The Riviera railway: Marseille-Ventimiglia

Somewhere between Saint-Raphaël and Cannes, the train crosses the Anthéor viaduct. The bridge carries the railway across a gap in the red Esterel cliffs, high above a sandy beach with tree-covered hills behind. The Mediterranean fills the window to the right, then a tunnel swallows it. When daylight returns, the wild coastline has given way to palm trees and promenades. This is the Marseille-Ventimiglia Railway: 259 kilometres of railway along France's southern edge, through the French Rivera and across the border into Italy, through tunnels, across viaducts, and through towns that have long drawn artists, writers and exiles.

Built in stages between 1858 and 1872, the Marseille-Ventimiglia Railway designed to connect remote coastal communities and serve military interests. Inadvertently, it also ended up moulding the Côte d'Azur as a travel destination. 

The railway brought the first tourists to Nice, Cannes and Monaco, and today it remains the backbone of the region: over four million people live along it, more than 250 trains use it each day, and for slow travellers, it is one of Europe's great rail journeys. 

The line connects Marseille-Saint-Charles to Ventimiglia station, with a change in Nice Ville, passing through Toulon, Saint-Raphaël, Cannes, Antibes, Monaco and Menton. It threads through white limestone cliffs, red porphyry headlands, a Provençal hinterland full of vineyards and olive groves, and the densely built Riviera itself, where the tracks run so close to the sea that the water feels within reach.

Read on for a guide to travelling this route: from ticketing and train types, where to find socca baked in a century-old oven, and why the last stop across the Italian border has the best Friday market on the coast.

Olivier Cleynen/CC BY 4.0

The Marseille-Ventimiglia Railway: tickets, schedule and facilities

The trains

Two types of trains run on the Marseille-Ventimiglia Railway: TGV INOUI high-speed services and TER regional trains. Both follow the same tracks along the coast, although frequent twists and turns along the track mean that the high-speed service is only 15 minutes quicker than the slower regional train. TGV services offer first- and second-class seating, Wi-Fi, power sockets, and a bar car, while the TER trains are more basic, with comfortable air-conditioned coaches and no onboard catering.

For scenery, the TER is the better choice. It stops at more stations along the coast, giving you the option to break the journey, and the carriages sit lower to the ground, putting you closer to the shoreline. Seat reservations are not available, so you are free to choose your own seat. Both TGV and TER trains run the same coastal tracks, so the views are there whichever service you take. The difference is flexibility: on the TGV, your seat is pre-assigned and you may end up on the inland side.

Top tip: Sit on the right for sea views when travelling from Marseille to Ventimiglia (left in the opposite direction). Arrive early for the best chance of a window seat.

R390/CC BY-SA 4.0

Schedule

The Marseille to Nice section of the journey takes about two and a half hours by direct TER. Nice to Ventimiglia adds around 50 minutes. Trains run frequently: roughly every 30 minutes on the busiest sections. The first departure from Marseille is around 06:00, and the last is around 18:00 for the full route. Commuter trains on shorter sections run later into the evening.

The line is busiest during the summer months (July and August) and on Friday mornings, when shoppers from across the Riviera head to Ventimiglia's market. The return trains from Ventimiglia on Friday afternoons can be uncomfortably packed. For a quieter journey, travel outside of commuter hours.

Tickets and passes

TER tickets for the Marseille to Nice journey cost between €28 and €40, and the onwards section from Nice to Ventimiglia is around €10. TER fares are fixed-price and valid for any train on the day, meaning you can hop on and off with your ticket. This makes it easy to spend a morning in Antibes and an afternoon in Nice on a single fare. TGV fares start from around €25 if booked well in advance, though prices rise closer to the date of travel.

TER tickets can be bought on the SNCF Connect website, app, or at station ticket machines. TER ticket prices are the same regardless of when you purchase. TGV tickets are generally cheaper when booked in advance, ideally as soon as sales open (about four months ahead).

For those travelling with an Interrail pass, TER services are included with no seat reservation required. TGV INOUI trains require a reservation, usually costing €10-€20 for passholders. If you are exploring the eastern section of the line intensively (between Cannes and Menton, for example), the Pass Sud Azur Explore provides unlimited travel on trains, trams and buses across the Alpes-Maritimes and Monaco network for three, seven or fourteen days.

