From Nice to Bordighera is about an hour\u2019s journey: just under fifty kilometres of coastline that run past Monaco and Menton, cross the border and reach the Italian Riviera. You can do it by train, always close to the sea, or by car, and it is just as easy to start from Nice C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur airport.<\/p>\n
Many visitors plan a trip to the French and Italian Riviera<\/strong> together, and this is where the two meet. This guide covers how to get here from the city and the airport, what to see along the way, how to spend a day in Bordighera from the C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur and, the other way round, how to use Bordighera as a base for exploring France.<\/p>\n Along the coast, Bordighera is about 15 km from Menton and around 30 km from the Principality of Monaco. And no, Nice is not in Italy: it has been French since 1860, but Italy starts less than forty kilometres away.<\/p>\n Nice C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur is the closest international airport to Bordighera. You have several options.<\/p>\n From the airport terminals the tram takes you in a few minutes to Nice-Saint-Augustin<\/strong> railway station, which was moved in 2022 precisely to connect with the tram. From there, take a regional TER train towards Ventimiglia (Vintimille) and change at Ventimiglia<\/a> for Bordighera. It is the cheapest option and works well if you travel light.<\/p>\n The most comfortable choice, especially with luggage or in the evening. The town\u2019s official tourism website recommends Bordighera\u2019s taxis and local chauffeur services, booked in advance.<\/p>\n Long-distance coaches, such as FlixBus, also run from the airport to Sanremo; from Sanremo it is a few minutes to Bordighera by train or local bus.<\/p>\n All the main rental companies are at the airport. A car is useful if you also want to explore the hill villages<\/a> inland; for Bordighera and the coast it is not essential. If you rent in France to drive into Italy, check the cross-border and drop-off conditions.<\/p>\n The railway runs almost entirely along the shore, and it is the most relaxing way to travel: no traffic, no parking and the French Riviera rolling past the window. It is also the easiest way to plan a French Riviera itinerary by train<\/strong> that ends in Italy.<\/p>\n You can buy a single through ticket online on a website or app that sells both legs, or two separate tickets, one for the French leg and one for the Italian leg. If your Trenitalia ticket is on paper, remember to validate it before boarding. Bordighera station is right in the centre, a short walk from the sea and the Lungomare Argentina<\/a> promenade: once you arrive, the town is easy to explore on foot.<\/p>\n Timetables and fares change with the seasons and with engineering works: check the SNCF and Trenitalia websites before you travel.<\/p>\n From Nice, take the A8 motorway towards Italy; after the border it becomes the A10 Genoa\u2013Ventimiglia. Leave at the Bordighera<\/strong> exit and a scenic road brings you down to the centre in a few minutes. There are tolls in both France and Italy.<\/p>\n If you are not in a hurry, the coast road is slower but more beautiful: it goes through the centre of Menton, runs along the sea at the Balzi Rossi<\/a> and crosses Ventimiglia. In summer, it is best to leave the car outside the centre of Bordighera and walk. Full details are in Getting here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The stretch of coast between Nice and Bordighera is one of the richest on the whole Riviera, and every stop can become a detour:<\/p>\n All the places across the border are gathered in French Riviera<\/a>.<\/p>\n It is the same coastline divided by a border, with a similar mild climate. The French side has larger cities like Nice and Monaco; the Italian Riviera di Ponente has smaller towns and villages, Ligurian food and a hinterland of olive groves and medieval villages. Bordighera is the same Riviera at a different pace.<\/p>\n In the 19th century, after the success of the novel Doctor Antonio<\/em> and the arrival of the railway in 1872, Bordighera became a winter resort much loved by the British, and it still has the villas, gardens, former Anglican church and one of Italy\u2019s oldest tennis clubs from that time. To look back at the whole coast you have travelled, go up to the hill village of Sasso<\/a>, above the town: the view runs along the French coast as far as Monaco.<\/p>\n If you are staying on the C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur, Bordighera makes an easy day trip from Nice to Italy<\/strong>:<\/p>\n With more time, follow Bordighera in a weekend<\/a>.<\/p>\n Many travellers do the reverse: they stay in Bordighera and visit Menton, Monaco and Nice by train, coming back in the evening to a quieter seaside town. And within minutes you are in the Ligurian hinterland, among villages, olive groves and Rossese vineyards.<\/p>\n About 48 km. By car it takes around forty minutes without traffic; by train between an hour and a quarter and an hour and a half, changing at Ventimiglia.<\/p>\n Take a regional TER train from Nice-Ville to Ventimiglia, about an hour, then a Trenitalia regional train from Ventimiglia to Bordighera, a few minutes. You can buy a single ticket online for the whole journey.<\/p>\n Yes: tram from the airport to Nice-Saint-Augustin station, TER train to Ventimiglia and a regional train to Bordighera. Otherwise, a long-distance coach to Sanremo, or a pre-booked taxi or private driver.<\/p>\n France and Italy are in the Schengen area, but there may be checks at the border. EU citizens should carry a valid ID card or passport; non-EU visitors need their passport.<\/p>\n They are the same coastline split by the border, with a similar climate. The French Riviera has bigger cities such as Nice and Monaco; the Italian Riviera di Ponente has smaller towns and villages, Ligurian cuisine and an inland area of olive groves and medieval villages. From Bordighera you can easily visit both.<\/p>\n Nice is in France. It became French in 1860; the Italian border is about 35 km east, just after Menton.<\/p>\n Yes: by train you arrive in about an hour and a half, and in a day you can see the seafront, Bordighera Alta, the Via Romana and Capo Sant\u2019Ampelio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bordighera is about an hour from Nice: by train along the sea, changing at Ventimiglia, or by car. How to get there from the airport and the city, what to see on the way and why to stay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7740,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"tipo_vacanza":[],"class_list":["post-7739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guide-e-consigli"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7739"},{"taxonomy":"tipo_vacanza","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tipo_vacanza?post=7739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How far is Bordighera from Nice?<\/h2>\n
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From Nice airport to Bordighera<\/h2>\n
By tram and train<\/h3>\n
By taxi or private driver<\/h3>\n
By coach<\/h3>\n
By rental car<\/h3>\n
By train from Nice to Bordighera<\/h2>\n
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By car from Nice to Bordighera<\/h2>\n
What to see along the way<\/h2>\n
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French Riviera vs Italian Riviera: why stop in Bordighera<\/h2>\n
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A day trip from Nice to Bordighera<\/h2>\n
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The other way round: Bordighera as a base for the French Riviera<\/h2>\n
Practical information if you are coming from France<\/h2>\n
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Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
How far is Bordighera from Nice?<\/h3>\n
How do you get from Nice to Bordighera by train?<\/h3>\n
Can you get from Nice airport to Bordighera by public transport?<\/h3>\n
Do I need a passport to go from Nice to Italy?<\/h3>\n
What is the difference between the French and Italian Riviera?<\/h3>\n
Is Nice in France or Italy?<\/h3>\n
Can you visit Bordighera on a day trip from Nice?<\/h3>\n