Has anyone here done Southern France as part of a bigger France trip? We’re thinking of flying into and out of Paris, but we’d really love to spend a few days in Nice and explore the Côte d’Azur.
The one thing I’m stuck on is getting there. The train looks ok, but every time I check prices they seem to range anywhere from €19 to over €300, which isn’t exactly helpful 
. Flights, on the other hand, seem to stay around €80–€120.
Is the train ride actually worth it? In terms of how much it really is while taking into consideration the travel time?
I prefer to drive and spend time discovering places along the way.
Having said, I have taken the train from England a number of times, but never flew to Nice.
Michel.
Hi there, I’ve been to the South of France multiple times. I flew into Nice and took both the direct TGV (high speed train) and the regular trains, and I’ve also gone for the longest option of hopping on and off the trains for a couple of hours of city visits along the way. I visited Dijon this way and loved it.
I personally like travelling by train because you can move around the coach, watch the countryside go by outside the window, and chat with people, which is my favourite thing to do when travelling. If you get bored with the passing views, you can plan around it: the onboard wifi is fairly good, so you can schedule some screen time too.
Honestly, I’d tie the decision to how much time you have, since the train ride takes around 6 hours after all. The flight would probably add up to at least 3 hours once you factor in check-in and getting to the airport. Note that Nice Airport is super close to the city and well connected.
I feel like train pricing largely depends on when you book. Back in the day, the earlier you booked, the better the deal you’d get. But I don’t have any great tips on how to get the best price now.
While in the South of France, again, time is the biggest factor. If you’re short on time, go for driving around by car to see a bit of the small towns and villages. It would be a shame to just sit in Nice, no matter how charming some parts of it are. I’ll warn you that parking is a bit of a hassle. The trains connect the small towns fairly well and run fairly often, but you still need to work around the existing schedule.
Some small pearls I really enjoyed: Eze, Juan-les-Pins, and Menton.
When are you planning to travel?
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I would pick the train over a flight every time!
Once you factor in travel to the airport, dropping of luggage, waiting to board, the flight time then waiting for luggage at the other end etc, the train doesn’t take that much longer. Plus you don’t have to deal with airport security. I always appreciate being able to move around inside the train, having mobile reception etc.
The French countryside you travel through is beautiful too!
I would try and book in advance to hopefully save a bit of money, and note that the express train can be a little more expensive and only saves about an hour too.