The steep cliffs of the Côte d’Azur may endow this popular region of France with its unique and breathtaking beauty, but it also makes travel by car logistically challenging, especially during high season when traffic is at its worst. So, if you’re staying in Nice or the surrounding areas for a fabulous French Riviera holiday, the fastest, cheapest and most convenient way to get around is by public transit using trains, trams and buses.
On July 1, 2023, Nice’s Lignes d’Azur, which operates three tram lines and about 140 urban bus lines, implemented a major change to its fare structure, essentially doing away with their paper tickets in favor of a reloadable fare card.
According to the Lignes d’Azur website, the transition is meant to provide a fare product that is more environmentally friendly and better aligned with the latest technology. As with any major change, the transition hasn’t been without hiccups, and some visitors (and I imagine locals) have expressed confusion about how the new system works.
Having been in the area during this transition, and being the transit nerd that I am, I decided to write this post to help visitors navigate the new system and successfully use public transportation in and around Nice.
What Happened on July 1, 2023
On July 1, 2023, Lignes d’Azur revamped its fares and payment methods. In a nutshell, they did away with their longstanding paper tickets in favor of reloadable cards that passengers validate each time they board a vehicle. They also updated their fares and implemented a new mobile ticketing app. Here’s what you need to know about these changes.
Reloadable Cards Replace Paper Tickets
The most significant change to Lignes d’Azur fares is how you pay. All fares, whether a single-ride ticket or a multi-day pass, must be paid now with a reloadable card available at any Lignes d’Azur point of sale, including the existing ticket kiosks at tram stops, as well as Gare Nice-Ville.
There is a deposit fee of €2 to purchase the card initially, on top of the value you load on it. You will be refunded the deposit if and when you return the card, though I suspect most people will simply consider the card a small travel memento! (If you plan to return to Nice, keeping the card handy for your future visits will save you money at the airport.)
Note also that with La Carte (see section below), you will not be reimbursed for any unused value that remains on your card.
La Carte Versus Ma Carte
Before I continue with information about the new fares and how to pay and reload value onto your card, it’s important to explain the two primary types of cards available—Ma Carte and La Carte. Ma Carte is a personalized card, including name and photo, that mostly locals would use to add subscription passes (e.g. a student or senior pass or a monthly pass for commuting regularly between the same two stations.)
Since this article is geared toward tourists and visitors, I am not going to spend time explaining Ma Carte. As a visitor in Nice, you will most likely use La Carte, which is an anonymous card that doesn’t require upfront effort to get. Unlike Ma Carte, La Carte can be used by several travelers, but if it is lost or stolen, the fare value remaining on the card will be lost.
New Fares and Ticket Types
In addition to introducing the new reloadable fare card, Lignes d’Azur overhauled its fare structure.
In place of the 10-ride ticket often used by visitors before July 2023, fare discounts now kick in as you buy more trips (or voyages, as Lignes d’Azur calls them.) If you purchase one to 12 trips, the per-trip fare is €1.70. Purchasing between 13 and 25 trips, the per-trip fare drops to €1.50. Between 26 and 50 trips you pay €1.30, and 51 trips or more will cost just €1.
Example:
I want to reload my card with 22 trips.
For 12 trips I pay €1.70 and for 10 trips I pay €1.50, for a total of €35.40.
NOTE: You are still allowed to use a validated ticket to transfer to another Lignes d’Azur service for free as long as the transfer takes place within 74 minutes. Round-trip journeys are excluded, so you can’t go from A to B and then use the transfer to go back from B to A even if it’s within the 74-minute window.
Multi-Day Passes
As mentioned above, you can also load a 1-, 2- or 7-day pass onto La Carte. As of July 1, 2023, pass prices are as follows, but you should always doublecheck:
1-day pass: €7
2-day pass: €13
7-day pass: €20
€10 Airport Ticket (Carte Aero)
The July 1 change for some reason has made it more expensive for travelers flying into the Nice Airport to use Lignes d’Azur trams. The reason is that the reloadable cards are not available for purchase at the airport, so if you want to take the tram into Nice and don’t happen to have a card from a previous visit, you have no choice but to purchase a “special” round-trip Airport Ticket, or Carte Aero, for €10.
