During our 12 or so days in the South of France, we want to spend the last 3-4 nights along the French Riviera and are trying to determine the best placed town from which to visit the strip from Cassis to Monaco.
First we thought Cassis, then Toulon, but wonder if they are too far west. Our instinct is to avoid staying in Nice (and Marsaille) We will have a car and want to explore as much as we can along the coast in our mere 4 days before heading up to the Chamonix area.
We%26#39;ve read many of the forum posts, but are still unsure where to base ourselves.
Merci.
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I%26#39;m not sure why you would avoid Nice-its an ideal city to explore the eastern riviera and fabulous to visit in its own right.
I can understand avoiding Marseilles because of its previous bad reputation though i like Marseilles too. It has improved a lot and the reputation is out of date.
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Selkie, we DO intend to visit Nice, but after busy days sightseeing and hiking, we want to return to a quieter place to unwind at the end of the day. Don%26#39;t mean any insult to either Nice or Marsaille. We don%26#39;t want a village so laid back we couldn%26#39;t get a meal in the evening, or someplace so expensive it would be tough to find a reasonable hotel, but just not a %26quot;city.%26quot;
Overlooking the water would be ideal.
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You can stay in quiet places within Nice- certainly much quieter than some smaller towns and villages
When are you visiting?
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WE will be in the Nice area (broadly speaking) around the middle of the second week of June. We are still allocating nights to different regions (we have 22 night not counting Paris). Our intention is to spend 4-5 nights getting from Paris down to the Nimes area (taking in Giverny, MSM, and a little of the Loire--and I%26#39;d like to see the cave paintings and go across the viaduct at Millau and take the Gorge roads--yikes!)
We would then spend 7 or 8 nights combining areas west and east of Avignon, and then @ 4 nights on the Cote d%26#39;Azure, and then meandering back to Paris up through Grenoble and Chamonix (to hike in mts which we love).
That is the current plan, which has already changed frequently (spouse decided he wants to see a couple of Chateux, I would rather go to La Rochelle and stay by the sea). Compromise compromise!
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Selkie, I have been looking at accommodations in Nice and came across RivieraPebbles.com which seem very nice, well-located, and well-priced. Do you know anything about them? If we stay in the old town area, what do we do with our car?
Merci
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If you%26#39;re going to be in France for three weeks, don%26#39;t miss the D Day beaches. The train from Paris to Bayeux is about two hours. You can do a half day tour and return to Paris that evening, or spend the night in Bayeux (Hotel Churchill is very nice and reasonably priced), take a full day tour and return to Paris at its end. Mont St. Michel is about an hour and a half away from Bayeux, and most travelers seem to enjoy a 2-3 hour tour of the village. I think a train back to Paris is about three hours from Rennes.
Check out Air France%26#39;s flights from Paris to Nice...they%26#39;re very reasonable.
We have been to the northern part of the Riviera and much prefer the south. You are right to avoid Marsaille. If you go to the south of France, don%26#39;t miss St. Paul de Vence and Eze, and the Old Town in Nice is well worth your consideration.
When we travel, we use public transportation as much as possible. The train system in France is very efficient, it%26#39;s comfortable, you don%26#39;t have to worry about getting lost, you can enjoy the scenery more, and you can enjoy your wine with lunch! We%26#39;ve done it both ways and driving is not as fun as one may think it is.
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there are 6 car parks in the old town of Nice and nearby
If you explore Nice and surroundings by public transport you could maybe take the car back and save on hire fees and parking costs
rivierapebbles have a good reputation - I haven%26#39;t heard anything bad but none of my family have stayed in apartments in Nice, they%26#39;ve either stayed with us or in hotels.
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I think that Antibes may suits your expectations: more quiet than Nice, a beautiful old town, sandy beaches (Nice offers only pebbles) and Antibes is very well located to explore the area: not far from Cannes, Saint-Paul de Vence and Nice. I like walking along the ramparts, stroll in the old streets full of bougainvilleas and the great market!
Have a look at the pictures here:
linternaute.com/sortir/…1.shtml
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Thanks for all your suggestions.
We will need our car to finish the last 5 days of our trip after Nice. (and our 5 days between Paris and Provence)
I understand about the efficient trains, but spouse does not like not being in control--being at the whim of the train schedules, and the limitations of not having a car. (what can I say, we%26#39;re Californians!)
We%26#39;ve done it both ways--we once spent 2 weeks in Meiringen, in Switzerland, and took the train everywhere (even to places cars couldn%26#39;t go) While the train/bus/boat system in Switzerland is outstanding, and my engineer husband appreciated the perfect dovetailing of all of these various public transportations, still, there was that feeling that we could have gone off on our own several times to explore and hike farther afield--you know, when you see the country lane and decide spur of the moment to follow it instead of the highway?
Because Switzerland is still one of our favorite vacations, we DID consider only using public transportation, or some balance between the two. But we just can%26#39;t imagine 22 days of travelling on a set schedule--it just isn%26#39;t us. He loves to drive, and he%26#39;s driven in what we%26#39;ve been told are the %26quot;tough driving countries%26quot; of Italy and Greece (and Ireland--3x-- and Scotland too) so that%26#39;s not a problem.
Anyway, not ruling it out--at this point, everything is fair game. We are still in the %26quot;massaging the destinations stage,%26quot; and the compromising between what I want to see and what he wants to see (fortunately our desires converge more than they diverge) Also as we are both pathetic at languages (that%26#39;s what taking Latin in high school does!) we are desperately trying to learn some French this time, as last time we were in Paris, we knew maybe 10 phrases and we swore we%26#39;d never go back to France without knowing some French!
I believe we have narrowed down our Cote d%26#39;Azure lodging to either Antibes or Nice. We also wanted to vist the %26quot;Grand Canyon of Verdon%26quot; from Nice...is that the best approach?
Again, merci.
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troggs--we often enjoy getting lost! (alright, not ALWAYS) and wine at lunch? those days are gone! i%26#39;d have to take a nap if i did that, and life is too short to nap in the afternoon! lol
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