked ‘Péage’. Pay with cash or card.

Expressways are indicated by green road signs with a speed limit of 110km/h (100km/h when wet). The speed limit on main single carriageway roads is 90 km/h (80km/h when wet) and it’s 50km/h is built-up areas.

When buying petrol (essence), sans plomb is unleaded and gazole is diesel.

Nice is a city that will reward your exploration. The highlight is the glorious curve of the Bay of Angels, eight kilometres of the loveliest urban seafront in Europe hugging the majestic Mediterranean and fringed by the celebrated Promenade des Anglais.

But tear yourself away and there are many other delights to sample.

Where there’s a ville… 

The historic Vieille Ville, or Old Town, is nestled neatly between the seafront and Le Port. Amid the tightly packed warren of narrow streets sits the Cours Saleya, a pedestrian street that’s home to daily markets.

From Tuesdays to Saturdays the main square is filled with hundreds of stalls with brightly-coloured striped awnings selling fruit, vegetables and flowers. The whole scene is a riot of vivid colours and seductive aromas.

Regarding Henri (and Marc)

Nice is brimming with excellent galleries but if you only venture to one, make sure it’s the Musée Matisse, located just a short drive from the seafront up on Cimiez Hill.

Henri Matisse, one of the 20^th century’s most influential and innovative painters, lived in the capital of the Côte d’Azur from 1917 until his death in 1954.

Here, in a 17th-century villa, the city pays tribute to the artist with a superb collection of his art.

Another recommended museum is the Musée Marc Chagall, housing the eponymous painter’s most important Biblical works; 17 magnificent paintings depicting the Biblical Message.

An Orthodox beauty

Take some time to marvel at the city’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral, the most visited monument in Nice.

The interior is almost overwhelming in its extravagance, containing some 300 icons and other treasures brought from Russia during the turmoil of the Revolution.

Even if you only view the cathedral from outside, the exterior is still stunning, complete with a wealth of cupolas, mini steeples, turrets and polychrome tiles.

The coast with the most

The French Riviera has always attracted upmarket visitors, from the artists and writers who frequented the beautiful coast in the 19th and early 20th centuries to the high rollers of the 1920s.

Rent a car and you too can enjoy one of the most beautiful parts of France. A short drive east is picturesque Eze, a real gem of the Côte d'Azur.

This charming medieval village lies on a steep hilltop high above the Mediterranean Sea, with sweeping panoramas of the Cap-Ferrat coastline.

Further east along the Riviera, near the Italian border, is picture-perfect Menton. The Old Town has a distinctive Italian influence while beach-lovers can head straight for the Plage des Sablettes for some rays and a dip in the calm, warm waters of the Mediterranean.

Style and substance

Driving west from Nice is an equally enticing prospect. Only 40 minutes away is Antibes, a favourite of the Riviera cognoscenti.

This large port is also a real working town, friendlier and more low-key than its neighbours.

The real attraction here is the legendary beach scene. Sun worshippers have many choices, from large public beaches to private beaches with lots of excellent fine-dining restaurants and chic little beach-front bistros.

At the western extremity of the Côte d’Azur is that most stylish of resorts, Saint-Tropez, a one-time fishing village that was thrust into stardom by the famous actress Brigitte Bardot in the 1950s.

Its Mediterranean charms continue to woo visitors. The old village offers an appealing old-world ambience of cobbled streets, outdoor cafés, and pleasant shady squares, while the picturesque harbour is filled with the luxury yachts of the rich and famous.

Car rental in Nice is your passport to seeing all that this magnificent corner of France has to offer.