48 hours in Nice

WHY GO NOW?

WHY GO NOW?

Because the annual Nice carnival is about to kick off, a fortnight of hedonism to liven up the Mediterranean winter. The theme of the carnival, which runs from 13 to 25 February, is "King of Clownery". The opening ceremony begins at 9pm on the Friday night with the arrival of the King and the election of the Queen in a burlesque parade in Place Masséna overlooking the Bay of Angels. There will be performances from more than 100 street-theatre companies, New Orleans jazz, fireworks, flowers, lights and Mardi Gras parades, and even a bartenders' race.

BEAM DOWN

There are plenty of direct flights to Nice Côte d'Azur airport from London and regional airports. British Airways (0870 850 9 850; www.ba.com) flies from Heathrow; easyJet (0871 7500 100; www.easyjet.com) from Stansted, Luton, Gatwick, Liverpool, Bristol and, from May, Newcastle; BMI (0870 60 70 555; www.flybmi.com) from Heathrow; and bmibaby (0870 264 2229; www.bmibaby.com) from East Midlands. Shuttle buses to Nice's bus and main railway station operate every 20 minutes from 6am to 10pm for €3 (£2.20). By rail, Eurostar and TGV will get you there in about nine hours via Paris, with fares from £109 return (Rail Europe, 08705 848 848; www.raileurope.co.uk).

GET YOUR BEARINGS

The city lies between the azure Bay of Angels and the wooded backdrop of the Prealps of Nice. To the west of Castle Hill are the Old Town and the Promenade des Anglais, the palm-lined road beside the beach that was maintained as an unemployment-relief scheme by 19th-century English residents. To the east of Castle Hill is the port for ferries to Corsica. To the north is Cimiez, the affluent 19th-century suburb of generously gardened villas and former grand hotels; a statue of Queen Victoria commemorates her frequent visits to Hotel Excelsior Regina Palace, where the painter Matisse lived during the Second World War. The main railway station, Gare Nice Ville , is a short taxi-ride from the majority of the hotels along the Promenade des Anglais. A few streets to the north is Gare du Sud , for trains of the CF de Provence. The main tourist office (00 33 892 707 407; www.nicetourisme.com) is at 5 Promenade des Anglais .

DAY ONE

CHECK IN

Hotel Negresco at 37 Promenade des Anglais (00 33 4 93 16 64 00, www.hotel-negresco-nice.com) is a biz-arre museum as well as Nice's top hotel: vast royal portraits rub shoulders with exuberant modern sculptures, and the Rotondo restaurant is ringed with colourful carousel horses. The bedrooms are decorated in different historic styles, and most have antique furniture (double rooms from €251/£179). You can have breakfast in the small garden of Hotel Brice , located in a Belle Epoque villa at 44 Rue Maréchal Joffre (00 33 4 93 88 14 44; www.nice-hotel-brice.com), which has double rooms from €118.50 (£85). Modern art dominates the decor at Hotel Windsor , 11 Rue Dalpozzo (00 33 4 93 88 59 35, www.hotelwindsornice.com), where artists have decorated all of the 57 rooms (doubles cost €83/£59 or €113/£81). Rates include breakfast.

TAKE A VIEW

Take the lift up Castle Hill for the best view over Nice and the Bay of Angels, passing Tour Bellanda, where Berlioz composed his King Lear overture in 1831. Nothing remains of the castle, which was blown up by Louis XIV, but a cannon is fired from the hill at midday, a tradition begun by Sir Thomas Coventry to regularise his mealtimes.

TAKE A HIKE

Start by wandering the alleyways of the Old Town between tall, green-shuttered buildings with yellow and red ochre façades, pausing at Palais Lascaris at 15 Rue Droite to gain an idea of the life of a wealthy 17th-century Niçois family (open daily except Monday, 10am-12pm, 2-6pm, free). Join Quai des Etats-Unis beside the sea to reach the Promenade des Anglais, along which thousands stroll, cycle or skate every day. Behind the palms are many hotels including the Palais de la Méditerranée ; behind its ocean-liner façade a new hotel will open in 2004 (www.palaisdelamediterranee.com). Stop for tea or a drink at the Hotel Negresco .

