Between cocktails, sharing plates and playful mystical rituals, Mama Tzigane offers plenty of easy reasons to laugh, compare and start a conversation.

Facing the sea, Babel Babel moves from brunch to evening drinks without changing the scenery. Mediterranean food, sharing plates and natural wine give this Nice address plenty to talk about before the conversation even starts.

Raw concrete, a mural across the wall, and a counter long enough that sitting at it isn't a fallback. Natural wine, small plates built to be shared, open every evening including Sunday.

The wine bar to walk into alone in Nice if you don't want to stay that way. Antique-dealers' district, a terrace over the port Lympia, natural wines poured for you before you choose, small plates made to share.

A restaurant perched on a rock, 8 metres above the sea. No reservation, no assigned table. Just the view, a drink, and whatever happens.

Contemporary art center and art school perched above Nice. Raw concrete architecture, terraced gardens, a sweeping view over the bay: an unexpected spot, far from any seaside cliché.

You have to climb. Not for long, but you have to mean it. At the top: a 19th-century waterfall, dense greenery, and the entire Baie des Anges opening up. The people who make it up here made the same choice as you.