Accessible Nice: reduced mobility, family and pets
Tram, Handiplage beaches, museums, Château hill, children, dogs and LGBTQ+ travellers: Nice for everyone, with the useful information.
Nice is a city made for strolling, flat along the sea and hilly as soon as you move away from it: well prepared, a stay is possible for almost everyone, from pushchairs to wheelchairs to dogs.
Getting around with reduced mobility
The tram is fully accessible: low floor at platform level, gentle access ramps, lowered ticket machines, tactile paving, audible and visual announcements, a call button and reserved spaces on board. Most buses have a retractable ramp and a wheelchair space, and more than 800 stops in Nice have been adapted. For door-to-door journeys, Mobil’Azur is a booking-only service at €1.50 per trip, with prior registration.
Centenaire adapted beach
1 promenade des Anglais · municipal summer service · free
One of the two adapted municipal beaches, the other being Carras. Access ramps down to the sea, accessible toilets and showers, shade, amphibious wheelchairs and life jackets, and trained lifeguards who help with entering the water. The Handiplage label awards it three buoys. The service is free, without booking or proof of eligibility, and is also aimed at seniors who have trouble walking. Ten beaches also have ropes to help you get into the water, until 30 September, to climb back up the pebble slope.
The Colline du Château combines a lift and a park. The lift, free of charge, boards near the quai des États-Unis, below the Bellanda tower; its hours follow the season. The park itself is accessible to power wheelchairs and pushchairs, with adapted toilets and an inclusive play area, but the paths can be cobbled or gravelled. The park closes at 6 pm in winter and 8 pm in summer. In Vieux Nice (Old Town), expect uneven cobbles and narrow lanes: the route along the promenade des Anglais and the quai des États-Unis is far more comfortable.
With children
Parc Phoenix
405 promenade des Anglais · 9:30 am–6 pm (October to March), 9:30 am–7:30 pm (April to September)
A large botanical park on the promenade des Anglais, with a monumental tropical greenhouse, themed gardens, animals and an inclusive play area. It is accessible to people with reduced mobility. It opens every day, with winter then summer hours that change on 1 October and 1 April, and the ticket office closes one hour before the park.
The Petit Train touristique (little tourist train) sets off from the promenade des Anglais, near the Centenaire monument. The panoramic loop around the Colline du Château takes about 50 minutes, with a stop at the top, and the city-centre loop 45 minutes. Fares are €12 for an adult, €6 for ages 4 to 12, free under 4, and a €30 family package covers two adults and two children. The train is accessible to wheelchair users with assistance. Marineland in Antibes, by contrast, has been closed to the public since January 2025 .
With a dog
Two beaches welcome dogs all year round: La Lanterne, to the west, around number 400 on the promenade des Anglais behind Port Carras, and Lenval, mid-way along the promenade, recognisable in summer by its Totor statues and its barriers. The promenade des Anglais itself allows leashed animals. In restaurants, no general law requires or forbids dogs: the restaurateur decides, and kitchens are off-limits to them, so ask before sitting down.
LGBTQ+ travellers
France opened marriage to same-sex couples through the law of 17 May 2013, and discrimination based on sexual orientation is penalised. Nice cultivates a welcoming image: the tourism office created the “Nice Rainbow Côte d’Azur” label with local associations, and its current list includes addresses such as Le Sunset, Le Petit Lascaris, La Civette du Cours and Côté Marais. The tourism office’s agenda highlights the Pink Parade, the IN&OUT film festival, held in April by the association Les Ouvreurs, and the Dolly Party. In case of assault or insult, the 17 and 112 lines answer everywhere.
Festival de Cannes – official website · City of Nice – L’Automne de l’image · OGC Nice – Tickets: getting to the Allianz Riviera · Nice Côte d’Azur Tourism Office – Bus and tram · City of Nice – Smoke-free beaches · Nice Côte d’Azur Tourism Office – Beaches where dogs are allowed · Festival de Cannes – Cinéma de la Plage · City of Nice: Niçoise cuisine
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Find this topic and much more in our complete travel guide Nice in Depth.
