Nice!

Nice has a Mediterranean climate : the city enjoys mild temperatures most of the year; rainfall is very moderate and mainly concentrated in the darkest part of the year (September to March).

Winters, starting in December, are cool to mild with daytime temperature generally remaining between 10°C and 17°C and colder overnight lows. However, the temperature rarely reaches freezing point, which occur only once or twice a year. During winter, overcast skies are common and sporadic rain falls.

As winter ends in March, weather becomes more unstable and unpredictable : warm, sunny days (26°C the 2nd of March 2007) can be followed by sudden hailstorms and cold fronts (7°C the 1st of April 2007).

However, generally, the weather becomes increasingly sunny as summer approaches.

Summers start quite late because of a notable season lag. Drought starts in July, and really hot temperatures become common in August, which is the warmest month with daytime highs frequently reaching 30°C. Summer heat is however often moderated by a cool and pleasant sea breeze.

Autumn, starting in late September, is generally warm until mid-November, and rainy (especially October with an average rainfall of 140mm).

Nice is a windy city, especially in spring.

Snow is so rare that it is remembered by inhabitants as special events.

Places of interest

The Promenade des Anglais ("Walk of the English") is a celebrated promenade along the Mediterranean at Nice, France. Before Nice was urbanized, the coast at Nice was just bordered by a deserted band of beach covered by large pebbles. The first houses were located on higher ground well away from the sea.

Starting in the second half of the 18th century, the English took to spending the winter in Nice, enjoying the panorama along the coast. When a particularly harsh winter up north brought an influx of beggars to Nice, some of the rich Englishmen proposed a useful project for them: the construction of walkway (chemin de promenade) along the sea.

The city of Nice, intrigued by the prospect of a pleasant promenade, greatly increased the scope of the work. The Promenade was first called the Camin dei Anglès (the English Way) by the Niçois in their native dialect Nissart. After the annexation of Nice by France in 1860 it was rechristened La Promenade des Anglais, replacing the former Nissart name with its French translation.

The Hotel Negresco on the Promenade des Anglais on the Baie des Anges in Nice, France was named for Henri Negresco (1868-1920) who had the palatial hotel constructed in 1912. In keeping with the conventions of the times, when the Negresco first opened in 1913 its front opened on the side opposite the Mediterranean.