Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Road Network and Travel

Accessing Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) is possible in many ways. Its road network allows both the inhabitants and the international tourists to reach big cities of France and Italy really swiftly.


  • Most cities of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur have free motorways avoiding the city centre and allowing a smooth and swift traffic throughout the highly regarded French Riviera. All these motorways are used by lots of people all year round, but especially during summertime. There are still some important national roads such as the Nationale 7 (RN7). This latter is famous and connects Paris to the Italian border. This road is considered to be the "road of holidays" or "road of sun" (Route du soleil) as Frenchmen called it some decades ago, the region being one of French holidaymakers' favourites. Thanks to this road, the region is really well connected to the rest of Europe.
  • PACA is one of the most urbanized regions in France with 5 huge urban poles where 62% of the population gather. Cannes, Grasse, Antibes / Nice, Marseille, Aix / Avignon / Toulon. It means that cars are the most used means of transport - for people working there as well as holidaymakers. Driving is the easiest way to travel in that region, as only a few southern towns have developed their public transports. The quality of the road network is outstanding, even when it comes to secondary and departmental roads.

Below are the motorways which go through PACA:

Motorway Name Cities
A7 from Lyon to Marseille via Valence, Montelimar, Orange and Avignon
A8 La Provençale from Aix-en-Provence to the Côte d'Azur (A7)
A50 from Marseille to Toulon
A51 from Marseille to Grenoble, via Aix-en-Provence
A52 from Aubagne to Aix-en-Provence
A54 from Salon de Provence to Nîmes
55 from Marseille to Martigues
A57 from Toulon to Hyères

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