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Getting around in Nice is easy, whether you explore on foot, by tram, or by bus. Dmitriy Dubovtsev/Shutterstock
Scrap the car on your visit to Nice; driving in the center of the city has always been a frustrating, stop-start experience, and has become even more so in the last decade or so as traffic lanes are torn up and replaced by dedicated bike or public transport lanes. Nabbing a street parking spot can often feel like winning the jackpot too, particularly on weekends and in summer, and parking stations aren’t cheap.
Save for the residential neighborhoods that slope up from the center, particularly Cimiez — where you’ll find two of the city’s world renowned art museums, the Musée Matisse and Musée National Marc Chagall — Nice is gloriously flat and a delight to navigate on foot, with the waterfront as a point of orientation that’s never too far away.
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When your legs need a break, the city’s Lignes d’Azur public tram and bus network are blessings when your legs need a break.
Want some even better news? Public transport doesn’t operate on a zone system like bigger cities and has a flat rate of €1.70 per single fare. As you toggle between walking, the bus and tram, and the shared e-bike fleet, one thing you can be sure of is that getting around Nice won’t eat too much into your vacation budget. Read on to learn more about the options available to you.
Walking is the best way to get around Nice
Pack some comfortable shoes. With many of the highlights within easy reach of each other, by far the best way to get around Nice is on foot. In fact, it’s your only choice to meander the pastel-streaked streets of Vieux Nice, the city’s old town, which is almost fully pedestrianized — although you can swap the stairs for the lift if you plan to push upwards towards the Colline du Château, the shaded public park that rises above the historic neighborhood with sublime views over the city and out to sea.
From Vieux Nice, you’re within walking distance of Port Lympia and the ultra-trendy dining precinct of rue Bonaparte, as well as the Promenade des Anglais, the sweeping waterfront boulevard that follows the arc of the coast from downtown to Nice Côte d’Azur airport. In fact, Nice is one of the rare cities where it’s possible to walk from the center to the airport. The distance is 7km, if you’ve got the energy!
Nice’s shared e-bike fleet is extensive
Nice is a cyclist’s paradise, with over 125km of bike lanes, including the full stretch of the Promenade des Anglais and along important thoroughfares in the new town. You won’t be searching long for one of the city’s shared e-bikes, either, since Nice has two public e-bike operators: Lime and Pony. Bikes are unlocked and locked using their own individual apps, which pinpoints the closest bikes to your location. Apart from their colour (Lime is green/white and Pony is shaded turquoise and dark blue), there’s no difference between the quality or availability of the bikes, so you’re best to download one app and stick with it. You’ll pay per ride: the rate is set at €1 to unlock and between €0.23 and €0.26 per minute.
The tram is the best way to get from A to B in the city center
If you want to rely on something other than your own two feet to get around Nice, the city’s sleek trams make easy work of traveling across town and should be your first choice for journeys to the train station, the airport and Port Lympia. The tram starts around 5am and goes until around 1am, with service every five to 10 minutes.
The route of Line 1, the red line, carves out a V-shape through the city as it connects Nice Ville train station with Vieux Nice and place Garibaldi to the southeast in a handful of minutes and Libération to the north, a neighbourhood that hosts the city’s most fragrant and local produce markets on Tuesday to Saturday mornings.
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Line 2, the blue line, travels east–west between Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, both Terminal One and Terminal 2, and Port Lympia, a journey that takes around 30 minutes in total and goes underground for part of the journey.
Line 3 (green) is most useful to visitors if they want to reach Stade Allianz Riviera on the outskirts of the city for a sporting event or concert and leaves from the airport.
One big advantage of the tram is that it has priority on the roads, so it can cover distances faster than buses which may serve similar routes. A single ticket using the La Carte travel pass costs €1.70, and includes one connection on the Lignes d’Azur network (including the bus) within a 74-minute period. You can buy tickets at machines at the station, not onboard the tram. Tap on when you board — and don’t be tempted not to. Ticket inspections are frequent.
Top Tip: From Nice Côte d’Azur airport, you’ll pay €10 for a return ticket on the tram to the city center.
