Port Lympia
Port Lympia features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Nice. Give it roughly ~25 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type landmark
- Suggested visit ~25 min
- Nice Nice guide
About Port Lympia
The old working harbour of Nice, its blue basin ringed by tall Italian-red houses, dug from a marsh in the 1740s, and still sending ferries out to Corsica across the sea.
Port Lympia is the old harbour of Nice, on the far side of Castle Hill from the beaches: a rectangular basin ringed by tall Italianate houses in warm reds, ochres and pinks. Nice long had no proper harbour, until the Sardinian king Charles-Emmanuel III ordered one dug here from 1748, out of a marshy valley fed by the Lympia spring, which gave it its name; the work spanned well over a century. Still a working port, it is the departure point for ferries to Corsica and Sardinia and one of France's leading cement harbours, as well as a photogenic corner far quieter than the seafront. The church of Notre-Dame-du-Port stands nearby, and the port quarter hosts the Puces de Nice antiques and flea market. It lies within the historic city of Nice.
Did you know? Nice long had no real harbour, ships simply beached on the shingle, until the King of Sardinia ordered one dug here from 1748, out of a marshy valley fed by the Lympia spring that gave the port its name.
How long is a visit to Port Lympia?
Set aside roughly ~25 min for Port Lympia. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Port Lympia worth your time?
Port Lympia is among the 18 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Nice, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Nice
Hear the story of Port Lympia
Preview the Nice tour free in the Gingerguide app.