Le Port

Port Lympia was dug from 1748 under Charles Emmanuel III, and its basin remains the departure point for ferries to Corsica. It is lined with Ligurian-style buildings with ochre-red façades and ornate balconies, in a symmetrical composition overlooked by the church of Notre-Dame-du-Port. Behind it, Place Garibaldi, the oldest of Nice's great squares, was fully renovated when the tramway arrived; Rue Bonaparte, Rue Cassini and Place du Pin form what locals call the Petit Marais, with its terraces, cellar bars and antique dealers.

In ten years the neighbourhood has gained what others take thirty to achieve: a young clientele, an evening scene, restaurants that count, and prices that have followed. Yet it remains a real neighbourhood, with its schools, its Monday flea market on Place Garibaldi towards Cours Saleya, its fishing boats in the basin, and Vieux-Nice and the sea five minutes' walk away.