Promenade du Paillon

In front of you stretches the park the Niçois love most. Beneath your feet, though you cannot see it, flows the Paillon, the river that for centuries divided the old town from the new.

1A hidden river

The Paillon is a mountain torrent: almost dry in summer, it can swell suddenly with the autumn rains. From the 1860s the city began covering its bed to gain land, and on top were built squares, gardens and, in the 20th century, a bus station and large public buildings. The river vanished from the landscape.

2The garden of 2013

The bus station was demolished in 2010, and on 26 October 2013 the Promenade du Paillon was inaugurated, designed by the landscape architect Michel Péna: more than a kilometre of greenery running north from the Promenade des Anglais. Some 1,600 trees and tens of thousands of plants were put in.

Its water mirror, covering 3,000 square metres with 128 jets, alternates fountains and mist: it is the children's «beach» in summer.

In October 2025, an extension of almost a kilometre was opened, pushing the park even further north.

3What to look for

• The water mirror, reflecting the façades and the sky.
• The mist that rises from the ground at intervals.
• The ochre façades of the Old Town, along the eastern edge of the park.