Airport shuttle recommendation for Nice

The airport is not that far from downtown Nice. I am sure you could call the taxi company and arrange a pick up.

Talk to someone at your hotel the day before your flight and have them arrange for a taxi to pick you up at the hotel the morning of your flight. That way you have a specific time to be picked up and do not have to find one in the morning.

The taxi price between Nice and Nice airport is fixed at 32€. So there aren’t any surprises, and there probably isn’t much of a price advantage (if any) to taking a shuttle, which will also pick others up.

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/actualites/A14555

This one is fantastic, if you want the simplicity of having a shuttle and not taking a taxi
https://www.friend-in-france.com/airport-transfers-1/PRIVATE-TRANSFERS-CAR-1-4-passengers-c18923014

@Alexander thank you so much that's exactly what I was looking for!

@Frank, @organizer8 and @Kim - I know a taxi is less expensive and have the guidebook so know about the flat fee but (1) we have an extended stay at an AirBnB and not a hotel so I can't just have someone call one for us, (2) we won't be getting local SIMs for our phones on this trip so won't have easy access to make calls ourselves, and (3) I don't know the language well enough if even if I could make a call. When we went to Italy in 2019 I got a local SIM and my IG and Facebook accounts were hacked almost immediately after setting that up. This time around we'll be using the data available through our T-Mobile plan (which covers international), texting is free through our plan but calling is still quite expensive so wish to avoid that. Hence the strong preference to just book a shuttle and be done with it.

Do you use WhatsApp? Free calls if the taxi company also uses the app. I use it all the time for text and some voice calls when in Europe.

Good luck

Your Airbnb host might be able to advise you.

Just to add, Friend in France is usually well recommended for a full service transfer service in english. (If you had a phone, Uber also works, even at the early hour, but you would have to meet in an accessible street)

Whichever service you pick, take care to specify your party size and maybe luggage needs as well -

I asked the hotel to arrange things for me, and I was met there in the lobby by a driver who took my carryon and led me to a Mercedes 9-passenger van, and wondered where the rest of us were. Just me, I had to explain, sheepishly.

Good advice, thank you all! And I totally forgot about Uber @Gooster so thank you for that reminder. Friend in France is just €35 from central Nice (only €3 more than a taxi) with an additional 20% tacked on for the after-hours pickup of 4a so total of €42. I feel like I can't beat that for peace of mind and not having to stress about figuring out how to call and be understood by a taxi service dispatcher. So scheduled online, paid, and done. Happy travels to you!

Glad you arrived at a solution that works for you.
Have you checked if the relevant check-in desk is open as early as you are going to arrive at the airport ? (4:30 or 4:15 or whatever)

For possible use later: As far as I know most T-Mobile plans charge only $0.25 per minute for calls made in France. I totally agree with you about not liking to make calls if I don't speak the local language, but I thought it was nice to know I could afford to do it if I had to try. That policy was the reason I went with T-Mobile in the first place. (I've now switched to Google Fi, which has similar international calling charges but saves me money each month because it bills for data separately.)

@Kim I haven't been able to find info on what time that specific check-in desk opens however I read that the terminal opens 2 hours before the first flight so with our flight at 6:30 it should be open by 4:30 for sure. I'm reading lots of reports about longer times to get through check-in because of the testing requirement to return to the US so I think it's best to get there 2 hours early.

@acraven thanks for the info, I've charged the hubby with reviewing our international plan details again before we leave. And we'll have to look at Google Fi, we checked them out in 2019 in prep for our Italy trip and their international coverage wasn't good at that time but maybe it's improved. Is the service coverage pretty good overseas?

Kim brings up an excellent point. Many check in gates do not open super early at Nice. I have a few times arrived way too early

Me too Alexander. I've had to wait around Nice airport to check in, too.

Google Fi has been my phone service since it started and I've used it in many different countries in Europe, Asia, and North America. In fact, I'm sitting in France using it right now instead of my French telephone. I'm not sure what you mean about the international coverage.

about those gates in Nice, I got to the EasyJet checkin at the appointed time but they didn't open until a relatively short time before scheduled departure time. We then found that after checking in at Sector A we had to nearly run all the way to Sector C where they decided to plant the plane. With 10 minutes to or so to do it. That;s a fair old walk for oldies like us, at a fair clip. Made it. No separation between the cheapo passengers and the early boarding ones though.. greeet fun