Travel by Train to Nice Côte d’Azur Airport (NCE) on the French Riviera

Published on

by Henk Bekker

in Côte d'Azur Riviera, France, N24

Aéroport Nice-Côte d’Azur NCE airport is a short free tram ride from Saint Augustin Station and a cheap tram ride from Nice Ville Gare SNCF main train stations with fast connections to French Riviera resorts.

TER Train in Monaco Colors is a convenient way to travel to Saint Augustine near Nice Côte d'Azur Airport in France on the French Riviera.

Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport (NCE) is not directly linked to the French railway system. However, it is a short free tram ride from the airport terminal to Saint Augustin station or a cheap tram ride to Nice Ville Gare SNCF central train station (Gare Thiers). Almost all regional TER trains call at both Nice-St Augustin and Nice-Ville stations. TER trains are generally faster than buses and stop at most French Riviera resort towns including Mandelieu, Cannes, Antibes, Nice-St Augustin, Nice-Ville, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Monaco, Merton, and Ventimiglia. Intercity and TGV trains depart only from Nice Ville. Welcome gives online quotations for private airport transfers without first requiring personal details or flight numbers – it is often a good alternative for small groups or when traveling at odd hours and with luggage.

Traveling to Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport (NCE) by Train

Google Map Nice Airport

As trains do not stop directly at Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport, a tram ride is always required. The closest train station to the airport is Nice-Saint Augustin, where almost all TER regional trains call. Nice-Ville station is a cheap half-hour tram ride away and offers not only TER but further long-distance connections. Trainline is arguably the simplest site for buying French train tickets online. Use “Nice St Augustin” for the station closest to the airport and Nice for the main train station.

From Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport (NCE) to St Augustin Train Station

To get to St Augustin station from Nice Airport, take the free tram from terminal 2 or 1 to Grand Arénas, and then it is only a very short walk. Take any tram departing from the airport (tram 2 or tram B — from 2025, tram 3 no longer stops at the airport).

The tram ride between Terminal 2, Terminal 1, and Grand Arénas is free for all — walking to the station is no longer encouraged, although it is possible and less than a kilometer from Terminal 1. Traveling time to Grand Arénas is only 3 minutes from Terminal 1 and 7 minutes from Terminal 2. The trams are very frequent.

Walking between Terminal 2 and Terminal 1 is not possible at Nice Airport.

From Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport (NCE) to Nice-Ville Gare SNCF Railway Station

Nice-Ville SNCF Train Station

Nice-Ville train station, often referred to as Nice Gare, Gare Thiers, or Nice SNCF station, is in the center of Nice city. The special airport express bus 99 no longer operates making a train, tram, or taxi ride necessary.

The fastest option will often be by train via St Augustin as described above.

Alternatively, to reach Nice-Ville train station from either airport Terminal 1 or Terminal 2, take tram 2 (blue line, not tram B yellow line) to Jean Médicin (in the direction of Port Lympia). From Jean Médicin, it is either a 10-minute walk to the station or take tram 1 (direction north / Henri Sappia) for one-stop to Gare Thiers. (Same tram ticket but validate again.) The total travel time should be around 45 minutes.

The tram from Arenas to the center is €1.70 but requires a “La Carte” rechargeable transportation card that is NOT sold at the airport stops. A “L’Aéro” card (€10) is sold at the airport and includes an airport return with 74 minutes of tram or bus rides within Nice. All tickets and passes must be validated at the start of each journey, including after a bus or tram change. Transfers are allowed but not return journeys or backtracking.

TER Trains from Nice to French Riviera Towns

Fort Carré in Antibes seen from a TER Train

The most useful trains when traveling to French Riviera resorts are the regional TER trains. These trains usually run twice per hour (more often at peak times). Almost all trains stop at St Augustin too, except trains starting only from Nice towards Italy.

TER train traveling times from Nice-Ville Gare SNCF train station in minutes are around:

Trains operate from around 5 am to 11 pm, which makes them also useful at night when bus services have ended. Although the train is generally more expensive than the regular bus, they do tend not to overfill to the point of having to wait for the next service.

Trains are often cheaper (with no luggage surcharges) and as fast as the special airport express buses but require a transfer, which may be a drag when traveling with luggage.

Bearers of TER trains tickets should ask for a discount tariff when buying admission tickets to amongst others the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco, the Greek Villa Kérylos in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, and Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat.

How to Buy French Train Tickets Online

French railway tickets are available online from many resellers — Trainline is currently often the simplest to use.

SNCF has several official websites: Oui.SNCF is the main site but visitors may be passed on to other SNCF sub-sites with many non-European-based users ending up at RailEurope sites that often sell only long-distance train tickets. Trainline and Omio are generally a lot easier to use and may include searches for competing buses, such as Flixbus, that are price and time-competitive with trains on some popular routes. Try Ouigo for low-cost TGV trains — very good deals are available at quiet times and inconvenient hours.

Trainline and Omio also sell cross-border journeys and tickets for many other European countries. Show-on-mobile phone tickets and print-at-home tickets are generally the best options, collecting tickets at the station is time-consuming. Tickets for short journeys and trains in urban areas (RER & Metro) are usually not sold online.

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