Promenade des Anglais

In front of you stretches the «Prom'», as locals call it: seven kilometres of promenade along the Bay of Angels. Its name honours the people who created it.

1A path for the English

From the late 18th century, well-to-do British families came to spend the winter in Nice, escaping the fogs back home. In 1820 they opened a simple dirt path along the shore; between 1822 and 1824 they improved it, apparently thanks to a collection organised by the Reverend Lewis Way, which also gave work to local labourers during a hard winter. The Niçois called it the «English path».

The promenade grew with the city: it reached the River Var in 1903 and was widened in the 20th century. On 13 April 1902, the motoring pioneer Léon Serpollet set a speed record here at more than 120 km/h.

2The gambling palace

Opposite you, the Palais de la Méditerranée opened in 1929 as a luxurious Art Deco casino, paid for by the American millionaire Frank Jay Gould. It closed, was stripped bare and, in 1990, everything was demolished except its protected façade. Behind it today are a hotel and a casino.

On the night of 14 July 2016, a lorry ploughed into the crowd leaving the fireworks on this promenade: 86 people were killed. They are remembered in the garden of the Villa Masséna.

In 2021, UNESCO inscribed Nice as the «Winter resort town of the Riviera».

3What to look for

• The blue chairs, a symbol of the city.
• The Art Deco façade of the Palais de la Méditerranée.
• The pebble beach, the famous «galets».