Nice Transportation

Getting There

Air

The Nice-Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE) (+33 4898 8828 / http://www.nice.aeroport.fr/) provides some of the world's most beautiful take-offs and landings. Expanding out on a peninsula like a beached sunbather, some four miles outside of Nice proper, the dual terminal airport butts up against the Mediterranean Sea, with flights shooting out over the waters offering views of the Alps, the jaw dropping cliffs between Nice and Monaco and the beaches along the Riviera. The airport has numerous amenities like shops, restaurants and bars, massage-while-you-wait services (+33 6 8833 6697), a business center (+34 9321 3073), vaccination center, currency exchange stations, info desks, and ATMs. Airlines include:

Air France (+1 800 237 2747 +0820 820 820 / http://www.airfrance.com/)
Air Transat (+877 872 6728 / http://www.airtransat.com/)
British Airways (+0825 825 400 / http://www.britishairways.com/)
Delta (+0800 354 080 / http://www.delta-air.com/)
Easy Jet (+871 244 2366 / http://www.easyjet.com/)
Germanwings (+44 870 252 12 50 / http://www1.germanwings.com/)
Jet 2 (+44 207 1700737 / http://www.jet2.com/)
KLM (+0890 710 710 / http://www.klm.com/)
Lufthansa (+0820 20 2030 / http://cms.lufthansa.com/)
My Travel (+870 238 7710 / http://www.mytravel.com/)
SAS (+0825 325 335 / http://www.scandinavian.net/)
Sky Europe (+421 2 4850 1111 / http://www1.skyeurope.com/)
Virgin Express (+0821 2230 202 / http://www.virgin-express.com/)

From the Airport

Car Rentals: Driving into Nice from the airport is a simple matter of finding your way through a couple of roundabouts to the famed Promenade des Anglais. For a less dramatic entrance opt for the N7. Car Rentals at the airport include

ADA (+0825 169 169 (France) / http://www.ada.fr/)
Avis (+0820 050 505 / http://www.avis.com/)
Budget (+0825 003 564 / http://www.budget.com/)
Europcar (+0825 352 352 / http://www.europcar.fr/)
Hertz (+0825 361 361 / http://www.hertz.com/)
Sixt (+33 01 44 38 5555 / http://www.e-sixt.com/)
Citer/National (+33 01 44 38 6161 / http://www.citer.com/)

Taxi: Taxis line up outside each terminal. Trips into Nice are relatively quick and once all the surcharges add up the fare will set you back about EUR25.

Bus: Various bus companies combine to offer 23 routes connecting the airport with more than 100 destinations between Genoa in the east and Marseille and Avignon in the west and Valle d'Allos and Auron up north in the Alps. Buses depart from the airport to Nice every 10 minutes from 6a-10p.

Train: The Nice St Agustin train station lies just north of terminal one, but is still a good 15-20 minute hike on foot, which is troublesome with a load of baggage. Plus, service at the station varies widely so waiting for a train could be inconvenient depending on when you touch down. Other alternatives include taking one of the frequent buses that go to Gare Nice Ville (the central train station) where the rail choices open up considerably.

Helicopter & Ferry: Alternatives for the jet-setters include helicopter transport to just about any place in the region, although Monaco and St. Tropez get the most attention, with flights leaving about every 20 minutes. Also, during the summer Air France (+0820 820 820 / http://www.airfrance.com/) has a speedy water ferry that shuttles passengers to and from St Tropez. The journey lasts two hours and fares start at EUR59.

Bus

Eurolines (http://www.eurolines.com/) has a limited number of routes between Nice and other European cities. Most buses pull into the Gare Routire station in the town center. A fleet of local bus companies serve the region with frequent jaunts from Nice to Genoa, Cannes, Antibes, Marseille, and St Tropez.

Car

The A8 toll expressway rushes along the northern edge of the city heading west to Cannes and east to Monaco and Italy. The N7 also runs east/west and cuts through the heart of the city. The road is toll free, but only two lanes and can be congested during the peak season. The N98 parallels the coast and is the winding scenic drive connecting Nice with Cannes, Monaco and Italy. The narrow, bike filled D19 and the three-lane (the third being a nerve racking shared passing lane) N202 descend into Nice from the Alps to the north. The A7 is the major northbound approach from Paris and Lyon. It merges with the A8 at Aix-en-Provence.

Train

Gare Nice-Ville is the headquarters for all trains coming to and from Nice. SNCF (+33 4 9214 8252 / http://www.sncf.fr/), France's national rail management company, oversees the lines, which run east along the coast through Monaco and down the boot of Italy to Rome, and west to Marseille before turning north to Paris. If you can nab a seat on a TGV high speed train (four to five daily in summer/two daily in winter) the journey time between Paris and Nice is 6 hours.

Water

Next to the Caribbean, more cruise liners sail the Mediterranean Sea than any other water way in the world. A multitude of the massive cities on water call at the port of Nice-Villefranche (+33 04 93 01 78 05 / http://www.riviera-ports.com/). The luxury yachts and pleasure boats that are as synonymous with the Riviera as sunshine moor up the coastline at the Port of Nice (+33 820 425 555 / http://www.riviera-ports.com/).

