Nice's palm-lined seafront promenade
Seven kilometres (around 4.5 miles) of seafront, open to the sky. The Promenade des Anglais is the great sweep of Nice – the place where the city meets the water and pauses to take a breath.
The walkway was built in the 1820s with funds raised by English visitors wintering on the Riviera (hence the name). It still draws people from every direction: joggers at dawn, families with ice creams in the afternoon, couples watching the sun drop behind the hills in the evening.
The famous blue chairs – the Chaises Bleues – are scattered along the promenade for the purpose of inviting you to pause. Sit in one. Face the sea. Take in your surroundings. It's one of the simple pleasures of the south.
The beach itself is pebbled rather than sandy, which surprises some people. But the sound the stones make as a wave pulls back is what gives the promenade its aura of calm, even when the summer sun attracts plenty of walkers.
View French Riviera (Côte d'Azur)
