kittycat1

Does anyone know the current price of a taxi from Nice airport to Villefranche - our other options are the bus or the train, but if a taxi isn't too expensive, we might go with that for convenience.

TimS

The Nice airport site gives these estimates:
20-28 EUR to Nice
42-47 EUR to Beaulieu-sur-Mer

Villefranche isn't listed, but you can "guestimate" it to be around 40 EUR I would think.

kittycat1

Thanks, but if I decide to take the bus from Nice airport to the bus station (what number would that be and do I catch it just outside the airport?), then the 100 from the bus station to Villefranche on a Saturday afternoon, would there be adequate space on board for my suitcase

TimS

Bus #98 goes directly from the airport to the Nice bus station. It departs from Terminal 1 - Platform 1 and from Terminal 2- Platform 5. One ticket (4 EUR) will get you all the way to Villefranche (via the change you note to #100 which departs from Platform 17). I got this information from the Nice airport site. Go there to see the timetables for yourself.

nbujic

this sounds right . we took 98 to the bus station. several days later we visited VF.(100)
Nice is all dug up, the buses are a bit slower than usual.
As the OP said, check the timetable, you may have to wait for the con.

kappa

No.100 is a very frequent line (at least 3 - 4 busses every hour during the day) that goes most of the time along the coast to V.F. - Eze-Sur-Mer - Cap d'Ail - Monaco (perhaps even till Menton?)and much more scenic than train travel. You will enjoy the view. A couple of stops before arrving V.F. (I think the stop's name is l'Octroi where you should get off), the bus passes the point where Grace of Monaco lost her life.

An additional info : €4 bus ticket is actually a day pass and if you by chance need to take another bus the same day, you don't need to buy another ticket. Otherwise a single ticket is only €1.30 with which between Nice and Monaco you can take a bus (no change allowed). It's only at the airport that you have to buy the 4€ day pass even just get into the Nice city center. €1.30 is so cheap especially when you do a long distance/inter-city travel and it often comes with a beautiful view.

kittycat1

Just one last question - do I buy the ticket on the bus or will I have to get it from the ticket office at the airport. Once I know this, I should be ready to go - at last!

where2

The taxi in December 2005 was 55 Euro. I remember thinking we could have rented a car for cheaper than the taxi to villefranche plus the taxi to Eze.

kittycat1

I'm almost decided on taking the bus, but once we get off in Villefranche, we have to walk down to the harbour with our luggage - is this a long walk or could we maybe get a taxi from the tourist office on the road where we get off the bus. My guess is that a taxi probably wouldn't want to take us just a little journey, even if one was available, but does anyone have any idea.

hidden_europe

kittycat1:
I'm just a bit surprised that no-one has mentioned the direct train. The Nice Airport station is called Nice Saint-Augustin. It is an easy 12 minute walk from Terminal One (and well signed, but you can also pick up a direction map in the terminal). If you prefer not to walk the short distance from terminal to train station (about 600 metres), any bus on routes 200, 1A or 1B will take you.

From the Nice St Augustin train station there is an hourly train to Villefranche-sur-Mer (but more in peak periods, with up to three trains per hour then). It is three stops on the train, and takes 15 to 19 minutes.

On a Saturday afternoon, the trains will be quite empty. I cannot recall the fare exactly, but I recall it being cheap. Perhaps €1.50 one way.

I do hope this helps you. Enjoy Villefranche.
Nicky
http://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk

nbujic

we stayed in Mount Baron ( VF was about 10 min further ) in Nice , a taxi from the bus station to MB was 15 euros.
A taxi from Nice bus station to your hotel in VF might work, although you may be saving just 15-20 euros.

FLJudi

Any reason you don't want to rent a car? Driving is not difficult (things well marked) and will get you easily to all the places you have been asking about. Then you don't have the hassle of lugging luggage on and off of busses, trains, etc. You may find this is the most reasonable way to go factoring in the number of people traveling.

kittycat1

Thanks for all the info, it's very useful and we are favouring the train to villefranche. We would prefer not to rent a car as we don't really care for driving abroad and the local transport is pretty on the South of France. Last time we took a taxi, but it is rather pricey, so we are looking for a cheaper alternative this time.