Getting Around

Public Transport

Nice and its environs are deceptively spread out, which you quickly learn this if you choose to tackle sightseeing on foot. Plus, once the city starts heading inland from the sea it begins to rise toward the Alps. Thus, steep inclines can make walking more of a workout than a leisurely excursion. This is where Nice's public transport system, which consists primarily of Sunbus (+33 8 92 70 7407 / http://www.sunbus.com/) buses rumbling to all nooks of town.

Car

Cruising up and down the long crescent stretch of the Promenade des Anglais, preferably in a convertible soaking up the summer sun, is a popular pastime for those who travel to Nice. And unlike Cannes' compact center, which is plagued with traffic year round, Nice is exceptionally manageable by car during the off season, with parking readily available just about anywhere.

Taxi

Taxis are readily obtainable outside Gare SCNF (train station) and the Acropolis (convention center), along the Promenade des Anglais and the Esplanade Massna. Or you can telephone Central Taxi Riviera (+33 4 9313 7878) 24/7.

Bike

Nice is also extremely bike friendly (barring a few cobblestoned passageways), and is the perfect destination for any cycling enthusiast looking to endure the hilly roads like the pros riding the Tour de France. During the peak season (June-August) the long stretch of concrete boardwalk alongside the Promenade des Anglais becomes congested with two wheeled machines of all sorts.

Ferry

If a day trip to Corsica is on the agenda the appropriately named Corsica Ferries (+33 4 92 00 42 93 / http://www.corsicaferries.com/) has daily service to both Calvi and Bastia.

Planning a Trip

Getting There

Transatlantic and intercontinental flights land at Aéroport Nice-Côte d'Azur (tel. 08-20-42-33-33). From there, municipal bus no. 98 departs at 20-minute intervals for the Gare Routière ; the one-way fare is 1.50€ ($1.95). Bus nos. 23 and 99 go to Gare SNCF. More luxurious is a yellow-sided shuttle bus (la navette de l'aéroport) that charges 4€ ($5.20) for a ride between the airport and the bus station. A taxi from the airport into the city center will cost at least 20€ to 30€ ($26-$39) each way. Trip time is about 30 minutes.

Trains arrive at Gare Nice-Ville, avenue Thiers (tel. 36-35; www.voyages-sncf.com). From there you can take trains to Cannes, Monaco, and Antibes, with easy connections to anywhere else along the Mediterranean coast. The train station has a small tourist center, open Monday through Saturday from 8am to 7pm and Sunday from 9am to 6pm. If you face a long delay, you can eat at the cafeteria and even shower at the station.

Buses to and from Monaco, Cannes, St-Tropez, and elsewhere in France and Europe serve the main bus station, Gare Routière, 5 bd. Jean-Jaurès (tel. 04-93-85-61-81).

Visitor Information

Nice maintains three tourist offices, the largest and most central of which is at 5 promenade des Anglais, near place Masséna (tel. 08-92-70-74-07; fax 04-92-14-46-49; www.nicetourisme.com). Additional offices are in the arrivals hall of the Aéroport Nice-Côte d'Azur and the railway station on avenue Thiers. Any office can make a hotel reservation (but only for the night of the day you show up), for a modest fee that varies according to the classification of the hotel.

Getting Around

Most local buses serve the Station Central SNCF, 10 av. Félix-Faure (tel. 04-93-13-53-13; www.voyages-sncf.com), a very short walk from the place Masséna. Municipal buses charge 1.45€ ($1.90) for a ride within Greater Nice. To save money, consider buying a carnet entitling you to 8 rides for 8.30€ ($11). Bus nos. 2 and 12 make frequent trips to the beach.

No point within downtown Nice is more than about a 10-minute walk from the seafronting promenade, site of such well-known quais as the promenade des Anglais and the promenade des Etats-Unis. Bus nos. 2 and 12 run along its length, dropping passengers off at any of the beaches and concessions that front the edge of the sea.

Opening in the summer of 2007 is the Nice Tramway, with 21 stations running from Comte de Falican in north Nice south to the city center, including Place Massena and Pont Michel. All tickets cost 1.30€ ($1.70) and are available at ticket-dispensing machines located in all tram stations. For more information, call (tel. 08-11-00-20-06) or click on www.tramway-nice.org.

The best place to rent bikes and mopeds is Energy Scoot, promenade des Anglais (tel. 04-97-07-12-64), just behind the place Grimaldi. Open Monday to Friday 9am to noon and 2 to 7pm, it charges 15€ ($20) per day for a bike or moped, and requires a deposit of at least 54€ ($70), depending on the value of the machine you rent. Somewhat less appealing, but useful when Energy Scoot is closed, is Nicea Rent, 12 rue de Belgique (tel. 04-93-82-42-71). It charges about the same rates, but the staff isn't always on the premises.

Special Events

The Nice Carnaval draws visitors from all over Europe and North America. The "Mardi Gras of the Riviera" begins sometime in February, usually 12 days before Shrove Tuesday, celebrating the return of spring with 3 weeks of parades, corsi (floats), veglioni (masked balls), confetti, and battles in which young women toss flowers. Only the most wicked throw rotten eggs instead of carnations. The climax, a fireworks display on Shrove Tuesday, lights up the Baie des Anges (Bay of Angels). King Carnival goes up in flames on his pyre but rises from the ashes the following spring. For information, contact the tourist office .

The Nice Festival du Jazz (tel. 01-47-23-07-58; www.nicejazzfest.com) runs for a week in mid-July, when jazz artists perform in the ancient Arène de Cimiez.