Nature / Park Sights in Nice

The Mercantour National Park is composed of six valleys, with peaks reaching over 3000 metres, glacial lakes, plenty of wild animals and flora unique to Europe.

Come and see bison, deer, horses, boars and hawks roaming on 700 hectares of land, just one hour from the French Riviera

Located close to the city’s harbour, this park stretches over a surface of 1 hectare.

A volcanic range of mountains covering around 32,000 hectares and stretching between Saint-Raphael and Theoule-sur-Mer.

On the eastern outskirts of Nice lies the national park of Mount Vinaigrier. The hillsides are covered in pine and oak trees and a rare flowering ash species that blossoms in May.

Looming protectively over the exclusive Cap de Nice area, the Parc du Mont Boron is a hilltop forest with picnic areas, olive trees, exercise circuits, hiking trails, boules pitches and a 16th-century castle. Sitting on the crest of a hill just over 190m high, Parc du Mont Boron looks over Nice to one side and Villefranche-Sur-Mer to the other - if you hike up to Fort Alban you can enjoy sweeping panoramic views from the Cap Ferrat peninsula in the east all the way to the Esterel mountains in the west.

Nice’s flagship urban park covers 12 hectares in the heart of the city, just a few minutes walk from Promenade des Anglais. Promenade du Paillon used to be a very congested and rather ugly thoroughfare where the old bus station and multi storey car park were situated. It was demolished in 2011 and a 3 year development project took place to turn it into the oasis of green open space, safe play areas and impressive water features that we enjoy today.

The narrow and beautiful Gorges du Loup cuts north-south through the hills at the foot of Gourdon, 12 km from Grasse.

In 1992, wolves naturally returned to France. It all happened not far from here, in the Mercantour National Park. This park has been created to tell the story of man and the wolf and allow visitors to see wolf packs up close.

Just a few minutes walk from the centre of Nice you can find yourself in a lush green park, shaded from the intense Mediterranean sun, high enough to benefit from a cool breeze and with showstopping views of the bay of Nice. Colline du Chateau translates as “Castle Hill” and, once upon a time, there was indeed a castle up here. All that remains now are the ruins but they are open to the public and there are information boards telling you what part of the castle they would have been.

The natural park of Estienne d'Orves sits on Saint-Phillipe hill and was opened to the public in 2008. Its 15 hectares are located on the old terrain of the Chateau Miramar, near the centre of Nice.