(Free) WiFi in Nice, France?

October 12, 2006 12:24 PM

(Free) WiFi in Nice, France?

Going to Nice for a three-month stay, and I'm taking my new MacBook. Ideally I'd like to use iChat / Skype instead of my cell phone (last time I spent almost $600 on cell bills); but I need a good connection.

A year ago when I was there I found the WiFi offerings meager, but maybe I was looking in the wrong places? Where can I find WiFi in Nice?

Free would be great; pay-as-you-go would be okay.

Also: I know, I could get a cheap-o phone when I'm there, but I'd rather not. Let's leave it at that.

posted by ImJustRick to travel & transportation (4 comments total)

jiwire's list of 146 hotspots in Nice.

The free ones mostly appear at McDonalds.
posted by birdherder at 1:25 PM on October 12, 2006

A lot of the internet cafes in France are outfitted for Skype-type conversations, so maybe that's an option. Less expensive than cell phone, at least.
posted by The Michael The at 3:45 PM on October 12, 2006

WiFi was all over Nice when I was there in Fall/Winter 05.
It also depends on where you're staying. If you're down by the waterfront, you won't have any trouble. There was a nice little (touristy) cafe that offered free Wifi, but check the hot spot listing.

I feel like you were looking in the wrong places, Nice was one of the most wired places I stayed, outside of Paris. Italy was a joke.
posted by lilithim at 5:02 PM on October 12, 2006

Anecdotally, I've been regularly using a Mcdonalds near me in Lyon for internet access. There are a couple of powerpoints available in the store, and they don't care if 20 of you spend 8 hours in the restaurant without buying a small fries between you. The connection is good enough for tons of people to be webcamming their friends back home at once. (It's just down the road from a student residence filled with foreigners). I don't know as to the staff attitudes everywhere else, but I assume the connection quality will be similarly high at McDonalds' through France. (There were occasional unexplained downtimes however, and most of the staff would just look confused if we said the network was down).
posted by jacalata at 10:41 AM on October 13, 2006