www.nice-tourisme.com. The sheer scale of Nice distinguishes it from other fashionable resorts along the coast. Undisputed Queen of the Riviera, with a pedigree stretching back to the ancient Greeks, Nice is a major city as well as a resort, and it offers more of everything, good and bad, than its counterparts.

On the plus side, sun, sea and palm trees along the Promenade des Anglais; marvellous museums (many of them free); moderately priced hotels and restaurants; an elegant Italianate town centre; medieval Vieux Nice; and the fact that the native Ni͵cois is a pleasant change from many of his less friendly Riviera counterparts.

On the minus side, the beach is full of rocks (well, pebbles), and the traffic is horrific. (Charging around the blood-red place Masséna like a crazed corpuscle in search of the underground car park is a recurrent nightmare.) Car thieves, pimps and drug pushers have refused to be gentrified along with sections of Vieux Nice, and the city’s regal nose was put severely out of joint in 1990, when the right-wing mayor made off to South America pursued by massive corruption charges.

Napoleon launched his Italian campaigns from Nice, and the heart of town, place Masséna, is named for one of his generals, André Masséna, a native Ni√笵cois. To the south, the famous Promenade des Anglais stretches for 5 km along the Baie des Anges, lined by a mixed bag of art nouveau and Belle Epoch buildings, including the landmark Hôtel Negresco, classified as a national monument.

West of place Masséna, the chic shopping streets of rue Masséna, rue Paradis and rue de France are where to find a café and watch the world go by. Marzipan is a local speciality, and the almond paste creations in the window of Canel, 19 rue de France, from loaves and fishes to fruit baskets, look better than the real thing.

Head east and you are swallowed up by the cool, narrow, streets of Vieux Nice. The Baroque Cathédrale de Sainte-Réparate, place Rossetti, evolved from a parish church in the 17thC. Its impressive domed interior boasts a wealth of decorative plaster-work awash with cherubs. A short walk away, the Italianate Palais Lascaris, 15 rue Droite, has been restored to display period furnishings and antiques beneath splendid painted ceilings and ornate mouldings. Cours Saleya is a must for the glorious daily flower market, heady with the scent of massed roses, jasmine and lilies. Above Vieux Nice (steps from rue du Château, or lift from quai des Etats-Unis), there is respite from the city bustle and lovely views from the green oasis of Le Château.

The Romans first settled on the northern hillside at Cimiez, now a smart residential suburb with two notable museums. (Buses 15, 15A, 17, 20, 22 to Arènes.) The halls and galleries of Villa Arènes house the Musée Archéologique Cimiez, and a hoard of finds from Cemenelum, the Roman capital of Alpes-Maritimae. Behind the villa, you can explore the ruins of the main street and enormous 3rdC bath complex. Henri Matisse lived and worked in Nice from 1914-54, to the benefit of the excellent Musée Matisse, recently enlarged to contain the extensive donations of his son, Jean (www.musee-matisse-nice.org). Paintings, sketches, models and bronzes cover every period of the artist’s long working life, while personal memorabilia lends a pleasingly intimate touch.

Halfway back to town, the Musée Chagall, avenue Docteur-Menard, was built specifically to display Russian-born Marc Chagall’s Biblical Messages series. Painted between 1954-67, the 17 enormous canvases are electrifying: vivid images of religious mysticism, each supported by preparatory sketches and etchings, plus additional donations from Chagall including stained glass and a mosaic of the prophet Elijah.

If you still have an appetite for art treasures, head for the Musée Jules Chéret, 33 avenue des Baumettes, which has several Renoirs, a Degas portrait, Van Dongen nudes, Picasso ceramics, works by Dufy, Monet, Sisley, and Ni√笵cois Surrealist Gustave-Albert Mossa.

There is also the new Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, on avenue Saint-Jean-Baptiste, which displays post-1960 Lichtensteins, Warhols, et al.

Nice’s busy annual festival calendar kicks off in February with Carnival, an all-singing, all-dancing razzamatazz for two consecutive weekends leading up to Lent. The Parade du Jazz (mid-July) attracts world-famous names to the Pare de Cimiez; followed almost immediately by the Festival de Folklore International, interspersed with Batailles des Fleurs (flower pelting and other jollities).

See also [insert link] The Corniches between Nice and Menton – the magnificent coast roads linking Nice with Menton. And to escape the roar of the coast, there are suggestions for exploring the Alpes-Maritimes in this section.