Getting Around the French Riviera Without a Car
by Eniko Gasko
The French Riviera is often imagined as a place best explored by car, but for many visitors that is not actually necessary.
Along the coast, trains, trams and buses connect the main towns surprisingly well. Nice, Antibes, Cannes, Monaco and Menton are all straightforward to reach without driving, while several inland villages can also be visited by public transport with a little planning.
For travellers who prefer not to rent a car, one simple rule is useful: use the train for the coast, and buses for many of the inland villages.
The coastal train is the backbone
For travel between the main Riviera towns, the regional TER train is usually the easiest option.
The coastal line connects places including Cannes, Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Nice, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Èze-sur-Mer, Monaco, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and Menton. Many services continue towards Ventimiglia in Italy.
For visitors, this is particularly useful because several stations are within easy walking distance of historic centres, beaches and shopping areas.
Nice–Cannes is a good example. Current SNCF schedules show many direct trains each day, with the fastest journeys taking around 27 minutes and many TER services taking approximately 30–40 minutes.
The practical advantage is obvious: there is no need to think about parking, traffic or unfamiliar roads.
It is still worth checking the timetable on the day of travel. Engineering work, strikes and seasonal timetable changes can affect regional services.
A useful coastal route
For a first visit, one of the easiest car-free routes is:
Cannes → Antibes → Nice → Monaco → Menton
That does not mean trying to see all five in one day.
The Riviera works much better when each town is given enough time. The train makes it easy to build an itinerary gradually: Cannes to Antibes, Antibes to Nice, Nice to Monaco, and Monaco to Menton.
Smaller coastal stops such as Villefranche-sur-Mer and Beaulieu-sur-Mer can also be incorporated easily.
This is one of the main advantages of travelling without a car: you can explore one place properly and then continue when you are ready.
Important: Èze station is not Èze Village
This is one of the most useful things to know before travelling.
The railway station called Èze is down by the sea at Èze-sur-Mer. The famous medieval village, Èze Village, sits high above the coast.
If the village itself is your destination, arriving by train alone is often not the most practical option.
The ZOU! regional network currently operates line 602 between Nice, Èze Village and Monaco, making the bus a much more direct choice for many visitors.
This is a good example of why it helps to combine trains and buses rather than relying on one form of transport for the entire trip.
Nice Airport without a taxi
Nice Côte d’Azur Airport is very well connected to the city by tram, but there is one important fare detail that many visitors do not realise.
Tram lines 2 and B are free between Terminal 2, Terminal 1 and Grand Arénas. This means you can travel from the airport terminals to Grand Arénas without buying the dedicated airport ticket.
At Grand Arénas, you can continue on the regular Lignes d’Azur network using a standard Solo ticket, currently €1.70, or choose a day or multi-day pass if that suits your stay better. The dedicated airport return ticket currently costs €10.
Many visitors automatically buy the €10 airport ticket without realising that a cheaper regular-network option exists via Grand Arénas. The key is to leave the free airport zone there and continue with a normal urban ticket.
Grand Arénas is also useful for travellers continuing by train. Nice Saint-Augustin railway station is less than 500 metres away, and the airport confirms that the tram connection between the terminals and Grand Arénas is free.
For travellers heading elsewhere along the coast, this can be a practical way to connect with regional trains without first travelling into central Nice.
Buses for inland villages
The railway follows the coast very effectively, but many of the Riviera’s villages lie inland.
This is where the ZOU! regional bus network becomes important.
Current Alpes-Maritimes services include:
- 600 and 601 between Nice, Monaco and Menton
- 602 between Nice, Èze Village and Monaco
- additional routes serving inland villages and valleys.
There are also useful regional express routes from Nice Airport:
- 80 towards Monaco and Menton
- 81 towards Cannes
- 82 towards Vallauris
- 90 linking Nice with Mandelieu, Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël.
These can be useful if you are travelling directly from the airport or if the railway does not match your itinerary particularly well.
The main compromise is frequency. Bus services to inland destinations are generally less frequent than coastal trains, so checking the return timetable before leaving is important.
When public transport works particularly well
Travelling without a car works especially well when your itinerary concentrates on places such as:
- Nice
- Antibes and Juan-les-Pins
- Cannes
- Monaco
- Menton
- Villefranche-sur-Mer
- Beaulieu-sur-Mer
- Èze Village using the appropriate bus connection
It is particularly suitable for travellers who prefer to spend several hours — or a full day — in one place rather than trying to visit multiple villages in quick succession.
The compact geography of the coast makes this much easier than many visitors expect.
When a car is still useful
Public transport is not the best solution for every itinerary.
A car becomes more useful when the plan includes several small inland villages in one day, vineyards, countryside estates, isolated beaches or mountain areas with limited public transport.
It can also offer more flexibility for late-evening travel outside the main coastal corridor.
But there is no need to make an all-or-nothing choice.
A very practical Riviera itinerary can involve using trains, trams and buses for most of the trip, then renting a car for one or two countryside days.
Travelling without a car changes the rhythm
There is also another advantage that has little to do with timetables.
Travelling without a car changes the pace of the trip.
There is less temptation to rush between destinations. A train journey along the coast becomes part of the experience rather than simply a way to get from one place to another.
For many travellers, that slower pace suits the Riviera particularly well.
The region is compact enough to move around easily, but varied enough that there is rarely a reason to hurry.