CIAA 2005

Travel Information

These informations are mostly outdated as of January 1^st, 2006.

Plane

To the airport of Nice

The International Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE) is served by direct flights from various European and American cities. Connections from Paris with EasyJet or Air France are frequent with a plane every 40 minutes on average. The airport is about 25 km away from Sophia Antipolis.

See also this list of low-fares flights to Nice airport.

From the airport to Sophia Antipolis

Bus connections: to Sophia Antipolis (Nice Sophia Express 230, schedules) are only available on week days (that is not on the 26^th). The fare is about € 9.5 and the ride lasts about 40 minutes. At the airport, the bus stops are respectively called Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. The bus stop in Sophia Antipolis on the schedules closest to the ESSI is called IUT, but you can ask the driver to get off at the previous stop, called Les Templiers. To reach the INRIA or the I3S laboratory, use the INRIA bus stop instead.
Taxi connections: to Sophia Antipolis cost about € 50-55 and last about 30 minutes if the traffic is not jammed.
Car rentals: are available at the airport: ADA, AVIS, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, citer, SiXT. Once in your car, follow the Autoroute A8 signs out of the airport, and take the Highway in direction of Antibes - Cannes - Marseille - Sophia Antipolis - Toulon. See also the car directions below.

From the airport to Antibes

Bus connections: to Antibes (Nice Cannes par RN7, line 200, schedules) are available. The fare is about € 7.3 and the ride lasts about 30 minutes.
Train connections: are possible from Nice Saint-Augustin to Antibes. Use the free airport shuttle to reach bus stop 2 - Arénas, and then follow the red path on this map to reach the Nice Saint-Augustin train station. This is a 15 minutes walk, plus 20 minutes to reach Antibes by train. The fare is about € 3.50. See also the directions from Antibes' train station below.

From the airport to Nice and from Nice to Sophia Antipolis

Bus connections: to Nice and Sophia Antipolis (Nice Sophia Express 230, schedules) are only available on week days (that is not on the 26^th).

Train

To Antibes' train station

The closest train station to Sophia Antipolis is in Antibes, about 6 km away. The station is served by high speed TGV trains, the journey from Paris lasts about 5½ hours. Local connections are also available.

From Antibes

Two bus lines

serve Sophia Antipolis from Antibes' train station:

2VB Express (schedules): On week days only, the ride lasts about 15 minutes; the bus stop for the ESSI is called Les Templiers.
2VB (schedules: go, return): The ride lasts about 25 minutes; it is direct on Sundays only. On week days, the closest bus stop is called Les Belugues, and a 15 minutes walk brings you to the ESSI.

The bus stop in Antibes is located behind the train station: when going out of the station get up the stairs on your left, cross on the bridge over the rails and turn right to the bus stop La passerelle SNCF Antibes along the avenue; see this map of Antibes. The ride costs € 1.

Taxi connections

from the station cost about € 20-30 and last about 15 minutes.

Car

Sophia Antipolis is easily reachable from the Highway autoroute A8. Use exit number 44 Antibes - Sophia Antipolis and follow the signs towards Sophia Antipolis Les Templiers. Careful study of the local maps is highly recommended.

Parking places usually abound at this time of the year in front of the ESSI (parking is free of charge).

Maps

a map centered on ESSI in multimap.com (Flash needed)
a map of Sophia Antipolis
a map of the surroundings of Antibes' train station
a map of the airport of Nice
a map of arts and culture near Sophia Antipolis