Museum / Gallery Sights in Nice

In 1617, the Duke of Guise gave Jean de Bellon the task of building a fort intended to block sea access to Cannes. Constructed between 1624 and 1627 on the site of remains that dated back to Roman antiquity, at the time it was nothing more than a simple fortified house.

Chateau Grimaldi may take you somewhat by surprise if you are expecting the usual historical museum experience - it also holds regular exhibitions of contemporary art and isn’t afraid of displaying bizarre and sometimes challenging installations. The artworks are incongruous in such a traditional context and the collection changes regularly, so you never know quite what you’re going to get when you visit!

Just outside Saint-Paul de Vence lies one of France's most famous modern and contemporary art museums. Surrounded by pleasant gardens, this is a nice place to spend your afternoon.

A few months before his death in 1955, artist Fernand Léger acquired a farmhouse at the foot of the village of Biot. It was here that his widow Nadia Leger, decided to create a museum to honour him and showcase his life's work.

Founded as a photographic studio in 1958, and opened as a gallery in 1972, Jean Ferrero exhibited works from the School of Nice and the New Realism genre.

The museum is located in the Chateau Sainte Hélène, the former private residence of perfume master François Coty, surrounded by a garden with rare aromatic plants. It showcases a collection of 'Naïve Art' paintings.

The Asian Arts Museum was created by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange who created a wonderful white marble and glass construction that stands in the middle of a lake in Park Phoenix.

This priory owned by Father Lemerre was converted into a museum at the end of the Second World War and houses his collection of objets d'art from the late Middle Ages and early modern period including French furniture, glass, sculptures and religious paintings.

Free guided tours of a historic perfume factory in the medieval village of Eze.

The museum of modern and contemporary art was opened in 1990 and features artworks from the 1960s to the present day.

This grand noble residence dates to the early 17th century and was the property of the Lascaris-Vintimille family. It has an interesting collection of Baroque art and furniture.

This factory for perfume, soap and cosmetics, has very modern laboratories and workshops. Discover the secrets of manufacturing perfumes and cosmetics.

A small collection of some of Matisse's works and items from his own personal collection and that of his descendants are housed in an impressive 17th century Genoese mansion.

The world-famous painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir lived at La Ferme des Collettes with his family from 1907 until his death in 1919. Renoir moved to Cagnes-Sur-Mer in the hopes that the warm climate would improve his arthritis, which eventually confined him to a wheelchair. The house in which he spent the last 12 years of his life is set in a beautiful estate full of citrus and olive trees, looking out along the coastline all the way to way to the Cap d’Antibes.

Grasse is the world capital of perfumes. At this museum you can discover the ancient tradition of parfumerie and learn how to create your own, unique scent.

The sculptor, Antoniucci Volti, was born in Italy in 1915 but his family lived in Villefranche-sur-Mer. His collection is housed in the town's 16th-century citadel.

Housing the largest collection of the Russian painter, Marc Chagall, the Chagall museum is one of Nice's top attractions.

With items from prehistoric times, and fine arts and decorative arts from as early as the 17th century, all the way up to the first half of the 20th century.