Flights and Transport in Nice and the French Riviera
Traveling to Nice
Flights:
Every year more and more tourists and property buyers are coming to the South of France to enjoy its heavenly beaches and fine wines. Nice Cote d'Azur Aiport, with 10 million tourists passing through its gates each year, is France's second largest airport. Built on land reclaimed form the sea, it plays an important part in the tourist industry of the ever glamorous French Riviera.
It is now easier than ever to get to Nice with the number of fights and destinations increasing every year. One can fly to 98 cities in 29 countries from Nice with 62 scheduled airlines.
If flying from Ireland, Aer Lingus travels to Dublin 8 times per week during peak season and 3 times to Cork. From November 2007 Ryanair will fly daily from Dublin to Nice. Flying from England one can choose from an abundance of airlines including Easy Jet, who fly 40 times daily to Nice during the summer season. British Midland, BMI Baby, British Airways, FlyGlobespan, Channel Express, Jet2, and FlyMe, fly from 13 UK destinations to Nice 146 times per year.
Lost and found, complaints, reimbursement of VAT, access parking, public transport, air cargo, airport parking inquires can be made on +33 (0)820 423 333.
Getting from the airport to Nice's city centre.
Bus:
The following are the buses that leave regularly from both airport terminals to Nice's city centre. One can also find bus services to many other destinations along the Riviera.
Bus Route 23 (Airport - SNCF train station)
Departs from: Terminal 1 every 20 minutes between 6am and 8.50pm. Costs: €1.30 for a single journey. €4 for a daily pass.
Bus Route 98 (Airport- Bus Station-Old Nice via promenade)
Departs from: Terminal 1 & 2 every 20 minutes from 6am to 11.50pm.
Costs: 1 day pass (only) €4.
Bus Route 99 (Airport - SNCF train station)
Departs from : Terminal 1 & 2 every 30 minutes from 7.53am to 9pm
Costs: €4 for a day pass.
Taxi
Taxis stop outside both airport terminals and generally cost €25-€30 to the city centre. In the city centre taxis may be found at the Gare SNCF, avenue Felix Faures, Place Garibaldi, rue Hotel des Postes and Promenade des Anglais. Taxi drivers have a reputation of overcharging tourists, so watch the meter and beware. If you are searching for a reliable taxi driver call Central Taxi Riviera on +33 4 93 13 78 78
Public Transportation
Nice is best explored by foot, with its pedestrianised streets lined with cafes, restaurants, bars and shops. Due to Nice's exceptional climate, year round, people can bask in the city's atmosphere and commute by foot while shopping in the up-market boutiques in the Zone Pietonne, the high street stores on Avenue Jean Medecin, the speciality stores of Old Nice and the antiques and flea markets around the Old Port. Since all of these areas are located within the city centre, they can be discovered without the use of public transport. The furthest one will have to walk is 30 minutes from the promenade to the city's suburbs.
Nice has an extensive public transport system, whether travelling to the nearby towns or suburbs of Nice one can use a train, bus or tram
Bus
Nice's public bus system ("Lignes d'Azur") and the privately owned "sun bus" group travels to most parts of the city. Tickets are sold at various points within the city center as well as on buses. These tickets a flat rate of €1.30 for a single journey, €10 for a 10-trip multi-pass or €4 for a single day pass. Local buses start at around 06.00am but be careful as many of them finish as early as 19.00pm. Routes to the outskirts of Nice may run only three or four trips a day, some don't run on Sundays.
The towns along the Riviera between Menton and Cannes are connected to Nice by a bus service called the Trans Alpes Maritime (TAM). These coaches depart from the central bus station ("Gare Routiere"). They adopt the same pricing structure as the Lignes d'Azur. Most finish at 8pm. The most useful of these coaches is the frequent TAM 100, which runs between Nice and Menton, taking in the popular destinations of Villefranche, Beaulieu and Monaco.
The "Noctambus" - routes N1 - 4 night bus - starts in Nice at 21.00 and finish around 02.00 - one an hour, and serve the outer-lying areas of Nice with an infrequent "one an hour" type service.
There are long-distance bus services - the Lignes Express Regional (LER) which offer excellent value for fast Autoroute connections like Nice to Aix en Provence, Toulon and Hyeres or Marseilles. The operating company for Nice is Phoceen Cars, based at 2 Place Massena. These run three or four trips a day, for which booking is essential.
During the months from late November to early April ski buses run to various resorts near Nice. The price of a return journey and a ski pass to Isola 2000 or Auron is €24.50. Buses run form the Gare Routiere at 7.15 am or 7.30 am from the Gare SNCF. It is possible to book in advance either at the bus station or on +33 (0)4 93 85 92 60.
Train
Trains connect all the neighboring towns from Ventimiglia across the Italian border through to Cannes, St Raphael and Marseilles. The state national railway SNCF uses the main railway station Gare 'Nice Ville' and runs frequent services to all stations, and is generally reliable, though very long ticket queues can often build up at popular times. There is a second train station located in the port area, 'Gare Riquier', which gives easy access to the old town of Nice.
Tram
Scheduled for completion in autumn 2007 this tram line will run 8.7 kilometres long, forming a 'U' shape and runs from the northern suburbs to the city centre and continues on to the eastern suburbs. There will be 28 stops in total with an average of 350 to 400 metres between each stop. At peak times there will be a tram every 4 minutes. Price of a ticket will cost €1.30.
