Nice to Cannes by car: drive time, best stops and what a driver costs

Nice to Cannes by car is about 32 km (20 mi) from the Promenade des Anglais to La Croisette, roughly 35 minutes on a clear road via the A8 motorway, according to our routing on the public road network. In summer traffic, on Friday afternoons or during the Film Festival, expect it to take noticeably longer. From Nice Côte d'Azur Airport the drive to the Croisette is about 32 km and 41 minutes.

If all you need is to get from one city to the other with a small bag, the regional train or a single transfer does the job. The car becomes the better tool when the trip is also the day: Saint-Paul-de-Vence in the hills, the glassworks of Biot, the old town and ramparts of Antibes, or the coastal path on Cap d'Antibes. With Elly8.net, a chauffeur by the hour in Nice costs from US$90 per vehicle in a business sedan, with a 3-hour minimum, fixed and all-in.

How long is the drive from Nice to Cannes?

There are two ways to make the trip. The A8, La Provençale, is the quick one: up from the Promenade to the motorway, west past the airport and Antibes, and down into Cannes. The slower alternative follows the old roads closer to the sea through Cagnes-sur-Mer, Antibes and Juan-les-Pins; the Monaco Tourist Office notes on its road access page that the former Route Nationale 7 runs through Cannes, Antibes and Nice. The motorway is tolled; tolls are billed at cost.

See Cannes prices and reserve

Routed distances for the drive and the stops

All figures below are routed estimates for a clear road, except the airport leg, which comes from our Cannes fact sheet.

Three ways to spend the drive

The hill route: Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Leave Nice on the motorway and turn inland at Cagnes-sur-Mer for Saint-Paul de Vence, the walled village above the coast, about 27 minutes from the Promenade. Walk the lanes inside the ramparts, then visit the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul, which describes itself as France's first independent art foundation. From there to the Croisette is about 33 minutes. With an hour or two in the village and lunch, this is a comfortable half day.

The glass and the old town: Biot and Antibes. The Biot tourist office calls the village the glass capital of the world, with working glassworks and the Fernand Léger National Museum. It is about 29 minutes from the Promenade. Continue 13 minutes to Antibes for the old town by the harbour and the Picasso Museum, which the Antibes Juan-les-Pins tourist office lists among its highlights, then drive on to Cannes in about 19 minutes.

The coast: Cap d'Antibes and Juan-les-Pins. For a slower, seaside version, follow the coast to Antibes, take the Tire-poil footpath that the Antibes tourist office features on Cap d'Antibes, stop for a late lunch in Juan-les-Pins, five minutes further on, and reach the Croisette about 17 minutes later as the light goes gold.

Any of these can be combined. A morning in Saint-Paul and an afternoon in Antibes fits easily into five or six hours, with the luggage locked in the car throughout.

What a driver costs from Nice to Cannes

There are three ways to book the trip, depending on whether you want a ride or a day.

A direct transfer. From Nice airport, the fixed fare to La Croisette costs from US$190 in a business sedan, US$250 in a business SUV, US$335 in a First Class Sedan, US$305 in a First Class SUV and US$495 in an Executive Sprinter. From a Nice hotel there is no fixed list fare, so enter both addresses in the web booker for an instant fixed price.

By the hour, with stops. The Nice chauffeur by the hour costs US$90 in a business sedan, US$115 in a business SUV, US$145 in a First Class Sedan, US$135 in a First Class SUV and US$180 in an Executive Sprinter, with a 3-hour minimum. As simple arithmetic, a five-hour day with Saint-Paul and Antibes is US$450 in a business sedan, and the chauffeur drops you at your Cannes hotel at the end.

The full day. The full-day chauffeur in Nice costs from US$665 in a business sedan, US$850 in a business SUV and US$1,325 in an Executive Sprinter. It suits a long day that ends with dinner in Cannes and a return to Nice.

Every fare is per vehicle, not per person, and includes the chauffeur, taxes and standard gratuity, with airport meet and greet on airport transfers. Tolls and parking are billed at cost. Rides in Nice and Cannes are operated by licensed, commercially insured local chauffeur partners vetted through the Limousine Worldwide network; Elly8.net takes the booking, fixes the price and runs the 24/7 desk.

Train, coach or taxi instead

Be fair to the alternatives. The regional TER runs along the coast between Nice and Cannes with regular services, and the Cannes Tourist Office's how-to-get-there page notes that a TER ticket is valid on any train that day for the route you chose. Both stations are central. For one or two people with light bags going straight from city to city, the train is the right answer and costs a fraction of a car.

