Pebbles, not sand
The light comes off the water sideways, and by ten the Promenade des Anglais belongs to runners, cyclists and people on rollerblades. The beach is grey pebbles the size of hens' eggs, which is why new arrivals walk into the sea like storks. After two hundred years of hosting strangers, the Niçois are polite to you in the way of people who have seen it all.
€24 for a bus, €35 for a deckchair
Nice Le Grand Tour, the open-top hop-on-hop-off, charges €24 for an adult day ticket and €28 for two days at the time of writing. Nice is flat, the seafront is one straight line, and a tram ticket is €1.70. I have never found the extra €22 in there, not with free lifts up the Colline du Château.
Castel Plage publishes its rates: €30 a half day, €35 a day for a lounger and parasol, €7 for a towel. Standard on this coast, and the same municipal shingle, in the same sea, as the free beach either side. Nice has 23 public beaches against 14 concessions, and I use those.
Libération, and it's all gone by half past one
The tourist market is the Cours Saleya. The city's own is the Marché de la Libération, twenty minutes north on tram 1, along avenue Malausséna and the forecourt of the old Gare du Sud.
The municipal rules are blunt: Tuesday to Sunday, selling 06:00 to 13:00, stalls cleared by 13:30. Arrive at 12:45 and you get a man with a hose. I go around eight on a Thursday, while the fish is still moving. Look for chard, which the Niçois bake into a sweet tart, violet artichokes eaten raw, courgette flowers. Bring cash.
Your Parcazur clock stops at 22 hours
Two conditions on the park-and-ride deal, and people miss both.
The space is free only if you make a return trip on Lignes d'Azur the same day, and the ticket for it, the "1 Aller-retour", is €3.40 including that day's parking.
And the round-the-clock Parcazurs state that parking "ne peut dépasser 22 heures consécutives". Parcazur Henri Sappia, Charles Ehrmann, Vauban and Tzarewitch run on that rule, and the rest shut overnight. You cannot leave the car there while you sail to Corsica.
Parking in Nice: Code 861, and the wall at 2h15
Low-emission zones in Europe: ZFE of the Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur
- Foreign plates
- Nothing to do in a car or a light van; a foreign-plated lorry, bus or coach needs the sticker
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Fine
- €135 for a lorry, bus or coach
- EV
- Battery electric and hydrogen are Crit'Air 0, allowed at all times
The métropole's order of 11 April 2025 took cars and light vans out of the restrictions; only heavy vehicles remain (checked 18 September 2026)
On-street parking is paid Monday to Saturday, 09:00 to 19:00, free on Sundays and holidays. Prices at the time of writing.
The part nobody mentions: the city gives two consecutive hours free, once a day per vehicle, if you take a ticket for them, entering code 861 at the meter or in PayByPhone. Zero-emission cars get 2h15. Otherwise it is €0.50 for 35 minutes, €1.20 an hour, €2.40 for two.
Then the wall: parking longer than 2h15 is forbidden, the machine sells nothing beyond it, and overstaying costs a forfait post-stationnement of €25.
A full day means a garage. Ten of the Métropole's 23 give the first hour free, among them Promenade des Arts, Corvésy, Palais Masséna and Saint-Roch. Their hourly grids go up at the entrance, not online. Privately run Parking Saleya does publish: €3.50 an hour.
The low-emission zone is not the problem drivers expect. Since the metropolitan decree of April 2025 cars and small vans are out of scope; the ban covers lorries over 3.5 tonnes, buses and coaches rated Crit'Air 4, 5 or unrated. The city still asks for a Crit'Air sticker in the zone and puts the fine at €68; it costs €3.81 posted from certificat-air.gouv.fr, foreign plates included.
