Kid-friendly places in Nice

A 30-meter wooden whale big kids climb inside, dolphins and a turtle for the younger ones, and a water mirror with 128 jets to cool off in.

Studios and one-bedroom apartments with full kitchens and private balconies, a panoramic sun deck, and the beach a three-minute walk away.

An Art Deco palace on the Promenade des Anglais since 1929, behind a listed facade, with a casino still inside.

Socca, petits farcis and merda de can from a family kitchen in its third generation since 1979, with books and games for kids on request.

Spacious suites, a guest washer and dryer, and the tram that runs to the airport terminals and Parc Phoenix.

On the Promenade des Anglais, with a rooftop bar and restaurant serving tapas and Mediterranean food with a panoramic view.

Local dishes and Italian cooking on a 30-seat terrace, with coloring kits for kids.

A sea-view apartment with two bedrooms for up to six, in the hotel where Matisse and Chekhov stayed, near the Cours Saleya market.

Pizzas from a wood-fired oven on full view since 1956, with a terrace on a pedestrian street and a brightly colored room upstairs.

Tables on a rock in the sea, where Belle Époque guests once took tea on a boat perched six meters above the water.

Family rooms are two connecting rooms behind their own private entry, with a balcony, a family activity booklet, and board games and coloring for kids.

A lift up to the old castle's ruins, a waterfall, and a lookout 92 meters above Nice with views across the Baie des Anges.

Brunch all day: pancakes, French toast, rösti and an açaí bowl, with ube and matcha lattes.

A pink dome, a collection of art and rare furniture from the Louis XIV era to today, and the hotel's own private beach.

More than 100 shops, cafés and restaurants right on the tram line, with strollers to borrow at the welcome desk.

Over 2,000 animals, a small farm with goats and pigs, and a pyramid greenhouse holding six tropical climates, one of the tallest in Europe.

Ruins of a Roman town, with its amphitheater, public baths and stone streets, beside a museum of finds and workshops for kids 7 and up.

A candy maker since 1921 making candied fruit, crystallized violets and chocolate, with tastings and a look at clementines being glazed.

Kenzo Tange's white marble and glass building on an artificial lake, free, with origami and calligraphy workshops for kids 6 and up.

Nearly 600 works and the artist's own belongings in a Genoese villa in an olive grove, with family art workshops from age 4.

Guided tours of a hilltop observatory under a dome designed by Gustave Eiffel, the largest moving dome in Europe. Free under 6.

A seventh-floor rooftop pool, direct access to the Promenade du Paillon, and coloring books, games and a small welcome gift for kids.

A mountain railway up the Roya valley through 81 tunnels, three of them spiraling, and over the 300-meter Rivoira viaduct, with on-board commentary on some trips.

Tapas and Mediterranean cooking in the old town, with a planted rooftop of 250 square meters up top.

Good coffee and pastries, with no full meal for kids to sit through.

More than 96 flavors of ice cream, with violet, tomato-basil and Swiss chard pie among them, made since 1966.

Four floors of books, music, vinyl, video games and electronics on Avenue Jean Médecin.

Five floors of fashion, accessories and beauty behind red-ochre Turin-style arcades, with a kids' space on level 2 and a restaurant looking over Place Masséna.

A straightforward toy store is handy for birthday gifts, beach toys or a rainy day rescue purchase.

A large local bookstore is a good place to pick up French picture books or something for the flight home.

Pancakes, eggs and the familiar brunch plates everyone recognizes.

Ceviche, carpaccio and other small seafood plates with a Mediterranean and South American mix, in a little bistro tiled in blue and white.

Built where early humans camped 400,000 years ago, with some of the oldest hearths known, a footprint, a milk tooth and a prehistoric floor cast you can touch.