To all faithful Fodorite travelers to France - to save me time, please tell me if there is a convenient way (other than by taxi) to get from hotel to airport in Nice.
We will have a car while visiting the many Provence villages but have read that seeing the Cote d'Azur towns/villages, we can easily do that via bus/train. I would like to turn in to car after arriving in Nice - or do you suggest we keep it for the touring and then drop off at the airport to catch our flight? Appreciate the advice.

We dropped our rental car off in Cannes, took the train to Nice and took a cab from our hotel to the airport the next morning.

Depends on where you're going...some places are easier to reach by car, such as the perched village of Gourdon. Others can be done by bus/train, but in some cases the elapsed time can be considerable if you miss a bus or a train is delayed.

You could take a taxi from your hotel to either the Gare Routiere (bus station) or the Nice Ville train station and take a bus from there to the airport. See www.nice.aeroport.fr for more information.

Once you arrive at Nice you should drop off your car as it will be more of a hindrance to you if you are planning to visit the coastal towns. A car is useful if you want to go inland but not if you are just going along the coast which is well served by bus/train or ferry. You can reach the Italian coast in one direction and St Raphael in the other, where you can take a ferry to St Tropez

I was in Nice recently and found that there was no bus service and a poor taxi service available due to a public holiday. We had to walk to the airport,which fortunately was only 2 miles away at the end of Promenade des Anglais.Usually the bus service along the coast is very good and cheap too,especially if you buy a day ticket.

Jennie. Where are you picking up your car? That could make a difference.