Car parks worth knowing
| Car park | Price | EV |
|---|---|---|
| Parcazur Henri Sappia2 boulevard Henri Sappia · tram 1 northern terminus · 765 spaces · ~15 min to the centre | Free with a same-day Lignes d'Azur return trip · open 24/7, max 22 consecutive hours | Yes |
| Parcazur Vauban66 rue de Roquebillière · tram 1 · 361 spaces · ~10 min to the centre | Free with a same-day return trip · open 24/7, max 22 consecutive hours | Yes |
| Parcazur Charles Ehrmann155 boulevard du Mercantour · CADAM tram stop · 628 spaces | Free with a same-day return trip · open 24/7, max 22 consecutive hours | Yes |
| Parcazur Gorbella61 boulevard Gorbella · Le Ray tram stop · 243 spaces | Free with a same-day return trip · open 04:00–02:00 | — |
| Parcazur Pont MichelRoute de Turin · Pont-Michel tram stop · 260 spaces | Free with a same-day return trip · open 04:55–01:45 | — |
| Parcazur Carras – Les Bosquets8 avenue de Carras · Carras tram stop · 241 spaces · western seafront | Free with a same-day return trip · open 04:15–02:15 | — |
| Parcazur Saint-Isidore36 avenue Pierre de Coubertin · Stade tram stop · 321 spaces · ~30 min to the centre | Free with a same-day return trip · open 04:15–01:45 | Yes |
| Parcazur Tzarewitch1 boulevard du Tzarewitch · 262 spaces · 14 min walk from Nice-Ville station | Free with a same-day return trip · open 24/7, max 22 consecutive hours | — |
| Parcazur Port LympiaQuai Amiral Infernet, level -5 · trams 2 and 3 · 98 spaces | Free with a same-day return trip · open 04:00–02:00 | — |
| Parcazur PEM Cagnes-sur-Mer39 avenue de la Gare, Cagnes-sur-Mer · at the station · 280 spaces · first stop off the A8 from the west | Free with a same-day return trip · open 24/7, max 22 consecutive hours | Yes |
| Parking Saleya (INDIGO)36 cours Saleya · under the market, at the edge of the old town · open 24/7 | First hour free (city scheme) · then €3.50 for an hour · €2.10 for 30 min | Yes, from €0.29/kWh |
| Parking Promenade des Arts18 avenue Saint-Jean-Baptiste · by MAMAC and the Promenade du Paillon | First hour free · the hourly grid is posted at the entrance, not online | — |
| Parking Corvésy3 rue Alexandre Mari · edge of Vieux Nice | First hour free · hourly grid at the entrance | — |
| Parking Palais Masséna29 Promenade des Anglais · under the seafront, 300 m from Place Masséna | First hour free · hourly grid at the entrance | — |
| Parking Saint-Roch50 boulevard Saint-Roch · east of the centre, tram 1 Saint-Roch | First hour free · hourly grid at the entrance | — |
The cheapest way to park, by how long you stay
| If you stay | Cheapest | Cost | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hours in the centre | Kerb, 2 h free with code 861 | Free | Two consecutive hours free once a day per vehicle — but only if you take a ticket for them, entering code 861 at the meter or in PayByPhone. Otherwise €1.20 an hour, €2.40 for two. Beyond 2 h 15 the machine sells nothing and overstaying is a €25 forfait. Sundays and holidays free. |
| …and the cheapest central garage | Parking Saleya (INDIGO) | €3.50 | first hour free, once a day · the only central garage that publishes its grid; the others post it at the entrance |
| A full day (10 h) | Parcazur (ten park-and-rides) | Free | The space costs nothing on one condition: a same-day return trip on Lignes d'Azur, validated both ways. Most sites are open 24/7 with a 22-hour maximum stay; Gorbella, Pont Michel, Carras, Saint-Isidore and Port Lympia close for a couple of hours overnight. |
| …and the cheapest central garage | Parking Saleya (INDIGO) | €31.50 | first hour free, once a day · the only central garage that publishes its grid; the others post it at the entrance |
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Towed in Nice: It's gone to the old route de Grenoble
Nice has one municipal pound, at 61 avenue Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. Nobody uses that name; ask for the route de Grenoble.
Call the Police Municipale first, +33 4 93 53 53 53, to confirm it was towed and not stolen; their central post is 4 rue Gabriel Fauré. The pound's site, fourriere.nice.fr, holds its hours and prices; I could not open it at the time of writing and will not print hours I have not read.
The legal ceiling I can give you: since 1 March 2024 the state caps removal of a car at €127.65 and storage at €6.75 a day outside Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse. No document list is published, so take passport, licence, registration, insurance and any rental agreement.
If your car has disappeared
- Who took it
- The Police Municipale de Nice order removals; the car goes to the city's single fourrière
- Phone
- Police Municipale, central post — call this first to confirm the car was towed: +33 4 93 53 53 53
Allo Mairie, the city helpline, Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00 and Sat morning (French short number, will not dial from a foreign SIM): 3906 - Collect it at
- One municipal pound for the whole city: Fourrière de Nice, 61 avenue Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, in the 06200. The street was called route de Grenoble until recently and everyone still uses the old name.
- Hours
- The pound publishes its own hours on fourriere.nice.fr. That site could not be reached at the time of writing, so no hours are printed here; check it or ask the Police Municipale.
- What it costs
- Nice does not publish its own price list online. The national ceilings, in force since 1 March 2024 for cities outside Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse, are €127.65 for removal of a car and €6.75 per day of storage. The parking fine is separate.
- Bring
- No document list is published. Take your passport, driving licence, the registration document, proof of insurance and, for a hire car, the rental agreement.
EV charging in Nice: €1.75 for the first hour on Prise de Nice
The Métropole runs Prise de Nice: over 830 points across all 51 communes, mostly 22 kVA, with 50 kVA rapid units.
