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Nice Ville station--just *how* sketchy is it?

Posted by (Richmond, VA) on

Hello everybody,

I'm looking at an early morning (6:50 am) ish train out of Nice at the end of my RS tour. I've heard in various places that Nice's train station is sketchy to the point of unpleasant or worse. But people's definition of "sketchy" varies a lot, so I'm not sure what to make of it. I grew up in New York City, am well-traveled, comfortable on public transportation, and know the "don't make yourself a tempting target" playbook, so I'm not too fazed by these kind of comments. But I would like to know what to expect.

It'll be a Friday morning (if that makes a difference) in July, so I can't imagine the station will be deserted, even at 6:30 am. Frankly, I tend to be more nervous when there aren't a lot of people around, rather than the reverse. Can anybody who's actually been there the weigh in?

Thanks!
Caroline

Posted by
10199 posts

It's been a number of years since I was there but I don't remember thinking anything was sketchy about the station !

Posted by
11569 posts

I wouldn’t want to stay in the area near the station but inside waiting for a train should be OK.

Posted by
10623 posts

We’ve taken many trains to and from there, the most recent two times in March. I didn’t notice anything sketchy.

Posted by
33837 posts

It has been a few years what with Covid and missing Monaco the previous year or two, but I've been in and out of Nice Ville station many times and never had any problems there. They even built a lovely Paul in front of the door.

6:30 isn't particularly early.

As said upthread, I'd prefer not to have a hotel in the area but I would have no problem walking from the tram stop to the station.

Posted by
28081 posts

I have stayed near the station. Voluntarily. For two weeks back in 2017. I'm female and was 65 at the time.
Some blocks just south of the station are more attractive than others, but I wouldn't call the area sketchy. It's the fairly common scenario you run into near a European train station: some fast-food joints, a store with luggage for sale out on the sidewalk, that sort of thing.

Posted by
10601 posts

We were in Nice in April and used the station multiple times. I wouldn’t consider it sketchy at all.

Posted by
1191 posts

We were there last month and stayed at the Ibis Styles Nice Centre Gare near the station (an easy couple of minutes walk). The hotel is highly rated, and it met every expectation. Very nice hotel, felt very safe in the area, with no issues. I wouldn't hesitate again to stay there. Made day-tripping easy, and we too caught an early train out to Avignon. Had absolutely no trouble walking from hotel to train station with luggage in tow.

Posted by
713 posts

As others have noted, there is no issue with your early morning departure. Some of these web impressions perhaps are dated (and used to be focused on the area north of the station).

As with any public transport in France, take normal precautions. My normal cautions on staying near the train station are usually about the quality of restaurants and related services nearby.

Posted by
1625 posts

Not sketchy at all. We walked there from our hotel and we did not even walk through any "bad" areas. There is a nice Paul bakery outside to grab some snacks. We came back from Monaco late afternoon and walked back to the hotel, very pleasant. I have been to a super sketch train station and it hits me like a ton of bricks as soon as I entered (only one! in all my travels).

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