Nice Food Tours: Socca, Cours Saleya & Nicoise Cuisine
Nice food tours: taste socca, pissaladiere, pan bagnat and salade nicoise in Vieux Nice and the Cours Saleya market, and how to book.
The short version: Nice has its own cuisine, cuisine nissarde, and a food tour through the Old Town (Vieux Nice) and the Cours Saleya market is the best way to taste it. The star is socca, a crisp chickpea pancake baked in a wood oven and eaten hot with black pepper. Add pissaladiere (onion and anchovy tart), pan bagnat, petits farcis and a proper salade nicoise, with a glass of local Bellet wine or rose. Here is what to taste and how to book.
At a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What | A walking food tour of Vieux Nice and the Cours Saleya market |
| Must-taste | Socca, pissaladiere, pan bagnat, petits farcis, salade nicoise |
| Drink | Bellet (Nice’s own wine), Provence rose |
| Best time | Mornings, when the Cours Saleya market is running (not Mondays) |
| Time | 2 to 3.5 hours |
What you taste
Socca is the street-food icon: chickpea flour, water and olive oil, baked thin in a huge pan in a blazing oven and served torn into pieces. Around it: pissaladiere, a flatbread of slow-cooked onions, anchovies and olives; pan bagnat, essentially a salade nicoise in a round loaf; petits farcis, stuffed vegetables; and the real salade nicoise (no potatoes, no green beans, according to purists). Nice is also one of the few French cities with its own wine appellation, Bellet.
How a Nice food tour works
A guide walks you through the lanes of Vieux Nice and the flower and produce stalls of the Cours Saleya, stopping at socca ovens, bakeries, olive oil shops and a wine bar. It is a relaxed, fun tour and the fastest way to learn what to order for the rest of your stay.
Our pick: the Nice Old Town Food Walking Tour (4.8 stars, small group of 10) covers five to seven tasting stops including socca, salade nicoise and pissaladiere.
Planning more food stops? See the best food tours in Europe.
Frequently asked questions
What is socca?
A thin, crispy chickpea-flour pancake baked in a wood-fired oven, the signature street food of Nice, eaten hot with black pepper.
What food is Nice known for?
Socca, pissaladiere, pan bagnat, petits farcis, salade nicoise and ratatouille, plus Bellet wine and Provence rose.
When is the Cours Saleya market?
The food and flower market runs most mornings except Monday, when the square hosts an antiques market instead.
Book a Nice food tour
Compare Nice food tours, or continue along the coast to Marseille and inland to Provence.