SNCF

Works on the line

The existing coastal route, and the views that come with it, will continue to carry passengers for the foreseeable future, but the railway is undergoing a major modernisation programme. The first, a new digital signalling system (ERTMS), will allow trains to run closer together and more frequently. It is being rolled out in phases between now and 2031, with brief service suspensions expected as each section goes live. The second, the Ligne Nouvelle Provence-Côte d'Azur, is upgrading stations and building a new underground through-station at Marseille, with the aim of increasing daily train services by around 66% by 2035. Between them, the projects should mean shorter journey times, more frequent trains, and fewer delays. Construction work mostly takes place outside operating hours, but it is worth checking the SNCF Connect app for timetable changes before you travel, particularly on weekends. 

The Marseille-Ventimiglia Railway: the stops

Marseille

The line begins at Marseille-Saint-Charles, a station set on a hill above the city. Before you board, set aside at least a day to discover the city. France's second city is a port town, founded by Greek traders around 600 BC, and the Old Port (Vieux-Port) still teems with life. The morning fish market on the Quai des Belges sells the day's catch straight off the boats, and this is where you will find the city's signature dish, bouillabaisse, in its original form. For the best version, go to the renowned Chez Fonfon in the Vallon des Auffes, a tiny fishing harbour sheltered beneath the Corniche. Read more about Marseille’s food highlights on our Foodie Trips blog.

Above the port, the Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde offers panoramic views of the city, the sea, and the Frioul archipelago. On the opposite side, the MuCEM (Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations) occupies a lattice-clad contemporary building at the entrance to the harbour, connected to the 17th-century Fort Saint-Jean by a high footbridge. It is the only museum in Europe dedicated to Mediterranean civilisations, with permanent ethnographic collections and a rotating programme of temporary exhibitions. The outdoor spaces, including the rooftop walkways between the museum and the fort, are free to access and offer some of the best views of the port.

Leaving Marseille, the train passes through the eastern suburbs before the landscape begins to change. The railway skirts the edges of the Calanques National Park, where white limestone cliffs plunge into deep blue water. These formations are largely hidden from the train, but you will catch brief glimpses of the coastal terrain before the line arrives at Cassis.

Pauline Bernard

Cassis

Just 20 minutes from Marseille, Cassis is a small fishing village wedged between the Calanques National Park and Cap Canaille, the tallest sea cliff in France. The train station sits about three kilometres above the village (a shuttle runs down to the centre), but the detour is well spent.

The harbour is the heart of the town: fishing boats, seafood restaurants, and a small weekday fish market where locals queue early for the morning's landings.  Cassis is also one of the few places in Provence where white wine dominates production, accounting for around 75% of the local output (rosé is the big-hitter here, accounting for over 91% of wine made in the region). The Marsanne and Clairette grapes do well in the sheltered microclimate beneath Cap Canaille, and several estates offer tastings, among them Clos Sainte Magdeleine, set on a hill overlooking the sea, and Domaine du Bagnol in the village centre.

The main draw beyond the village is the Calanques themselves. Three of the most accessible inlets (Port-Miou, Port-Pin and En-Vau) can be reached on foot from Cassis, though the hike to En-Vau is steep and takes a full half-day. Boat tours from the harbour offer a less strenuous alternative, looping through the narrow inlets from the water. A word of caution: during the summer months, trails can be closed due to fire risk, so check conditions before setting out. For food, Le Poisson Rouge, tucked down an alley just off the port, serves creative Mediterranean cooking with local seafood, and the menu changes regularly.

From Cassis, the line continues through La Ciotat before turning inland towards Toulon.

Emmanuel Martin

Toulon

About an hour from Marseille, the train arrives in Toulon, home to the French Navy for over 500 years and shaped more by its maritime industry than by tourism. France's aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, is stationed in the harbour and you can see naval vessels from the waterfront promenade. The Musée National de la Marine, set behind the original 1738 arsenal gate, explores four centuries of that history through ship models, paintings and instruments. Fans of Les Misérables may recognise Toulon as the setting for Jean Valjean's imprisonment; the museum covers the real penal colony that inspired Hugo as well.

