About this journey

The journey begins at Nice-Ville station, a landmark opened in 1864 and completed in 1867 for the PLM railway company, designed by architect Louis-Jules Bouchot in Louis XIII style and still distinguished today by its Arles stone sculptures and forged steel rooftop. The station sits on the Marseille–Ventimiglia railway along the French Riviera, and once welcomed some of the most celebrated named trains in Europe, among them the Blue Train and the Côte d'Azur Pullman Express. Nice itself carries a layered heritage: annexed by France only in 1860 after centuries under the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, it was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021 for its history as a winter resort shaped by the meeting of European cultures.

From this coastal point the line climbs toward the Alpine interior, tracing the transition that makes this route distinctive — the Mediterranean falls away and the terrain rises into the mountain hinterland that surrounds Saint-André-les-Alpes. The train on this journey is the CFD X-300, operated under the ZOU! regional network, covering a route that moves from the foot of the French Alps at sea level to a high Alpine valley. The contrast between the ornate Riviera terminus and the quieter mountain destination at the end of the run defines the character of the full 2 hours and 11 minutes of footage.