Visit the outer reaches and hillside neighbourhoods by bus
While visitors may find that the two tram routes serve most of their sightseeing needs, the bus is particularly nifty for reaching the Musée Matisse and Musée National Marc Chagall in the hillside neighbourhood of Cimiez (bus 5), the pine-scented plateau of Mont Boron (bus 33) as well as any day trips you have planned to nearby coastal resorts of Èze Village (bus 82), Villefranche-sur-Mer, Beaulieu-sur-Mer and St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (all bus 15). Buses typically run every 10 to 15 minutes from 6am. The last service is around 8pm, which means that you’re fine to arrive at your evening destination by bus, but getting home is more difficult. That’s when a ride-share like Uber (see below) comes in very handy. Like the tram, Nice’s buses operate on the La Carte transport card and the fares are also the same.
Top Tip: The bus Villefranche-sur-Mer, Beaulieu-sur-Mer and St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat fills fast so, if possible, board at the first stop on the route, Lycée Massena, just opposite the Promenade du Paillon. Likewise for the bus for Èze Village, which starts at Vauban.
What do I need to know about transport passes in Nice?
The Lignes d’Azur tram and bus network went paperless in 2023 when it introduced the city’s transport card, La Carte. Be prepared to fork out an extra €2 on your first trip for the card, which you can buy at ticket machines at tram stops or from the bus driver as you board a bus. Android users can download a card directly on the Lignes d’Azur app. You can reload your ticket at ticket machines or on the Lignes d’Azur Tickets app (both Android and IoS users).
A single ride is €1.70 and you have to tap the card against the card readers on the bus and tram as you board - but you don’t have to tap off. You can tap multiple times if you are paying for multiple people with one card. One ticket is valid for 74-minutes including one connection on either a bus or tram (but no return journey).
Other fare types that can be loaded onto your card include a daily pass (€7), two-day pass (€13) weekly pass (€20).
Download the Lignes d’Azur Mobile app before you leave home to have bus timetables at your fingertips and to plan your journeys in real time once you’re in Nice.
Book a taxi or ride-share at any time of the day
Nice’s taxis have long had a bad reputation for high prices and inflexibility: you could only hail a taxi from a taxi stand, or book over the telephone. Ride-share apps like Uber and Bolt have forced their hand: now, Taxis Nice has an app that, while clunky, at least allows you to book journeys from where you want to leave, not from the closest cab rank. Fares are metered, although from the airport to the city center it is fixed at €32.
Uber is the most seamless of all the taxi and rise-share options, with an extensive network of drivers and a quoted fare before you hit the book button on the app. The average fare from the center to the Musée Matisse, for instance, is €20. It's worth noting that drivers cannot come into Vieux Nice since the neighbourhood is almost fully-pedestrianised, so pay attention to the pick-up point the driver is suggesting outside it and give yourself plenty of time to reach it.
Frequently asked questions
I want to take the bus from Nice to Monaco. Is it the same bus network?
No, unfortunately it isn’t. Bus 600 from Nice to Monaco is operated by ZOU!, the regional transport network that covers the southern Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and leaves from Square Normandie Niemen in the port neighborhood and follows a glorious waterfront route to Monaco. The fare is €2.50 and you can pay cash to the driver, or tap your credit/debit card upon boarding (although be aware that you can only pay for one ticket per card). Your Lignes d’Azur La Carte won’t work, unless you have preloaded it with a €2.50 Ticket Azur from a ticket machine at a tram station. This Ticket Azur fare also includes one connecting trip on the Lignes d’Azur network.
Accessible transportation in Nice
Most Lignes d’Azur buses, and all trams, have retractable platforms and dedicated space for wheelchair users. Trams also have lowered ticket machines, signs in braille, loudspeaker announcements to indicate stops and information screens. The international symbol of access (a wheelchair) next to a stop on a bus or tram timetable denotes an accessible stop.
Lignes d'Azur's dedicated mobility service Mobil'azur offers an on-demand bus in and around Nice and nearby villages, including Villefranche-sur-Mer and Èze. The service is open to visitors, but you’ll need to register in advance to use it.
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