Down towards the port, the Cours Lafayette market, held every morning except Monday, is one of the largest in Provence, with stalls selling local fruit, vegetables, fish and flowers. The old town behind it has narrow pedestrian streets, fountains and restaurants. Beam! Kitchen, run by Chef Arnaud Tabarec, serves a five-course evening menu for €49 using hyper-local, seasonal ingredients with an emphasis on fermentation. Le Pastel, near the port, offers refined Provençal cooking from a chef who trained under Pierre Koffman in London: expect turbot with truffle in autumn, and a two-course lunch for €26.

For a wider view of the city, take the cable car up Mont Faron, the 584-metre mountain behind the town. At the summit, the Mémorial du Débarquement commemorates the 1944 Allied landings on the Provençal coast. The Opéra de Toulon in the city centre, the second largest in France after the Palais Garnier, hosts a full schedule of performances; last-minute and student-discount tickets are sometimes available at the box office.

Back on the train, the line heads east through the hilly Var, and the landscape changes from coastal to vineyards and forests.

Tristan Coïc

Saint-Raphaël and the Esterel coast

Saint-Raphaël marks the start of the line's most dramatic coastal stretch. Here, the red volcanic cliffs of the Esterel meet turquoise water, creating striking shoreline views. The railway runs along this coast, crossing the Anthéor viaduct above the sea. This area, especially Cap Dramont, was a key Allied landing point in August 1944.

Saint-Raphaël itself is a relaxed, family-oriented resort. The old town behind the harbour has a daily market, and the 19th-century Basilique Notre-Dame de la Victoire, built in pink Esterel sandstone, rises above the rooftops, displaying its golden statue of the Archangel Raphael atop the prominent dome. The neighbouring town of Fréjus, a short walk along the seafront, has one of the most important collections of Roman remains in Provence, including an amphitheatre, an aqueduct, and a 5th-century baptistery among the oldest in France.

If you have half a day, the Sentier de l'Esterel coastal path from Port Santa-Lucia heads east along red-rock cliffs towards secluded coves. The Plage de l'Aiguille, near Théoule-sur-Mer, is accessible by a short hike and offers swimming in clear, sheltered water.

Jannis Lucas

Cannes

From Saint-Raphaël, the train passes through the last of the Esterel before the coastline opens up and the towns grow closer together. Cannes, best known for its annual film festival in May, is a 40-minute ride from Nice and can be visited in a few hours.

The Palais des Festivals on the waterfront is where the red carpet rolls out each spring, along with a packed calendar of events throughout the year, and the handprints of past laureates are set into the pavement outside. Behind the Palais, the Boulevard de la Croisette runs along the seafront, lined with grand hotels. But the most rewarding part of Cannes is Le Suquet, the old town on the hill above the port. The streets are steep and narrow, and at the top, the Musée des Explorations du Monde (also known as the Musée de la Castre) occupies a medieval castle with views over the bay. It houses Mediterranean antiquities, ethnographic collections from five continents and a chapel full of musical instruments. 

For a taste of island life, take the 15-minute ferry to Île Sainte-Marguerite, the larger of the two Lérins Islands. The fort here once held the Man in the Iron Mask (or so the story goes), and the island is full of eucalyptus and pine forest, with swimming spots along its southern shore. The smaller island, Île Saint-Honorat, is home to a working monastery whose monks produce wine and a herb liqueur called Lérina.

Artem R

Antibes

One stop east of Cannes lies Antibes. The city has the largest marina on the Riviera, a 16th-century walled old town built to defend against Saracen raids, and an illustrious history of attracting artists. 

The Musée Picasso occupies the Château Grimaldi, where Picasso lived and worked for several months in 1946. The collection includes paintings, ceramics, and drawings from that period, and the rooftop terrace overlooks the sea. For an afternoon walk, the Sentier du Littoral (aka. The Sentier Tirepoil) follows the coast around Cap d'Antibes, passing the Plage de la Garoupe, where F. Scott Fitzgerald spent his summers in the 1920s, which provided the setting for Tender is the Night.

Florian K.

