Manchester → Nice

Don't miss

• 🎨Visit the Matisse Museum in the Cimiez hill district on a Tuesday morning — it's free on the first Sunday of the month, but Tuesday mornings have the rooms almost to yourself. The studio reconstructions and cut-paper works on the top floor are revelatory.
• 🫒Shop the Cours Saleya market in Vieux-Nice before 11am (Tuesday to Sunday) — the flower market is dazzling, but head to the food section for socca (chickpea flatbread cooked in wood-fired ovens) and tapenade from the stalls at the back. The socca from Chez René Socca on rue Pairolière is a local institution.
• 🚂Take the Train des Merveilles (Valley of Wonders train) from Nice Ville station to Tende in the Maritime Alps — a 2-hour journey through river gorges and medieval villages that feels untouched by tourism. The Bronze Age rock carvings in the valley above Tende are a UNESCO site.
• 🌊Walk up to the Colline du Château (Castle Hill) via the stairs at the east end of the Promenade rather than the lift — the approach through crumbling fortifications is half the point. The waterfall, the ruins, and the view over Vieux-Nice's terracotta roofscape are best in late afternoon light.