The name means "The Englishmen's walk".
In the beginning of the 19th century a British resident, the Pasteur Lewis Way raised funds among his fellow citizens to create a stoned path along the Sea. For the Nice inhabitants it soon becomes "the Path of the Englishmen". It started at the Paillon mouth. The other end is not known precisely. It is supposed to have been around the present Hotel Negresco.
The path is widened, raised above the Sea level, turned into a road with trees and extended until the Magnan mouth in the middle of the 19th Century. The name "Promenade des Anglais" becomes official in the same period. It will reach the Var river only in the beginning of the 20th century.
Today, the "Prom" as many inhabitants call it is a 6, sometimes 8 lanes noisy road. Despite these drawbacks, it has a wide sidewalk on the sea side and a bicycle path on all its length (more than 7km) portecting riders from the cars.
The views on the bay from the two ends, with the hills or the mountains in the background are really magnificient.
On July the 14th, 2016, the Promenade des Anglais was the target of an islamic terror attack which killed 86 and left hundreds crippled.