1.70 € bus backup if the airport tram is down
Bus 12 runs between Nice-Côte d'Azur Airport and central Nice as a standard Lignes d’Azur city bus, at the same 1.70 € single ticket price as the rest of the network. It’s slow compared with tram line 2, but if your tram ticket or day pass already covers buses and you’re staying along the Promenade des Anglais, this is the cheap fallback when trams are disrupted.
From Terminal 1, Bus 12 stops on the Promenade des Anglais at the “Aéroport / Promenade” stop, about a 3–5 minute walk from the terminal doors across the pedestrian area and service road. Terminal 2 is slightly farther: plan on a 7–10 minute walk to the same Promenade stop, following signs for “Promenade des Anglais” and keeping the sea on your right once you reach the main road.
Bus 12 runs roughly every 15–20 minutes on weekdays during the day, with gaps stretching closer to 20–30 minutes in the evening and on Sundays. First departures from the airport-side stops land around 06:00, and the service usually winds down around 21:00–22:00, so it is not a late-night option the way taxis and app cars are.
All tickets are sold and validated on the Lignes d’Azur system: the 1.70 € paper ticket from the driver, 10-trip packs, or 1-day/7-day passes all work on Bus 12 as long as they’re valid for that date and zone. If you already tapped into tram line 2 with a time-based ticket, the same ticket continues on Bus 12 as long as you are within the typical 74-minute transfer window printed on the ticket.
Into town, Bus 12 hugs the Promenade des Anglais for several kilometers, serving stops like “Lenval,” “Grosso / CUM,” and “Gambetta / Promenade” before turning inland toward stops near Jean Médecin and the Nice-Ville SNCF station. For hotels on or just behind the Promenade between the airport and central Nice, this point-to-point routing is simpler than tram line 2 plus a walk back to the seafront.
Board at the front door and validate your ticket immediately in the orange machine next to the driver, or tap your existing card/pass on the contactless reader if you already used Lignes d’Azur earlier that day. Drivers on Bus 12 rarely handle large notes, so bring coins or small euro bills; think 5 € or 10 € at most for a simple single ticket.
Expect a 25–40 minute ride from the airport Promenade stop to central Promenade stops such as “Grosso / CUM,” and around 35–45 minutes to reach the Nice-Ville station area, depending on traffic on the Promenade des Anglais. In July and August, the section between Magnan and Gambetta can crawl at under 15 km/h during late afternoon, so build a buffer if you have a train connection at Nice-Ville.
One last tip: if the tram is running normally and you do not already hold a valid Lignes d’Azur ticket or pass, take tram line 2 from Terminal 1 or Terminal 2 instead and save Bus 12 for days when the tram is suspended or when your hotel sits directly on a Bus 12 Promenade stop.