Public Transport on the Riviera

There is a fantastic bus system on the Riviera that services 24 towns and villages during the day with over 40 different routes along the Cote d’Azur. It’s wonderful that in such an upmarket area you can still travel all the way from Cannes to Nice on an open top bus for only 1 Euro. It may take a couple of hours but what a stunning ride along the coast!

On 24th Nov 2007 Nice’s Tramway opened providing a cleaner more efficient service to the people of Nice and the surrounding area. The city centre has been transformed and now looks almost futuristic with manicured gardens, sparkling fountains and an eco-friendly brand new tram system.

Ligne 1 has 21 stations and runs 8.7km through the city from Las Planas in Nice Nord through the city centre and up to Pont Michel in the North East of the city.

The trams runs for over 21 hours a day, every 4 minutes during peak times and every 8 minutes at all other times.

The first train departs Las Planas at 0425 and departs Pont Michel at 0510.

The last train departs Las Planas at 0045 and departs Pont Michel at 0126.

There are 765 free parking spaces at Las Planas and it opens at 0400 in the morning and closes at 0230 in the early hours of the morning. Pont Michel has over 500 spaces and has the same opening hours. This is to encourage people to leave their cars outside of the city centre where parking for the day is expensive and to alleviate congestion.

A single journey (billet Solo) will cost 1 Euro, there are no return tickets and the ticket is valid on buses and trams except to the airport. All-day tickets (Pass 1) are available to give you unlimited travel throughout the day on the buses and the trams. This is the ticket you need to purchase if you are going to Nice Cote d’Azur Airport on bus number 98 or 99 and will cost 4 Euro.

Tickets can be purchased on the buses, in tourist information offices and various Tabacs and other shops along the Riviera.

The Velo Bleu is a relatively new sight in Nice, stations of Blue Bikes for hire all around the city. You have to register online or by phone before you can use the bikes and unfortunately it’s all in French so it’s not the easiest to use if you don’t speak the language but for just 1 Euro you can use the bikes for a whole day and return it to any of the Velo Bleu stations across the city.

For more information about times, fares and routes see the links.