Transportation
This region of France is one of the most popular tourist kingdoms in the entire world. As such, this small patch of land is crisscrossed by an entire web of transportation neworks, using almost all the locomotion methods known to modern man. Getting to the Cote d’Azur is not a problem in itself, but more a problem of making up one’s mind.
By Air
When considering travels to and from Cote d’Azur, planes are your best bet.
Nice Airport
- This is the main airport of Cote d’Azur, one of the busiest in France and has frequent daily flights to Paris, and direct to most major cities in Europe, including Moscow, as well New York, Atlanta and a number of destinations in North Africa and the Middle East.
- The airport is located at the western end of Nice on landfill. Arrival and departure in good weather often provides beautiful views of the French Riviera.
- Most airlines use Terminal 1 (the older terminal) while Terminal 2 is used primarily by Air France (and partners) and Easyjet. There is a free shuttle bus between the terminals.
- Various bus lines depart from the airport. To get to the downtown bus station ("Gare Routiere"), take the airport express line 98 departing T1 and T2 every 30 minutes. To get directly to Nice’s main train station (Gare Nice Ville SNCF) take the alternating route 99. The airport website has a page with timetables.
- Convenient for some destinations, there is also a small train station close to the airport, Nice St Augustin, where you can pick up a TER train eastward to Nice, Monaco and all stations to the Italian border at Ventimiglia, or west back to Antibes and Cannes. The station is reached on foot around a half kilometer via underpasses and road-crossings, on the other side of the Arenas office complex.
- Some hotels offer shuttle buses from the airport - inquire at your hotel before or upon arrival.
- If you are really stuck and there is no transport running - it is reassuring to know it is quite possible to walk the 6 km to town, in a little over an hour.
Another somewhat important airport in Cote d’Azur is Cannes - Mandelieu Airport (5 km west of Cannes).
By Train
Another option for travel to and in the Cote d’Azur is on a rail.
- Nice is connected to the rest of France via the SNCF train network. A direct TGV train from Paris to Nice takes about 6 hours, fare for an adult is about 100 Euros, and on TGVs a reservation is obligatory. The train arrives in Nice at the central station (called simply "Gare SNCF"). Trenitalia trains connect Nice to Italian cities like Milan, Genoa, Rome and Venice.
- France’s TGV rail services provides access to the city of Cannes from a large number of major French cities. From London Waterloo Station the Eurostar connects with Lille, from where a connecting service to Cannes is available. The journey from London to Lille is just 1 hour, 25 minutes, while from Lille to Cannes, it’s 7 hours. Other European cities with rail connections to Cannes include Brussels (6 hours), Milan (5 hours), Basel (10 hours), Rome (10 hours) and Venice (10 hours).
By Bus
For trips in and around the Cote d’Azur region, buses are the most efficient and convenient travel option.
- Each main town on the French Riviera has its own local bus network - for Nice its "Lignes d’Azur" (Antibes has "Envibus", Cannes has "Bus Azur", and so on) and the 100 or more Ligne d’Azur routes are the main form of urban transport for locals going to work or school.
- Of more interest to tourists, an inter-urban network, the TAM (Transport Alpes-Maritimes) connects all the Eastern Riviera towns between Cannes and Menton and all the main villages like Èze and Vence. Its routes radiate from the main bus station in Nice, the (Gare Routière) in central Nice on Avenue Félix Faure near the Rue du Lycée. Bus fares are so cheap, much cheaper than train, so it is worth mastering the system to get around.
- The Ligne d’Azur and TAM routes overlap in and around Nice, so the ticket and tariff system is integrated to a common ticket zone, in which a Ligne d’Azur tickets and passes are accepted on the longer distance TAM buses, but only between Cagnes-sur-Mer to the west, and Cap d’Ail short of Monaco. The fare is identical on both networks - 1 euro for any distance - but you must always tell the driver your intended destination, so he can judge if you have the right ticket. If not, you’ll be asked to pay the euro in cash. The one exception is the Airport Express bus, which has a 4 euros flat fare, which buys you a Ligne d’Azur all day pass into the bargain - handy if you’re arriving, and not if you’re leaving.
- In January 1st 2008, a new ticket called "Ticket Azur" was introduced to create a reduced fare when changing from one bus network to another, but from 1st February this was been overtaken by a new reduced tariff, of only one euro for any journey, compared to the old one euro thirty cents. As a result, the journey from Nice to say Cannes is ridiculously cheap compared to the train - a quarter of the price but takes three times longer. Meaning that the buses are liable to dreadful overcrowding and the prospect of standing for nearly two hours. If you’re short on cash and don’t mind discomfort, take the bus. If you’re short on time and prefer to sit, take the train.