A coffee and cake crawl through Nice

This is a coffee and cake crawl through Nice, beginning near the central Avenue Jean Médecin and working south through the city centre to Vieux-Nice, the old town, and finishing at the port. Six independent stops, with the roaster and the machine noted at each one where it is publicly known.

1. HUG Café

Start at 2 Rue de Suisse, where HUG Café sits at the corner of the pedestrian district facing the Notre-Dame Basilica. The bar sources all its coffee from La Torref de Fersen, an artisanal roasting workshop in the nearby town of Antibes, and serves it as espresso alongside Chemex and Origami filter. The food menu is organic and largely plant-based, with homemade muffins and quiches that make this a natural first stop for coffee and something to eat before the walk begins.

2. Maison Karlie

Walk ten minutes southeast to 36 Rue Pastorelli in the city centre, where Maison Karlie has roasted its own single-origin beans in-house since 2022, working with lots from Nicaragua, Ethiopia and Colombia and rotating the selection regularly. The room bakes madeleines and financiers on the premises each day, and the counter sells retail bags of the house-roasted coffee. This is the most directly cake-and-roaster combination on the crawl, and the right place to slow down.

3. Caffè Orso

Head south for five minutes to 7 Avenue du Maréchal Foch, where pastry chef Laura opened Caffè Orso as an Italian-inspired café and pasticceria. The coffee is roasted in Piedmont and served as espresso or Chemex; the food is entirely made in-house, running to pastries built with Piedmont hazelnuts and Sicilian pistachios, stuffed focaccia and gluten-free cakes. Caffè Orso is the sole stockist on the Côte d'Azur for La Via del Tè Florentine teas, which gives the afternoon-cake stop an extra dimension.

4. La Claque Café

Cross into Vieux-Nice and make for 8 Rue du Pont Vieux, where La Claque Café opened in 2023. Emmanuel Buschiazzo, who trained at La Caféothèque in Paris, runs a rotating programme of around five French roasters including Sumo Coffee Roasters, changing the featured bean approximately every two weeks. The name means "the slap" in French slang, a nod to the welcome surprise of a well-made cup; next door the same team runs an SCA-certified coffee school.

5. Brume Coffee Nice

A two-minute walk deeper into the old town brings you to 34 Rue Pairolière, where Roxanne runs Brume Coffee single-handedly behind a La Marzocco. The café opened in 2022 and has built a following for its rotating selection of specialty roasters and a daily bake of seasonal cakes and scones using locally sourced produce. The plant-filled interior is noticeably calmer than the tourist lanes a few streets away, and it is worth pausing here long enough for a second cup.

6. Alvin's Café

Finish at 25 Rue François Guisol near Port Lympia, where New Zealand barista Jackson Fitzgerald opened Alvin's in April 2025 on the site of the former Canopée. The Slayer espresso machine is loaded with a rotating selection of single-origin lots from Stray in Munich, Friedhats in Amsterdam and Datura in Paris, and several pour-over methods run alongside the espresso bar. A glass of something on the port itself is the logical next step after the final coffee of the day.

All six are independent. The route runs roughly north to south from the Jean Médecin district through the city centre and into Vieux-Nice, finishing with a short walk east to the port. The central section is comfortable on foot; tram line 1 connects Jean Médecin to the edge of the old town if the afternoon heat makes the walk less appealing.

Common questions

Which Nice café was the first to introduce specialty coffee to the city?

Le Country Store on Rue de l'Hôtel des Postes, which opened in 2018, is credited as the first specialty coffee bar in Nice, bringing an eco-conscious Californian approach to sourcing to the city.

Which Nice cafés roast their own coffee?

Two on this crawl roast in-house. Maison Karlie on Rue Pastorelli opened its own micro-roastery in 2022 and works with single-origin lots from Nicaragua, Ethiopia and Colombia. Cafés Indien on Rue Pairolière in Vieux-Nice has roasted on the premises since 1925 and is the oldest coffee roaster in the city.

Where should I go for cake specifically in Nice?

Maison Karlie bakes madeleines and financiers on site daily alongside its own-roasted espresso. Caffè Orso near the Promenade des Anglais makes Italian regional pastries and focaccia entirely in house. Brume Coffee in Vieux-Nice bakes seasonal scones and cakes each day, changing the selection with local produce.

Is the Nice coffee crawl walkable?

Mostly. From HUG Café on Rue de Suisse to Maison Karlie on Rue Pastorelli is a ten-minute walk south; Caffè Orso is another five minutes south. From there into Vieux-Nice for La Claque and Brume is a further ten to fifteen minutes on foot, or two stops on tram line 1 from Jean Médecin to Opéra-Vieille Ville. The final leg east to Alvin's at Port Lympia is a ten-minute walk from the edge of the old town.