Transportation Options in the Cote d'Azur

Bus info for the Nice area is at www.lignedazur.com. Bus route 84 links Villefranche to Riquier in the outskirts of Nice every 30 minutes or so and you can then connect to another bus, but you'd need to check to see if the place where you're staying is close to a bus stop. There are also fairly frequent bus services to St Paul de Vence and Vence, but they can get very crowded at weekends.

You do not need a car while you are in Nice. There is very frequent train and bus service along the coast and a little less frequent bus service to the hill towns around Nice. My wife and I spent five nights in Nice in 2005. We picked up a rental day on our last full day in Nice so we could drive the Haute Corniche between Nice and Monaco. We managed to find a free overnight parking spot on the street close by our hotel. The next morning we drove to the Luberon area.

Thank you both for the very helpful information. I think we'll rely on public transport for our stay in and around Nice and do as you and your wife did, Tim, pick up the car for our trip to the Luberon and Cote du Rhone. Merci!

Anne, I would half agree with above posters. When we were in Nice a year or so ago, public transportation - buses and trains - were great east of Nice and not so good west of Nice. We did not rent a car until we left Nice to drive to Provence. If I were doing it again, I would plan to explore east of Nice first, using public transport. I would then rent a car and spend a day west prior to driving to Provence. If you decide to use only public transport in the Cote d'Azur area and are not planning to drive along the coast, say to either St. Tropez or Cassis, you might want to consider taking the train to Avignon and renting the car there.

Taking the train to Avignon and renting a car there may be a better option for us. We hadn't planned on visiting Cassis this trip anyway. Thanks for the suggestion, David!