Promenade des Anglais in Nice

The Promenade des Anglais in Nice, the Prom’ for the people of Nice, is a long avenue of 7km. It goes from the Albert 1er garden to the Var. It runs along the Baie des Anges for half of its length. Many visitors extend it, from the Albert 1er garden to Rauba Capeu, where the statue I Love Nice is located. But this part does not have the same history as the Prom’. It is the Quai des Etats-Unis.
Given the similarity between the Promenade des Anglais and its extension, the Quai des Etats-Unis, we include both in our pages.

Leisure activities along the Promenade des Anglais

The passgiata

Promenade des Anglais in NiceThe promenade is already in itself a goal for many Nice residents and visitors. This passegiata is done between the jogging of sportsmen, the friendly slaloms of skateboarders or rolleurs and the improbable zig-zags of children on roller bikes. But, rest assured, all this traffic is done in a good mood and without clashes.

The architecture

The passerby can admire many buildings with remarkable architecture.

  • The Palais de la Méditerranée and its Art-deco façade.
  • The Palais Massena, neo-classical behind its open garden.
  • The Negresco hotel, Belle Epoque style.
  • The Palace of Agriculture, Belle Epoque style, 1900-1901
  • etc.

Scooter, segway

Of course, the Promenade des Anglais is dotted with bike rentals, which makes it easy to reach Cannes, for example.
But you can also rent an electric scooter or a segway, for a change.
See the possible activities.

Water sports

Along the beaches, different sports are practiced: Kite surfing, when it is not too crowded on the beach (rather towards the beaches of Magnan), parasailing also. See our page on water sports, some of which can be done from the Port.

Beach huts

The very long beach of Nice is distributed between private and public beaches. The private beaches are concessions to straw huts that install their tables, deckchairs and umbrellas on a reserved area. You can eat or drink there. The winter is the closing season for some of them.
A wide passage is always left on the seafront for the free circulation of pedestrians.

History of the Promenade des Anglais in Nice

Since the 18th century, the English used to spend the winter season in Nice, which belonged to the House of Savoy. If they withdrew during the Revolution and the Napoleonic period, the English, like the House of Savoy, reinvested Nice from 1814 onwards. They lived as close to the sea as possible, that is to say in the current Rue de France, Avenue de la Californie and in “Little London”, the Buffa district.It was the Reverend Lewis Way who had a simple road built along the seafront, which stopped well before the current Negresco. This camin dei Inglés or path of the English finally became the famous Promenade des Anglais, in 1844, reaching the current districts of Baumettes, then Magnan in 1856 and up to the Var in 1903.
Because of the beauty of the landscape and the healthy effects of the sea air, villas and hotels were built on the edge of the Promenade des Anglais, giving it little by little an air of countryside. But the pressure of urbanism made destroy the villas with the profit of buildings, giving him the aspect which we know him.