Billing is by time, not kWh. On the €6 monthly subscription the first hour is €1.75, then it climbs by time band, capped at €5 overnight; rapid charging is €2.50 a quarter hour for the first three. Otherwise the QR code on the unit shows its tariff before you start. For two days I would not subscribe.
Points sit in the park-and-rides, Parcazur Charles Ehrmann and Parcazur Vauban among them: free space, cheap electrons, tram into town.
Where to charge
- Prise de Nice — Parcazur Charles Ehrmann — 155 boulevard du Mercantour. Free parking with a same-day return trip; 22 kVA, billed by time, €1.75 for the first hour on the €6 monthly subscription
- Prise de Nice — Parcazur Vauban — 66 rue de Roquebillière. Tram 1, 10 minutes from the centre; same time-based tariff, night charging capped at €5
- Prise de Nice — Parcazur Henri Sappia — 2 boulevard Henri Sappia. 765 spaces at the tram 1 terminus; rapid units charge €2.50 a quarter hour for the first three quarter-hours
- Parking Saleya (INDIGO Recharge) — 36 cours Saleya, under the old town. Billed by energy rather than time, from €0.29 per kWh; parking €3.50 an hour after the free first hour
Free parking in Nice: Leave it at Sappia, pay €3.40 to get in
Ten Parcazurs, no charge for the space, provided you make that same-day return trip.
Parcazur Henri Sappia is the big one: 765 spaces at the northern terminus of tram 1, 15 minutes from the centre, open round the clock. Parcazur Vauban, 361 spaces, is 10 minutes out on the same line and my pick. Then there are Charles Ehrmann, Gorbella, Pont Michel, Carras, Saint-Isidore, Tzarewitch and Port Lympia, five floors under the harbour. The tenth is at Cagnes-sur-Mer station, off the A8.
The street is free every Sunday and public holiday, plus those two hours a day on code 861.
Hotels are the weak spot: none in Nice says on its own site that parking is free. Hôtel Vendôme asks €20 a night; Brice Garden €26 a day in winter, €28 in summer, for a lock-up 150 m away with a 1.85 m limit. The Parcazurs are unstaffed, so leave nothing on show.
Free or nearly-free spots
Ten Parcazur park-and-rides (free)
The Métropole's ten park-and-rides cost nothing for the space, on one condition: you make a return trip on Lignes d'Azur the same day. The "1 Aller-retour" ticket is €3.40 and includes the day's parking. Henri Sappia is the biggest at 765 spaces, on the tram 1 terminus.
Two free hours a day on code 861
On-street, the city gives two consecutive hours free once a day per vehicle, but only if you take a ticket for them: enter code 861 at the meter or in the PayByPhone app. Zero-emission vehicles get 2h15.
Sundays and public holidays
Paid on-street parking runs Monday to Saturday, 09:00 to 19:00. Sundays and public holidays are free everywhere in the paid zone.
Stop at Cagnes-sur-Mer coming from the west
Arriving on the A8 from Cannes or Antibes, the Parcazur at Cagnes-sur-Mer station has 280 spaces on the same free-with-a-return-trip terms, and you never touch Nice traffic.
Hotels with free parking
- Hôtel Vendôme — 26 rue Pastorelli, city centre Map. Private car park, not free: the hotel's own site quotes €20 a night per car and €10 per motorcycle, reservation required, limited spaces
- Brice Garden Hotel — 44 rue Maréchal Joffre, city centre Map. Not free either: €26 a day from October to April and €28 from May to September, in a private garage 150 m away, maximum height 1.85 m, booking required
⚠ The small print on 'free' parking
- On-street parking is capped at 2h15. The meter will not sell you longer, and there is no all-day option. Overstaying costs a forfait post-stationnement of €25.
- Parcazur parking is only free if you travel. The condition is a return trip on Lignes d'Azur the same day, and the 24-hour sites cap the stay at 22 consecutive hours. They are not long-stay car parks.
- February shuts the seafront. During Carnival 2026 restrictions ran 12–28 February, closing the Promenade des Anglais from rue Sauvan to boulevard Gambetta along with Place Masséna and avenue de Verdun; Parking Masséna closed and four others ran restricted. Expect the same shape in 2027.
- September does it again. For the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2026 parking was banned along the whole Promenade des Anglais from 20:30 on 11 September to 02:00 on 14 September.
- The ZFE no longer applies to cars. Since the metropolitan decree of April 2025, light vehicles and small vans are out of scope; only lorries over 3.5 t, buses and coaches in Crit'Air 4, 5 or unrated are banned. The city still asks for a Crit'Air sticker inside the zone and states a €68 fine, and the sticker is €3.81 posted, foreign plates included.
- The park-and-rides are unstaffed. Nothing visible on the seats, nothing in the boot you would miss.
Take these places with you
Every place on this page as a file you can keep — car parks with their prices, the free and park-and-ride spots, the chargers and the pound.