Cagnes-sur-Mer

Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town split between a seafront, a former fishing port, and a medieval hilltop village (reached by a free shuttle bus from the centre). A favourite haunt of artists, Modigliani, Soutine and Yves Klein all spent time here, and Renoir lived out his last 12 years in the town. His home at the Domaine des Collettes is now a museum, set among century-old olive trees with views towards Cap d'Antibes. 

Above, Haut-de-Cagnes is a tangle of small streets, vaulted passageways and artists' studios, crowned by the 14th-century Château-Musée Grimaldi. The village is quieter than the coastal towns and has views that stretch from the sea to the peaks of the Mercantour. 

From Cagnes-sur-Mer, the train runs the final 15 minutes to Nice-Ville through Saint-Laurent-du-Var and along the edge of the Baie des Anges, with the Alpes-Maritimes rising behind the towns to your left and the Mediterranean to your right.

Sude Soyluturk

Nice

Nice-Ville station sits a 10-minute walk from the Promenade des Anglais and the old town (Vieux Nice), making it very conveniently located. If you are travelling the full line on TER trains, this is where you will change for services east to Monaco, Menton and Ventimiglia. Nice, the principal city of the Côte d'Azur, has enough to see and do to fill several days, so the change lends itself to a stop or stay.

The old town is the obvious starting point. The Cours Saleya flower and food market runs every morning except Monday, selling cut flowers, spices, socca, pissaladière (onion tart with anchovies and olives) and local olive oil. Chez Thérésa has been serving socca from Rue Droite since 1925, baked in an oven that predates the restaurant, and they run a stall on the Cours Saleya itself, where fresh batches arrive by bicycle from the kitchen every few minutes. The Baroque architecture in the surrounding streets dates from the period when Nice was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, before its cession to France in 1860. For an evening drink, Zitto (Italian for "shush") is a speakeasy in the old town with well-made, seasonally-focused cocktails and a low-key atmosphere; finding the unmarked entrance is part of the fun.

Nice has a concentration of artist-dedicated museums that few cities of its size can match. The Musée Matisse, in a 17th-century villa in Cimiez, holds works spanning Matisse's career. The Musée National Marc Chagall, nearby, was purpose-built to house Chagall's Biblical Message series. 

For a high vantage point, climb (or take the lift) to Colline du Château, the park on the hill at the eastern end of the Promenade des Anglais. There is no castle left, but the view over the Baie des Anges to the west and the port to the east is the best panorama of the city.

Rishi Jhajharia

Monaco-Monte Carlo

The train from Nice to Monaco takes about 20 minutes, and the Monaco station sits deep underground, carved into the rock. The principality covers 2.02 square kilometres, the second-smallest sovereign state in the world, and almost everything of interest is within walking distance.

From the station, a short walk uphill leads to Monaco-Ville (Le Rocher), the old town on the headland. The Prince's Palace hosts a changing of the guard at 11:55 each morning. Below it, the Musée Océanographique, founded in 1910 and directed for decades by Jacques Cousteau, is built into the cliff face and houses one of Europe's oldest aquariums.

Monte Carlo, the district across the port, is where you will find the Casino, designed by Charles Garnier (the architect of the Paris Opéra). You don’t need to gamble to appreciate the building; the entrance hall and salon are open to visitors for a small fee. The Japanese Garden, near Larvotto beach, is free and offers a calm contrast to the principality's surrounding density.

Border police occasionally board trains on this section of the line, so keep identification to hand between Nice and Ventimiglia.

Anatoli Nicolae

Menton

Ten minutes beyond Monaco, the train pulls into Menton, the last town in France before the Italian border. Menton is known for two things: its microclimate, the warmest on the French Riviera, and its lemons. 

The Fête du Citron, held each February, is a festival centred on citrus, with floats and sculptures made from lemons and oranges, and a real Carnaval flavour. If you’re travelling outside of the festival but want a taste of the local lemons, Au Baiser du Mitron, near the market, is known for its tarte au citron: a sharp lemon filling on a shortbread base, as well as Provençal fougasse breads. Au Pays du Citron on Rue Saint-Michel stocks lemon jams, limoncello and soaps if you want to take something home.

The old town rises steeply from the seafront, its buildings in deep ochre, terracotta and faded pink. The Basilica of Saint-Michel, at the top, overlooks the sea. Below, the Plage des Sablettes is a sheltered, calm-water beach under the old town walls, with a man-made jetty that keeps the water shallow and still.