That’s right, you have to pay €10 for a round-trip ticket even if you have no intention of returning to the airport. You’re also technically over paying by €6.60 given that two trips should only cost €3.40 based on the regular one-way fare of €1.70. Not sure why this is but fortunately, there are ways around it.
- Assuming you don’t already have a reloadable card from a previous visit, you can avoid buying the Airport Ticket by taking tram 2 or 3 for free one stop to the Grand Arenas stop. There, you can buy your reloadable card and pay the regular fare.
- If you have an Android phone and have activated Near Field Communications (NFC), you technically don’t need the card and can use your phone directly to buy and validate a regular fare ticket. (I am not sure when or if this feature will be available to iPhone users.)
Read more about how to get to and from the Nice Airport using public transportation.
New Mobile Ticketing App
There are two Lignes d’Azur apps to contend with. One app is called “Lignes d’Azur Ticketing” and it is where you can add value to your card, see your purchase history and check to see your current card balance—basically it’s the app for paying fares.
The other app is called “Lignes d’Azur Mobile” and it’s more or less your trip planning app with routes and schedule information. The two apps are orange and white and look almost identical except the ticketing app features a capital “T” with an inverted triangle above it, while the routes and schedules app has an “I” with an inverted triangle above it.
Loading Value Onto Your Card
You may load value onto, or “top off,” your card at the same locations where you purchase a card or by using the Lignes d’Azur Ticketing app, which I highly recommend you download if you’ll be using the trams and/or buses a lot.
Using the Ticketing app requires you to scan your physical card with your phone, unless you are using NFC technology with an Android phone. This allows you to check the balance on your card, as well as add value to it.
The types of fares available to purchase and load onto La Carte include round-trip tickets; 1-, 2- and 7-day passes, and single-voyage tickets up to 100. You can get more information about this here on the Lignes d’Azur website.
The FAQ on the Lignes d’Azur website also states that you can reload your card via the website by logging into your account and inputting your card number found on the back of the card. I tried to add value this way, but for some reason it didn’t recognize my card number, so I just use the Ticketing app.
How to Validate Your Fare/Ticket
To pay your fare, you must have sufficient value on your card. Assuming you do, upon boarding a tram or bus you simply hold your card to the validation machine, and it deducts the appropriate fare. If you have a valid pass on your card as well as single trips, it will use your pass first.
I strongly recommend you top off your card in advance of your travel. Having to deal with the app and load money while you and a million other people are trying to board a vehicle is stressful, and let’s face it, sometimes ticket machines don’t work.
Android Versus IOS
As I mentioned above, at the time of this writing (July 2023), the ability to circumvent the physical card and validate fares directly with one’s phone is only available on Android phones. Android users must activate NFC (Near Field Communications) on their phone in order to take advantage of the technology. I am not sure when or if this technology will be available on IOS.
Special Note for Travel on Buses
Having sufficient fare value on your card is especially important for bus travel because the majority of bus stops don’t have ticket machines; therefore, you are not able to buy a new card or add value to an existing card while waiting for your bus.
Furthermore, if you end up taking a bus and you don’t yet have a reloadable card, you will have to buy what Lignes d’Azur calls an Emergency Ticket, or Solo Secours, for €2 (instead of the regular €1.70) along with a card for €2. That’s a total of 4€ for one bus ride. The driver will then instruct you to download the Lignes d’Azur Ticketing app and load value onto your card before your return trip. Drivers will not let you just pay cash for your fare without also purchasing a card, which means you’d have to buy another card and “Emergency Ticket” for €4 to cover your return fare.
Long story short, it’s best to download the Ticketing app, get your card and load value onto it before you travel!
Links to Information
While I have done my best in this article to explain how Lignes d’Azur’s new system works, they do have information on their website. Some of the content on their website hasn’t been updated and/or has conflicting information, but I found the following pages to be the most relevant and helpful:
- Flyer in English about the July 1 change
- FAQ Page
- Web page with types of tickets and passes available