How to Get from Nice to Saint-Paul-de-Vence [4 Options]

ByStephanie Rytting Posted on

Trying to figure out how to get from Nice to Saint-Paul-de-Vence? You’re in the right place! Read on for details.

A quaint stone staircase leading up the hill with gray stone buildings and bush hedges on either side
A small alleyway with a small cafe on the side with two small white tables on the left side of the gray stone alley

Saint-Paul-de-Vence is the most adorable, charming, quaint (ALL the superlatives!) hilltop village in southern France. It has narrow, cobblestoned streets covered in greenery and ivy and numerous galleries and workshops for artists.

Paintings and sculptures spill onto the pristine streets, where you can spend half a day wandering and exploring every picturesque nook and cranny the town has to offer.

In short, it’s a fantastic place to visit in southern France! And if you’re staying in Nice (another excellent option), then Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a close and relatively convenient day trip.

I say relatively because, unlike other cities and villages in the region like Villefranche, Antibes, Cap Ferrat, Cannes, or Menton, there is not a direct train line between Nice and Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

So while it’s not quite as straightforward to get to Saint-Paul-de-Vence as some of these other spots, it’s definitely doable and certainly worth the effort.

How to Get to Saint-Paul-de-Vence

These are the four main ways to get to Saint-Paul-de-Vence from Nice:

1. Train then Bus

The train station in Nice with gold cement making the different etchings and carvings

This is the least expensive way to get to Saint-Paul-de-Vence, but it generally takes the most time. In Nice, you’ll need to head up to the Gare de Nice-Ville, (the main Nice train station), which you can easily get to by heading north on Avenue Jean Medecin.

If you’re coming from the Nice airport, you will want to go to the Gare de Saint-Augustin, which is the train station just outside of the airport.

You can buy your ticket from a stand in the train station or scan the QR code on the stand and buy online. Unless there’s a long line, I just buy a physical ticket because it’s straightforward to use (and you can change the language to English).

Your destination on the train is Cagnes-sur-Mer.

If you have a physical ticket, make sure you insert your ticket into the yellow validate machines to get the ticket timestamped before entering the platforms. After you buy your ticket and validate, you will need to check the monitors above the turnstiles for your platform.

A neon yellow machine with a worn out sticker on it that takes the white train ticket in french

The monitors will display the final destinations of each train (usually places like Ventimiglia, Cannes, or Grasse), and then underneath the final destination is a scrolling list of the cities the train will stop at en route. You’ll need to check that scrolling list to find your stop, and figure out which platform to go on.

The black electronic television screen showing the departing times of the different trains

At Cagnes-sur-Mer, you’ll get out of the train station and walk just a few minutes to the bus stop for the 655 bus. At this point, I’d recommend having Google Maps open, put in the directions from your location to Saint-Paul-de-Vence, and then swiping the Public Transit tab.

This will show you the exact location of the bus stop and walking directions to get there. It’s only a few minutes from the train station.

Pick up the 655 bus, and ride it all the way up to city walls of Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

Plan for about 1 hours 15 minutes to 1.5 hours from when you leave the Nice train station to arriving in Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

2. Uber or Taxi

The second way you can get to Saint-Paul-de-Vence from Nice is by calling an Uber or taxi. Nice and the surrounding French Riviera area does have Uber.

We found that sometimes we had to wait for quite a while for a driver to arrive, and it actually was quite hit-and-miss whether we could get a driver to accept our ride at all. Plan for a trip between Nice and Saint-Paul-de-Vence to set you back about €40-50.

Alternatively, you can just go the time-honored route of hailing a taxi. It can actually be a little challenging to get an available cab if you’re hailing on the street, so I’d recommend having your hotel call one for you.

3. Rental Car

A street with yellow buildings on either side with hundreds of small windows and balconies.

A rental car certainly gives you the most freedom and flexibility, as you have total control over when you leave and where you go.

However, remember that if you choose to drive a rental car around the French Riviera, you’ll be navigating some narrow streets, parking spaces, and one-ways, and you’ll always have to pay for parking (yes, even overnight at your hotel).

Even with those considerations, driving in France is straightforward and the highways are well-maintained and well-marked. We’ve done road trips around the south of France without issue.

If you decide to go with a rental, I’d definitely recommend securing your rental car ASAP. Prices can get crazy as you get closer to your travel dates (especially if you’re visiting between June-September), and if you need a car with automatic transmission, availability can go down even faster.

We always check Rentalcars.com and DiscoverCars.com to find the best prices and compare the availability of vehicles from different companies.

Saint-Paul-de-Vence is about 19 km (12 miles) from Nice, which takes about 30 minutes to get there by car.

4. Guided Tour

Finally, the easiest way to visit Saint-Paul-de-Vence is with a guided tour. These tours handle all the logistics of transportation and navigation for you, and you can get some pretty fantastic itineraries on a day tour around the French Riviera.

A really fantastic option is this small group “Best of the Riviera” tour from Nice. Besides Saint-Paul-de-Vence, you’ll also visit Grasse (the birthplace of perfume), Cannes (the glitzy seaside city), and Gourdon (another charming perched village), all beautiful and interesting spots in the French Riviera.

Since you really don’t need a full day in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, this is an excellent way to see more of the charm of the French Riviera.

A street in France with orange buildings and different colored pink umbrellas going down the second story of the entire street
The Old Town of Grasse, where every other shop is a perfume boutique

The Wrap Up

Saint-Paul-de-Vence is totally worth visiting on a day trip from Nice, and there are several ways to get here, depending on your travel style and preferences, whether you’re more budget-conscious, want to have full control over when you come and go, or prefer to have someone else handle logistics.

However you get here, you’ll absolutely have a great time exploring this adorable hilltop village.

Stephanie is obsessed with everything having to do with France, and she's visited the country 10 times (including a 3 month stint when she lived in Paris). She draws on her extensive knowledge of the country to bring you detailed and helpful guides, from the perspective of a fellow traveler.