Menton's gardens are among the finest on the Riviera. The Jardin Botanique Val Rahmeh, a 15-minute walk from the old town, holds over 1,700 species of Mediterranean and tropical plants, including fig, olive and avocado trees. The Jardin d'Agrumes du Palais Carnolès, a free public garden near the western edge of town, contains more than 130 varieties of citrus. The Musée Jean Cocteau, on the waterfront, exhibits a collection of the artist's drawings, tapestries and ceramics, housed in an angular building designed by Rudy Ricciotti that juts out towards the sea.

For lunch, Casa Dali on Rue Partouneaux serves Lebanese mezze, stuffed aubergine, and orange blossom ice cream. It’s a small, informal spot with an open kitchen and generous portions. For a walk, the coastal promenade east of town leads to the Italian border, which you can cross on foot into Ventimiglia.

Jakub Żerdzicki

Ventimiglia

Ventimiglia is an Italian border town on the Ligurian coast, divided by the River Roya into a modern lower town and a medieval hilltop quarter (Ventimiglia Alta). It has a different energy from the French Riviera towns, less oriented towards tourism and with noticeably lower prices for groceries and eating out.

The town is best known for its Mercato del Venerdì (Friday market), one of the largest in Italy. Hundreds of stalls line the seafront and surrounding streets, selling leather goods, clothing, household items and food. The quality of clothing and accessories varies, but the food stalls are the draw: Italian cheeses, fresh pasta, dried tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar at prices well below what you will pay across the border in France. The indoor Mercato Coperto, near the station, operates Monday to Saturday mornings and offers high-quality fresh produce, charcuterie and local wine year-round.

Ventimiglia Alta is a 10-minute climb from the river. The old town is a tangle of narrow alleys, stone houses and small squares, with views over the Roya Valley and the coast. The 11th-century cathedral sits at the top.

East of the town, near the French border, the botanical garden, Giardini Botanici Hanbury, was established in 1867 by the English businessman Sir Thomas Hanbury. The gardens cascade down a headland to the sea and hold a collection of tropical and subtropical plants. Nearby, the Balzi Rossi caves are one of the most important Upper Palaeolithic sites in Western Europe, with human occupation dating back over 200,000 years. The Museo Preistorico dei Balzi Rossi at the foot of the cliffs displays stone tools, carved figurines and a Palaeolithic triple burial dating to around 25,000 years ago.

Jason Dela Cueva

Onwards connections

The Marseille-Ventimiglia Railway sits at a junction of several rail routes, making it easy to extend a journey in either direction. 

If the Calanques at Cassis left you wanting more rugged coastal hiking, the Cinque Terre is a natural next step. From Ventimiglia, change at Genoa for La Spezia (around three and a half hours in total), where the Cinque Terre Express connects five clifftop fishing villages linked by footpaths cut into the hillside. The walking trail between Monterosso and Vernazza is the standout stretch, with terraced vineyards dropping towards the sea on both sides. The villages are car-free, the portions of pesto are generous, and the local white wine, Sciacchetrà, is made from grapes dried on the vine.

For a different Mediterranean vibe, Genoa is two hours east of Ventimiglia by Intercity train. The old town is one of the largest medieval centres in Europe, a labyrinth of narrow alleys (called caruggi) opening onto unexpected piazzas. The Via Garibaldi, a UNESCO-listed street of Renaissance palaces, houses two art museums. Genoa is also where pesto was invented, and the versions served at Trattoria della Raibetta, near the old port, are made with Prà basil grown on the hillsides above the city.

Heading west, Aix-en-Provence is 40 minutes by TER from Marseille and trades the coast for a calmer, landlocked Provence. The Cours Mirabeau, a wide boulevard shaded by plane trees and lined with fountains, is the spine of the town. Cézanne's studio, preserved as it was when he worked there, sits on a hill to the north, and the Wednesday and Saturday markets on Place Richelme sell the olive oils, honeys and soaps that the region is known for.

Take a trip along the Marseille-Ventimiglia Railway from France into Italy, or check out our other French holidays by train. 

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