Bus services

The popular public bus system of Nice (" Lignes d'Azur") connects most parts of the city, and a single bus fare will get you quickly around Nice and to the outlying areas as well. Tickets are sold in various points within the city center as well as on buses, and you can purchase tickets for a single trip - currently a flat rate of 1.00 euro, a 10-trip multi-pass (10 euro), a singe day pass (4 euro)  or a seven day pass. Local buses start at around 06.00am but be warned many of them terminate as early as 19.00pm, and routes to the outer lying areas of Nice may run only three or four trips a a day, and some not at all on Sundays.One of the most useful local buses is Route 23, which connects central Nice with Terminal 1 Nice Airport.

Note that the 7 day pass (currently 15euros) is good for unlimited travel on buses and the tram, and includes trips to the airport (otherwise 4 Euros per journey on the direct buses from the bus station or the mainline station). If you stay that long, or think you may use the system a lot, then buy the 7 day pass on arrival at the airport, thus getting a "free" ride in!

The tram

This opened in the spring of 2008, and has already transformed parts of Nice. Place Garibaldi has been restored to its former glory, now the tramworks have finished.1 euro per journey, or use the bus pass. The tram runs until midnight, unlike (as mentioned elsewhere) the early closure of buses. TAXIS AT NIGHT ARE SERIOUSLY EXPENSIVE.

 The towns along the eastern Riviera between Menton and Cannes are connected to Nice by another coach service, the   Trans Alpes Maritime (TAM) bus. These coaches sport their own white and blue livery and start from the central bus station ("Gare Routiere") They adopt the pricing tarrif of the Lignes d'Azur , with a flat fare of 1.00 euro for any journey, even Monaco. However they  often finsh for the day around 20.00, so planning journeys you need to consider what time you are travelling back.  The most useful of these coaches is the frequent TAM 100, which runs between Nice and Menton, taking in the popular destinations of Villefranche, Beaulieu and Monaco..There is also the 200, in the other direction, to Cagnes, Antibes and Cannes.

The "Noctambus" -routes N1-4 night bus - starts in Nice at 21.00 and finish around 02.00 - one an hour, and serve the outer-lying areas of Nice with an infrequent "one an hour" type service.

There are long-distance bus services - the Lignes Express Regional (LER) which offer excellent value for fast Autoroute connections like Nice to Aix en Provence, Toulon and Hyeres or Marseilles. The operating company for Nice is Phoceen Cars, based next door to the Gare Routiere in Bd Jean Jaures. These run three or four trips a day , for which booking is essential.

Trains

There is no underground metro service within Nice. Trains connect all the neighbouring towns from Ventimiglia across the Italian border through to Cannes, St Raphael and Marseilles. The state national railway SNCF uses the main railway station "Nice Gare Ville" and runs frquent services to all stations, and is generally reliable, though very long ticket queues can often build up at popular times. This station also serves the intercity bullet train - Trains Grande Vitesse (TGV)  The best intercity services late at night is the train service SNCF between Ventimiglia and Cannes, which runs until around midnight but no later. Generally because the general road traffic along the RN7 between Nice and Cannes is often sticky ( Nice - Cannes = 2 hours) it is often preferrable to use train rather than bus when travelling west (Nices - Cannes = 25 minutes).

Taxis

Taxicabs are also available in Nice. The main taxi locations are the Esplanade Masséna, Promenade des Anglais, Place Garibaldi, Rue Hôtel-des-Postes, Gare SNCF and the Acropolis. The Central Taxi Riviera service offers a 24-hour switchboard and service seven days a week. There is a night rate from 7pm until 7am. Fortunately for travellers there is a fixed schedule of charges between the town and the airport (22 - 28 euro, according to time of day).

Feet 

Generally offering the best value form of transport around, feet can get you easily around most of the attractions of Nice, which are all  mostly within walking distance of the centre.