Nice

Greek settlers from Phocaea founded Nikaia here around 350 BC, and the Romans built their own town at Cemenelum, today's Cimiez. Nice placed itself under the Counts of Savoy in 1388 and changed hands several times before being ceded to France by the Treaty of Turin in 1860. The castle on the hill was destroyed by the troops of Louis XIV in 1706, and the hill was later turned into a park.

From the mid-eighteenth century British and other wealthy families spent their winters in Nice for its mild climate. English residents funded a seaside path in the 1820s, which grew into the Promenade des Anglais, and after the railway arrived the city expanded with villas, hotels and new districts. UNESCO inscribed Nice, Winter Resort Town of the Riviera, in 2021. On 14 July 2016 a terrorist truck attack on the Promenade killed 86 people, and memorials to the victims stand in the city.

Nice has its own Niçois dialect and cuisine, with dishes such as socca chickpea pancakes, pan bagnat sandwiches and salade niçoise; restaurants serving traditional food can carry the Cuisine Nissarde label. Locals shop at the Cours Saleya market, take aperitifs on the port, and in February the Carnival brings parades to Place Masséna. Bellet, a small AOC wine area, grows on the hills within the city limits.