Kavya

Hi,

We are visiting Nice for 5 days during the first week of May.

Request for feedback on the below itinerary.

1. Nice
2. Antibes and Grasse
3. Eze and/or Menton
4. Gordes du Verdon - it will be a long day, but we wanted to visit the place once
5. Nice

Are Antibes and Gordes and Eze and Mention doable in one day?

Regards,
Kavya

Fodorite018

When we were in Nice, I did day trips to both Antibes and Eze and enjoyed a leisurely day at each place. I did not go to the other locations, so can't comment, but really enjoyed what I did.

StuDudley

Gorges du Verdun - not Gordes.

There are gorges closer to Nice that are much more interesting & scenic, IMO - Gorges de Daluis & Gorges du Cains. However, there is probably not a "group tour" that will go through these gorges.

Grasse is perhaps our least favorite village in the region - of those that are mentioned in guide books (kind of grungy). I can think of perhaps 15 villages in the Nice region that are much nicer. If you are going to Grasse for the perfume museum - there is the same exact museum in Eze.

Stu Dudley

Tulips

Do you have a car? Then do Valbonne - particularly on a Friday morning, there's a nice market - and then Gourdon.

Agree with Stu re Grasse. There are much nicer places to visit.

Eze and Menton can quite easily be visited in one day if you have a car. Though Menton wouldn't be top of my list, unless you've been to the Cote d'Azur several times. Combine Eze with Cap Ferrat, rather then Menton, if you have not been there.

Dogeared

What does 'doable' mean?

Anyway, the answer is NO. Not if you want to do anything other than snap a selfie and move on.

I once spent 3 months in Antibes and on another occassion, 5 nights in Eze at the Chateau Eza hotel.

If all you want to do is 'list ticking', then anything physically possible is 'doable' but that doesn't mean you have 'done' those places.

If you arrive in Nice on your first day and depart Nice on your 5th day, you aren't even going to have 2 full days in Nice.

People often say, 'but we want to see as 'much as possible' in the time we have available and I can understand that desire. However, the word 'much' is not synonymous with the word 'many'. Spending half your time moving from place to place is not better than spending all your time IN a place actually getting as 'much' out of your time as you can. Move less, see and do more in the time you have.

Kavya

Thanks for the inputs.

Yes, we were considering Grasse as it is mentioned as the perfume capital. More open to consider any other towns instead.

Eze and Antibes we will definitely visit. But can replace Grasse and Menton with other choices.

Will do check on Cap Ferrat. Request you to suggest any other villages/towns if the 15 that were referred to.

We plan to commute by public transport and was thinking of hiring a car for one day to go to Gorges du Verdun.

Kavya

But we can always take car for couple of days if there are any villages that can be seen only by car.

StuDudley

Don't skip Menton. We actually prefer it over Antibes.

Do you have my 32 page Cote d'Azur & Provence itinerrary. We've spent 20 weeks on the Cote & 20 in Provence. I've sent this itinerary to over 3,000 people on Fodors. It describes all of our favorite villages in the Nice area. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach a copy. Below is our favorite 1 day drive just outside of Nice.

St Paul de Vence & the surrounding area ½ day
Explore the perched medieval village of St Paul**. It’s probably the most popular small village on the Cote. Shops are always open (although we’ve never been there on a Monday). I advise people to get there by 9:00 and leave by 11:30 to avoid the crowds. It is especially crowded on Sunday in the summer season. We’ve stayed just outside of St Paul at Hotel Le Hameau several times & it’s quite nice – nothing fancy.

Head north of St Paul on the D2 toward Vence. The “old section” of Vence* is quaint. Look at the map in the Green Guide under VENCE to locate the old section at the east end of town. There is a walking tour described in the Green Guide. There’s an underground parking garage under the large open space on your right, just before you get to the old section. There are several stores in Vence where you can buy Provence fabric (see write up about Provence Fabric)

After Vence, follow the signs to Tourrettes-sur-Loup (D2210), which is west of Vence.

Explore Tourrettes-sur-Loup*. There’s a parking lot on your left, just off the road - except on market day (Wed) when the market uses this lot. If it's market day, park in the lot east of town and take the shuttle from there to the old section of Tourrettes (available on non-market days also). The shuttle departs every 10 mins. Tourrettes is a real cute town. It is much more "spruced up" than it was 20 years ago when we first visited it. Many people may prefer Tourrettes over St Paul. There is an excellent view of Tourrettes from the D2210 west of town.

Continue on the D2210 west & enjoy the Gorge du Loup** (see the Michelin Green Guide). Drive in the clockwise direction – D2210 through le Bar, then D3 to Gourdon. Explore Gourdon*. Like St Paul de Vence, it will be crowded & shops will be open on a Sunday & Monday. It is quite touristy. Continue north on the D3. From Gourdon clockwise to Pont du Loup, the terrain is very interesting - more so than the southern section of this loop. When you hit the D6, take it south back to Pont-du-Loup (this section is very scenic) & then retrace your route through le Bar and return to St Paul or Nice.

Stu Dudley

StCirq

Hiring a car for a single day will cost you the same as hiring one for 3 days. Not terribly cost-effective.

Grasse is a waste of time, IMO.

Valbonne is a very pleasant place.

Kavya

StuDudley - Thanks for the suggestions Yes, I do have your document and there is so much so many good things to see I was lost choosing from it.

the only reason we were hesitating to have a car is the feedback I read about difficulty in Parking and they say the transport is quiet good in and around Nice.

Would you then suggest taking a car all the 5 days? Places like Eze, Antibes are all well connected with Bus/Train.

StCirq - Thank you. Will check on Valbonne.

WoinParis

I love Grasse but maybe because our king has a villa there.
I agree skipping it esp since the roads are quite winding.
Menton is nice. But for oldies.
I would do 2 days in les gorges du Verdon. Gives you time to stop and rent a kayak and go on the water.

Tulips

We've spend 50+ weeks on the Cote d'Azur and always drive. It's never a problem to find parking, except perhaps from middle of July until late August. We don't go then - too busy. But any other time, not a problem.

Even in Juan les Pins, where you used to have to drive around a bit, there's now a big new garage that was half empty in July. Same for Antibes.
Eze last year we parked just below the village, in May. Valbonne has a huge free car park - gets busy on Fridays, so you'll have a longer walk when you're late. Nice has plenty of garage parking.

Just make sure you can park wherever you are staying - or check with the hotel how much it costs to park overnight.