Kiss and fly! (Nice Côte d'Azur Airport)

Member Name: anwar7

Product:	Nice Côte d'Azur Airport
Date:	26/09/08 (346 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see review

Disadvantages: see review

I have travelled to France numerous times and usually arrive via Marseille airport. However this year I booked our flight late and was unable to find any reasonably priced flights to Marseille. My only option was to fly to Nice. I hope this review of the airport will be useful to anyone flying in or out of Nice cote d'Azur airport.

Getting there.
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Nice airport is situated 7 km west of Nice city centre. It is very well signposted from all directions. I like the fact that there is a separate bit of motorway that leads only to the airport. There are 2 terminals and getting to either really is very easy.

Parking.
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There are numerous car parks at the airport. If you just need to drop someone off then there is the wonderfully named kiss and fly car park, which is free as long as you are no more than 5 minutes and do not leave your car.

Longer stay car parks are fee paying but as I didn't use them I am unsure of the cost. There are lots of baggage trolleys available from the front of the airport at a refundable cost of 1 euro.

Inside the building.
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Once inside the airport building you will see an information desk. There are several fast check in machines and you can choose to read the screen in English, I found it very easy to check in and then drop our bags via the B.A desk. It is interesting to note that the check in staff were less strict about what we could take on board as hand baggage. When we departed from Heathrow my son was not allowed to take his tennis racquets as hand baggage. This was no problem in Nice. I was also allowed to take my younger son's car seat as hand baggage, not so on the outward-bound flight!

Before we made our way through the security checks I took both children to the loos. They were easy to find and very clean. As they are situated down a flight of stairs there is a lift for passengers with disabilities.

Once through security you will find yourself in a small seating area with several duty free shops and a small café. I bought a filled baguette for my children at a cost of 6 euros each. The baguettes were fresh and the filling's generous. I also asked for 2 glasses of tap water to save buying expensive bottled water. The service was friendly and fast.

If you are flying with B.A as we did then I would point out that although the main seating area has the usual monitors giving flight information they did not include our flight! It was only when we realised that our flight was still not being shown and that all other passengers around us were either Italian or German that we were probably sitting in the wrong area! There was no one to ask so we made our way through the terminal to what I can only describe as an annex. The B.A desk is situated at ground level in what really did look like a conservatory! There were no facilities and just a few seats. From here we were bussed onto the runway to our waiting plane. So if you are flying with B.A and your flight does not appear on the monitor I suggest you make your way to the higher numbered gates!

I realise that I have dealt with leaving Nice first. Now let me tell you about our arrival!

Flying into Nice airport will give you stunning views of the surrounding mountains and Sea below. Once on the ground it is a short walk to the baggage reclaim area. I suggest you have a few euros to hand as you will need them for a trolley. There are useful change machines in the area however if you forget!

Unfortunately B.A had managed to lose my car seat. I queued along with several other passengers who had also had luggage misplaced, at the conveniently situated lost baggage desk. I was given a form to fill in and told the seat would be returned to me within 24 hours. I asked how I was going to transport my son without a seat and was told that was not their problem! I phoned the car hire company where we were due to collect our hire car but they had no seats available. I was furious! Needless to say my seat was never recovered and I complained to B.A on my return (but that's another review)! Anyway, if you have a problem with lost bags you will know where to go, right opposite the baggage reclaim machines!

The next thing to say is that if you arrive into terminal 1 as we did then you will need to make your way to terminal 2 if you have hired a car. Most of the major car hire companies are represented at Nice airport. It is a bit confusing to find the car hire companies desks in terminal 1 but the cars are located in terminal 2. Having completed the paperwork we all made our way via a free shuttle bus to terminal 2. If you are doing the same with lots of luggage and children in tow, then I suggest just the driver goes to collect the car and then returns to collect the rest of the family. I found it really difficult to get all our heavy bags and children onto the already full bus. It is then a short walk to where the cars are located. By the time we had found our car we were all tired, hot and bad tempered!

I hope my review of Nice airport will be helpful to anyone using the airport.

Summary: Nice airport