if you were using it, why don't you just look in your history to find it?

there is a website called onvaou.com but it's a French ticket agency. that name sort of implies a private company, public websites don't usually have names like that, but that's speculation.

This is one Nice area public transportation website http://www.lignesdazur.com/

Yes, the site is indeed http://www.lignesdazur.com/

Apart from that, the local SNCF commuter train site is http://www.ter-sncf.com/Region/paca/gare/Nice%20Ville.aspx

Christina, as I'm sure you know, being a savvy surfer and all, not everything shows up in your history - in particular when you follow up on links from one website to another. Just saying. From one savvy surfer to another - albeit a more humble one. Be careful how you respond.

some possibles - take bus to Vence, classic hill town perched above the sea a few miles - then do a sweet walk a few miles down to St-Paul-du-Vence (the famous art museum Maeght is on the trail as it arrives in St-Paul-d-V - St Paul being the classic or all Riviera hill towns - a wondrous place - avoid weekends if possible - then take bus down to Nice or down to the coast and catch the commuter train that trundles all along the coast from the Italian border to St Raphael - from St Raphael you can take a bus or at times a boat to St-Tropez, famous glamorous St-Troped

Or take the train to Cannes and Antibes - Antibes being IMO the dreamiest old-looking town on the coast itself - Picasso Museum in an old fort brooding over the sea.

Or take the train east to Monaco and even Ventimiglia for a taste of Italy

Or for a real treat IMO take the coastal train to Cap d'Ail and do a sweet sweet seaside walk on paved flat footpaths the few miles to Monaco - seeing an untouched part of the Cote d'Azur - the scenes in your mind of cypress trees anchored to boulders that tumble down to the deep clear azure-hued sea - there are isolated swimming holes and don't be shy if you see others skinny dipping - so if you left your swim gear at home you can still dip in here - really this walk is so so great IMO.

And another great excrusion takes the Chemins des fer de provence - a k a Ligne Digne up into the hinterlands - to ancient sleep Provencal villages like Annot - a whole different world unfolds from this toy-like train that trundles along river valleys much of the time thru the Alpes Maritime.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j166VdqWLYY

Look at pg 26 of this European Planning & Rail Guide for a description of the Ligne Digne - the train I reference above.

The train line to Sospel is another very scenic mountain train - this time a normal normal-gauged train - Sospel is an old citadel and neat market town.

Great info, thanks all.

I used to have a link to a great site with boat trips from Nice. But lost it long ago. Does anybody have such a link?

Re: the train to Digne referred to by PalenQ is also known as the Train des Pignes. (It used to burn pine cones as fuel.) It leaves from a station named Gare de Provence, some ways north of the main Nice train station. For a daytrip, Entrevaux makes a good turn-around point. Here's a link: www.beyond.fr/travel/railpignes.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC2aoMs7gXU

Train des Pignes - video!

How realistic is a train or bus day-trip to Grasse from Nice? Is Grasse worth the visit? Has anyone visited the perfume factories? Anything else to do there? Is the town market of interest?

Yes I have been to Grasse a couple of times and IMO it is well worth the short trek up there - you can now take a train directly with one change of trains and frequent service.

Grasse is very un-like the rest of the Riviera in that it is a really ancient-looking un-gussied up town - a regional town with character, being built into a circular hillside and yes the perfume factory tours are great - the real deal, unlike those in Eze that are just boutiques. But the perfume visits are not the only reason IMO to come here as Grasse itself is unqiue and a bit of the old Provence IMO.

I took the bus from Nice to Grasse, they didn't have trains going there at that time. SNCF indicates they have lots of trains that go there now where you don't have to transfer, most of them don't require transfers, in fact.

Of course it is realistic to go there, it's only about an hour trip. I didn't find it that fascinating a town myself, but it was kind of rainy when I was there so maybe that's why. I'm not that interesting in perfume making, either, so the so-called factory tour was of mild interest (it isn't really a factory, the factories are out in the country somewhere, I believe, it's just an office for the company and a sales floor.) They have some displays showing how they make perfume and some things like that. There is a perfume "museum" in town which is worth going to.

the train station in Grasse is however way below the high-up town center - buses may be more convenient to reach the actual perfume factories as they stop in front of them I suspose.

PalenQ that's a very good point, thanks. LouAnne

This company leaves from the port of NICE and also from CANNES and does several nice boat trips.

WWW.TRANS-COTE-AZUR.CO.UK/

Have a greaat trip

Thanks to tdk320n for that link. Boat would be a nice way to get to St. Tropez from Nice.

louanne - when I was last in Grasse they were just rehabbing the train line and station - it seems they may have some kind of lift from the station to the old town high above it - no sure but could be by now?