LUNCH ON THE RUN

Café de Turin , at 5 Place Garibaldi, serves the pancake-like "socca", a local delicacy made with chickpea flour, best sprinkled with pepper. Nadim and Regine Bérouji run Oliviera at 8 Rue du Collet, where you can sample delicious light meals made with outstanding olive oil that they also sell. In the pedestrian shopping area behind the Promenade des Anglais is Villa d'Este at 6 Rue Masséna, which serves antipasto for €12 (£8.50) and sublime pasta; ravioli au foie gras de canard and spaghetti aux fruits de mer are both €14 (£10).

WINDOW SHOPPING

The Old Town is almost entirely made up of individual shops, galleries and delicatessens. Besides Olivera , Moulin à Huile Alziari at 14 Rue St-François-de-Paule sells a range of olive oils. For clothes, try the pedestrianised streets behind Promenade des Anglais. The market on Cours Saleya sells flowers (Tuesday to Saturday), fruit and vegetables daily except Monday, and antiques, books and postcards on Mondays. Nearby Grasse is the perfume capital of France; its products can be bought at Aux Parfums de Grasse at 10 Rue St-Gaétan.

AN APERITIF

There's a bar round every corner of the Old Town , but for a sublime sea view go to the terrace of Casa del Sol at 12 Cité du Parc.

DINING WITH THE LOCALS

Nice is a gastronomic delight, thanks to the combination of French and Italian food - Nice was part of Sardinia until 1860 and is the birthplace of ravioli. In a quiet passage at 5 Rue Masséna, La Maison de Marie (00 33 4 93 82 15 93) serves salad niçoise, fricasse of duck with olives and braised endives and lemon sorbet for €32 (£23). Aphrodite , at 10 Boulevard Dubouchage (00 33 4 93 85 63 53), offers cuisine with strong regional influences: stuffed vegetables in vinaigrette with basil and truffles (€23/£16.50), guinea fowl with truffles on a potato purée with parmesan (€27/£19) and mille feuille with fruit of the woods (€12/£8.50). For vegetarians, La Zuçca Magica at 4 Quai Papacino (00 33 4 93 56 25 27) has a set menu for about €27.50 (£19.50), such as pumpkin soup, polenta-topped ratatouille, ravioli with spinach, fig ice-cream and pastry cake with chocolate and almonds.

DAY TWO

SUNDAY MORNING: GO TO CHURCH

The 17th-century Cathédrale Sainte-Réparate on Place Rossetti is darkly atmospheric; most windows are stained glass and the great dome over the crossing is lit by the tiniest lanterns. Sunday services are at 8am, 10am and midday.

OUT TO BRUNCH

The French don't go in for brunch, but the cafés surrounding Cours Saleya serve thin sweet fritters called ganses, which are specially prepared for carnival fortnight. Bugnes are similar but thicker, and are made with baker's yeast.

A WALK IN THE PARK

The largest area of parkland in Nice is Parc Forestier du Mont-Boron , with 11km of paths through the 142 acres of Aleppo pines, wild orchids, lentiscus and miniat-ure carnations.

TAKE A RIDE

Take Le train des Pignes (the pine-cone train) from Gare du Sud along the picturesque valley of the River Var to Entrevaux, where Louis XIV's military engineer Vauban created a striking hilltop fortification. Accessed through a turnstile (€2 coins), the steep switchback path inside the walls up to the fort and its tiny chapel offers impressive views along three valleys and works up an appetite for lunch at Hotel-Restaurant Vauban (Place Moreau, 00 33 4 93 05 42 40), which overlooks the river.

CULTURAL AFTERNOON

Take bus 17 to Cimiez to see the Franciscan Museum, the monastery and its colourful fruit and flower gardens, and the cemetery where Dufy and Matisse, who spent the last 34 years of his life in Nice, are buried. A few minutes' walk away are the extensive remains of the Roman town dating back to around 100BC, and the adjacent Matisse Museum at 164 Avenue des Arènes de Cimiez (00 33 4 93 53 40 53; www.musee-matisse-nice.org, open daily 10am-6pm except Tuesday, €3.80/£2.70).

WRITE A POSTCARD

Although Cours Saleya is lined with cafés, the best patisseries are to be found at Cappa, 7 Place Garibaldi (the hero of Italian independence was born in Nice in 1807).

THE ICING ON THE CAKE

An accident of history prompted the construction of one of Nice's most extraordinary buildings. In 1865, the heir to the Russian throne died in Nice. To commemorate the death of Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich, an onion-domed Russian Orthodox Church , inspired by St Basil's in Red Square was built in Avenue Nicholas II and completed in 1912 for the last Tsar, Nicholas II. Although Russian in design, its glorious colours are those of the Mediterranean.

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