With summer comes Isabelle: the 14€ summer-only train pass good for a day of unlimited travel on TER trains between Ventimiglia and Frejus, and inland to Grasse or up to Tende. Unfortunately, the Nice station is so central that the Carte Isabelle won’t save you much unless you are going up to Tende or farther than Cannes, but if you are outside of Nice, it is definitely worth your while. There is also a Carte Isabelle Family Day Pass which is available all year long, not just in the summer, and gives unlimited travel for 2 adults and 2 children for 1 day for 35€ or 3 days for 80€. You can buy both passes at the ticket window, or even from the machines at the train station if you have a credit card with a European microchip or a lot of coins, as the machines don’t take bills. Here’s a great article on the Carte Isabelle (but written last year when the pass was only 12 euros!) Train Travel in France: Carte Blanche, which highlights some of the better stops and gives suggested itineraries for exploring.
But wait… there’s more! Here is the real inside secret: There is another pass that is even more awesome and not even advertised …in fact, nobody seems to know about it, not even the hotels…! It’s the Carte Zou (which means ‘Go!’ in Nissart), and gives you around 80% off on unlimited train travel between two points for a week or a month: just hop on and hop off the trains, no tickets, no punching. I bought a Zou week-pass to commute from Nice during the Cannes Film Festival last month, and at normally 6.40€ a pop, the 17€ pass paid for itself by the morning of the second day.
The pass is good between two set points, so to have maximum access to the coastal trains, ask for a card from Frejus to Ventimiglia (43€ for a week, and 154€ for a month pass), or narrow it down a bit, say if you are staying in Cannes but planning on going to the Nice Jazz Festival every day… click here for the handy Zou price calculator. You have to buy this pass at the counter and will need ID but no photos: Ask for the free ‘Abonnement pour Tous’ card, then the Zou weekly (hebdo) or monthly (mensuel), and tell them the two points you want to travel within.
For more on various train passes and discounts, check out Best of Nice Blog’s guide to Cheap Train Ticket and Rail Passes section, and if you are new to taking French trains, check out Taking the Train in Nice, and Coastal Trains along the Riviera.
Photo Credit: Rade de Villefranche by Iliousa, licensed under Creative Commons.
I didn’t know about the Carte Zou! Great information!
Thank you!
This is one of the most useful pieces of information I have ever read about travel on the Cote d’Azur.
I have tried several times to find out if any sort of weekly pass was available for tourists using trains, but to avail, apart from information on the Carte Isabelle.
Many thanks!
Thanks for this – extremely useful. Amazing how some deals are so secret.
Another point, if I may: the new electric cars look great to hire and I’ve seen the cost … but do you know what the insurance situation is with these cars ?
pw
With the Auto Bleues your maximum liability is just 300 euros… not bad!
I’ve had the Carte Zou for a year and because of it I can keep my job – I work in Aix-en-Provence but live in Nice. Before this card came out in September 2011, it used to cost me 65E a day to travel return by bus to Aix, now it’s a snip at 7,50E! It also enables you to buy tickets for friends at a reduction of 50%. Grab it while the crazy offer lasts!
Thanks for all these travel tips Best of Nice Blog!
I can echo the praise for Carte Zou – I agree it’s not really all that well publicised. We have used it lots and have saved a good deal of cash. We got ours from the office next to the ticket office at Gare Thiers.
PS – someone tried the gold ring scam on me today….never seen this tried in Nice. This was not even in Place Massena or the Old Town, but in our residential street in Musiciens.