latedaytraveler

Art lovers, if you had one day in Nice on your own, what museums would you visit and how would you access them from the center of the city without a car? At least seven museums are listed on the web for Nice including those of Matisse, Chagall, and Picasso. They all sound good to me. I will be on a tour and will go off on my own while the group spends the day in Monaco.

Also, on another day we are scheduled to visit St. Paul de Vence. I would like to scoot up to the Maeght Foundation Museum while to others enjoy the town (been there before.)
What is the distance from the parking area below the town to the museum?

I might be taking this tour next April.Any suggestions about museums in Nice and surrounding areas appreciated.

adrienne

It's about a mile (uphill) from the parking area to the Maeght foundation.

adrienne

If you ask the tour director the day before, the bus might be able to drop you off at the MF then you would only have to walk back down to the town. There might be others on the tour who also want to see the museum.

zeppole

Matisse, mainly because I would want to see how he painted Nice, and then walk around Nice.

Christina

I would visit the Chagall and the Matisse, which is what I did.

There seem to be Picasso museums everywhere, I know I've been to several of them. I like Picassco but not that much, so that would not be at the top of my list. I thought the Picasso museum was in Antibes, not Nice.

I just took a city bus to the Matisse and Chagall museums, it goes right up there. Nice is a large city, there is public transportation. YOu have to learn the bus lines, etc., but I'm pretty good about that. I suppose I got some schedules at the main bus station. I also have a good guidebook (Day Trips in France by Earl Steinbicker) which covers Nice and the logistics, so I probalby used that for info on getting around, also. The Mastisse museum has extensive information right on its website with a map, bus line info, etc. It also mentions the free shuttle between the Chagall and Matisse museums.

PalenQ

Cimiez, where some of those nice Nice museums are located, is perched high above Nice - great views and also has a Roman Arena - the fabled Nice Jazz Festival unfolds here annually i believe. Go for museums and their neat location.

I walked down from Vence, literally down in elevation, to the Maeght Museum, a neat walk thru bucolic scenes and then onto SP de Vence, which like above poster says is no more than a mile.

wonderful Museum - building itself included and fine natural setting tells you why these artists loved this region so much.

Underhill

The Musée des Beaux Arts can be reached by bus or taxi. Among other works it has the Dufy paintings that used to be in a small museum down on the Promenade des Anglais.

The Chagall museum is one of the absolute best. The Matisse museum is interesting and in a beautiful setting, but the museum doesn't contain many of Matisse's best known works.

Both Matisse and Dufy are, if I recall correctly, buried in the city cemetery behind the Franciscan church, near the museum.

If there is any way you can fit in a visit to the Matisse chapel in Vence, do so--after checking to be sure it's actually open. There are often religious holidays that conflict with the normal opening days.

latedaytraveler

Friends, thank you for your prompt and varied suggestions.

Looks like I would head for the Matisse and Chagall museums in Nice and try to visit the Maeght Museum when the tours stops at St. Paul de Vence. I will check the websites. For one thing, I believe that some of these museums close for longish lunch periods. Voila.

Just love the south of France!