Traveling By Train To Nice
Traveling to Nice by train for a weekend at the beach is a piece of cake. The low-cost train fare makes the trip a “must.”
Low-cost train fare
Now that I’ve learned how easy it is to travel by train to Nice, I plan to travel a lot in Europe; I’m glad to have the “senior” rail pass. The senior discount on the fare from Avignon to Nice makes the trip incredibly affordable– ย roundtrip, first class. Getting to the train station from Uzes, I have two choices. Drive “Lucy” to Avignon and park her with her 4-wheeled friends at the train station, or catch the bus from Uzes to the train station in Avignon. I prefer the first option. Even with paying for parking at the train station, the total cost of transportation is less than driving back and forth to Nice. Plus, I don’t have to worry about parking places in Nice after I arrive.
Traveling to Nice by Train
The TGV train from Avignon to Nice in the first-class coach is a treat. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a seat with no one beside or across from you. You can stretch out as much as you please.ย
As you skirt along the Mediterranean from Marseilles to Nice, you glimpse the beaches and the coastline villas.
There’s a blue-sky sunny day with only a few clouds.
From one side of the train, you see sunbathers stretched out on mats and lounge chairs on the beaches. The temperature is in the high 60s.
The view from the left windows reveals town people walking busily down the streets wearing leather jackets.
Marseille.ย Toulon. Sainte Maxime.
Stretches of low forests with cedars, olive trees, and pines are interrupted by occasional towns. Beaches appear from nowhere as the train speeds along.
The sea draws closer to the tracks. It darts away again.
Yacht coves appear below rocky cliffs
Cannes. Antibes.
Trainย stations with familiar names click by alerting passengers that Nice is ahead.
High-rise condos and apartment buildings are beginning to crowd together on the hills to the left of the train tracks. More are packed together towards the sea.
Old and new, unkept and clean, the contrast of tan, yellow, reddish-brown, and occasionally green stucco and concrete structures seem to blend perfectly.
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Arriving in Nice
This is the real deal: The French Riviera
