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Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE)

Last verified: October 2026 · Confirmed by travelers this month: 0

The answer
Take Tram line 2 from the stations inside Terminal 1 and Terminal 2: Jean Médecin in the centre in under 30 minutes, a tram every 7–8 minutes — the airport machines sell the €10 A/R 'Aéro' card, but any Lignes d'Azur card loaded with a €1.70 SOLO ticket (or bought in the app) pays the general fare even at the airport.
The tram is France's most direct airport link — the stop is inside both terminals — and the airport area (T2 ↔ T1 ↔ Grand Arénas) rides for free, so you can hop one stop west and load a normal ticket from any other machine if the terminal machine pushes the €10 card.
Promenade stay? Bus 12+ from the 'Aéroport/Promenade' stop (150 m from T1, in front of the Sheraton) runs the beachfront past Masséna to the Old Port on the same €1.70 ticket.
Heading to Monaco? The ZOU! line 80 express goes airport → Monaco → Menton nonstop for €21.40 — versus €95 in a taxi.

🚋 Every way out — real prices

Tram line 2 into the centre BEST FOR MOST
€10 A/R Aéro card / €1.70 standard
The tram stop sits inside both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Line 2 reaches Jean Médecin (centre) in under 30 minutes and Port Lympia (cruise port), with a tram roughly every 7–8 minutes weekdays — except 1 May, when nothing runs. Tickets: 'AERO aller-retour €10 (retour libre)' — one card for an out-and-back with 74-minute transfers — or a normal SOLO single at €1.70, 1-day €7 / 2-day €13 / 7-day €20 passes, valid 'with your Lignes d'Azur card' at the airport per the operator's own airport page. Anonymous 'La Carte' costs a refundable €2 deposit. The airport section (T2–T1–Grand Arénas) is free.
Bus 12+ along the Promenade
€1.70 standard ticket
A bus high-capacity line boarding at 'Aéroport / Promenade' — 150 m on foot from Terminal 1, on the Promenade des Anglais in front of the Sheraton. It runs the beachfront through Place Masséna (stop 'Albert 1er'), the Vieux Nice ('Opéra'/'Cathédrale') and Garibaldi. Standard network fares apply (SOLO €1.70; day pass €7), but there is no buying on board — load a ticket first at the terminal's SELECTour desk, a machine, or the Lignes d'Azur Tickets app. Does not run on 1 May.
Taxi (fixed prefectoral fares)
€32 to Nice centre
2026 flat rates from the airport, identical on the airport's own taxi page and the government's taxi-fare bulletin: Nice-centre €32, Cap d'Antibes / Juan-les-Pins €72, Cannes €85, Monaco €95 — TTC, supplements on top, in both directions. Book via the official 'Taxi Nice Riviera' centre (+33 4 93 13 78 78, phone/WhatsApp or its app).
ZOU! line 80 express — Monaco & Menton
€21.40 single
NiceAirportXpress, the 100%-electric express coach: T2 (quai 1, arrivals level, doors A1/A3) then T1, nonstop to Monaco (Larvotto, Casino, Place d'Armes) and on to Menton. €21.40 in the agency, online or by tapping your bank card on the on-board Open-Payment validator; €21.80 from the driver; 4–11s €10.70–€11.10; a 10-trip card is €149.80. Every ~30 minutes: toward Monaco/Menton 08:30–22:00, toward the airport 06:00–20:00 with an early 05:15 T2 arrival Tuesday–Sunday. Payment must be arranged before boarding on 81/82; bus 80 also sells at the T2 service centre (card only).
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⚠️ The traps (walk past these)

The €12 tram: €10 card plus €2 deposit

Machines inside Terminal 1 and 2 deliver the airport product — the €10 round-trip 'Aéro' card — and, per the operator's fare grid as reported by actu.fr at the tariff change, not the €1.70 singles or day passes sold everywhere else. A first-time visitor with no card pays €10 plus a €2 refundable card deposit to go one way into town.

Do this: use the free airport tram section to Grand Arénas and buy a normal €1.70 ticket there, or load the app ticket before you land
Half the trams say 'CADAM', not 'Aéroport' — and none run on 1 May

Line B shares the airport tracks and turns south to the CADAM administrative centre instead of the centre; from the other side, alternating airport services end at CADAM rather than Port Lympia. And the airport's own pages state both tram lines and bus 12+ skip 1 May completely.

Do this: read the destination blind (2/Port Lympia for the centre) and treat 1 May as a taxi-only day
No tickets from bus drivers — and €0.40 extra if you pay a ZOU driver

Bus 12+ explicitly sells nothing on board ('Pas de vente à bord'); fare evaders on trams and buses ride into a fine. On the intercity ZOU coaches the airport page warns of a +€0.40 surcharge for buying on board — the €21.40 Open Payment fare versus €21.80 from the driver on line 80 shows exactly that gap.

Do this: buy at the T2 service centre, machines or app before boarding; on the 80 just tap your bank card on the validator
€95 taxi to Monaco when the bus is €21.40

The flat Monaco fare is legal and fixed at €95 (€85 Cannes, €72 Juan-les-Pins), but the express 80 does airport → Place d'Armes in about 50 minutes for €21.40 with your bag in the hold. Groups split a taxi, singles burn three times the fare.

Do this: take the 80 for Monaco or Menton unless you land near midnight (it ends at 22:00)

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