From the airport, express coach line 81 runs to Cannes every 30 minutes in about 45 minutes, at €20.50 a single, according to the same tourist office page, and the airport taxi rank charges a fixed €85 to Cannes. Our guide to the Nice airport to Cannes transfer compares those arrival options side by side.

Where the car wins is the day itself: three towns instead of two stations, bags that never leave the car, child seats fitted on request, and a fixed price in dollars agreed before you travel.

Moving hotels with luggage

Many North American itineraries split a Riviera week between Nice and Cannes, which means a hotel change in the middle. That is where an hourly booking quietly earns its keep. The chauffeur collects you and your bags at checkout, the cases stay locked in the car while you spend the morning in Saint-Paul and the afternoon in Antibes, and you arrive at the Cannes hotel in time to check in. Doing the same by train means storing luggage, or carrying it up the village lanes.

Our fleet table sets the limits: a Business Sedan takes three passengers and two bags, a Business SUV or First Class SUV six passengers and six bags, and an Executive Sprinter twelve passengers and twelve bags. A family of four with four large cases needs a Business SUV, not a sedan. See the fleet and city to city car service.

Straight from the airport, with one stop

Some travellers land in Nice and want to see a village on the way to Cannes rather than go straight to the hotel. The airport is well placed for it: by our routing, Saint-Paul-de-Vence is about 15 km (9 mi) and 23 minutes from the terminals, and Antibes old town about 18 km (11 mi) and 26 minutes. Book the car by the hour from the airport rather than as a fixed transfer, give us the final flight number, and the chauffeur meets you inside arrivals with a name board, tracks the landing and waits after a tracked landing at no charge. After a long-haul night, a single stop and an early check-in is usually enough; save the full tour for another day.

Doing it the other way: Cannes to Nice

The same logic works in reverse. Guests based in Cannes who want a day in Nice, or a hotel move east, can book the Cannes chauffeur by the hour, at US$90 in a business sedan with a 3-hour minimum, or the Cannes full-day chauffeur from US$665. For the flight home, the fixed transfer from La Croisette to Nice airport is the same price in either direction, from US$190 in a business sedan, and booking it with your arrival locks in both legs. The round trip from Nice airport costs from US$365. See Nice airport to Cannes transfers.

Tolls, parking and waiting

Elly8.net fares cover the chauffeur, the vehicle, taxes and standard gratuity. Motorway tolls on the A8 and any car park charges at the stops are billed at cost, and so is waiting beyond the time included in a transfer. On an hourly booking, waiting is simply part of the hours you book, which is why it suits days with several stops.

When to go, and when to avoid the road

The drive is easy in the shoulder seasons and slow on summer weekends, when traffic builds on the A8 and in the towns along the coast. During the Festival de Cannes, from 11 to 22 May 2027 per the Festival de Cannes, and Cannes Lions, from 21 to 25 June 2027, the approaches to the Croisette slow sharply and hotel forecourts are managed tightly. If your hotel move falls on those dates, book early and let the desk time the arrival; see event transportation.

In high summer, villages like Saint-Paul can be crowded in the middle of the day. Arriving at opening time and leaving before lunch makes the visit calmer, and the chauffeur will suggest an early start.

Tips for American and Canadian travellers

Tipping. Elly8.net fares include standard gratuity, so nothing more is expected; anything extra is your choice.

Payment. You pay by card in US dollars when you reserve, so the day's cost is known before you leave home.

Dress and shoes. Village lanes in Saint-Paul and Biot can be steep; comfortable shoes help, and the car carries whatever you do not want to walk with.

Plan the evening, too. If you want dinner in Cannes and a ride back to Nice, book the full day or add hours, rather than looking for a car at midnight. Our guide to Cannes day tours with a private driver covers longer days from Cannes once you have settled in.

How booking works

1. Enter your Nice pickup and your Cannes hotel, or the hours you need and the stops you have in mind.
2. Choose a vehicle that fits your party and luggage.
3. Press Reserve now on a published fare, or use the web booker for any other address, and pay by card in US$. Confirmation arrives by email.

Cancellation is free more than 72 hours before pickup; 10% applies at 72 hours or less, 50% at 48 hours or less and 100% at 24 hours or less or for a no-show, refunded to the original card. See the cancellation policy, the hourly chauffeur service and our Cannes chauffeur page.

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