daria

Hello all,

I'm planning a trip to Italy and the French Riviera with my husband and twins (who will be 9 at the time). My husband and I have been to Europe a few times (including to Venice, Florence, Rome, the Amalfi Coast, Capri, the Cinque Terre, Verona, Lake Como, Milan and Paris), but this will be the kids' first trip.

I want to go to Tuscany (I've never been, except to Florence) the French Riviera, and Venice. My husband and I were married in Venice and I want to show the kids. I think my kids would like all of these places. We all love hiking, art, architecture and food, and the kids love to swim. My thought is to try to get a place with a pool in Tuscany and to be near nice beaches in the French Riviera. We don't like to move around too much, especially with the kids.

In Tuscany, I'm pretty sure I want to visit Lucca, Pisa, Pienza, Siena, San Gimignano, and Volterra.

So, what do you think of something like this:

Venice (3 nights)
Tuscany (7 nights, thinking of 5 near Sienna and 2 near Lucca)
French Riviera (7 nights, am thinking possibly Antibes)

I was thinking we could fly into Venice, and out of where? Nice?

Where would we pick up our car for Tuscany? Outside of Venice? Or, should we take the train and then pick up a car and, if so, where?

Do we need a car in the French Riviera?

Thank you!!

Daria

Tulips

Hi Daria, when are you planning to go? It makes a difference, as July and August get very busy on the French Riviera, especially August. I'll just comment on the French Riviera part of your trip, as I know that best.
We always have a car and stay near Antibes. But if you plan to stick to the coast, and not visit hilltop villages, you would not need a car. There can be a lot of traffic in the summer, and parking is not always easy.

Antibes is lovely and a great base. If you stay in the old town, there is no beach there (there's a tiny one near the port, but with no facilities). I don't know your budget but just out of town, the Royal Antibes has a beach, and is still walking distance to the old town.

Juan les Pins is less charming than Antibes, but has nice beaches and more activities for kids. The Pinede area, towards Cap d'Antibes, is the nicest area to stay in Juan les Pins.

Cannes has beautiful beaches, and is also easily reached by train.

Calabria62

I like your plan. You might consider taking the train from Venice to Tuscany and rent your car for the week in Tuscany there. The take the train to French Riviera.

We have been to Nice in August and it was crowded, but we did not think overly so. Your kids might like the wide boardwalk for biking, rollerblading and such, the festive pedestrian zones, especially in the evening, and you could take train trips to Antibes and other towns you'd like to visit. They might like the Aquarium in Monaco, the ruins in Cimiez, and in general the lively atmosphere of the city. It's very walkable, too. I like Antibes, too, but as Tulips said, there is just the small beach.

Fly into Venice and out of Nice for sure. No need for a car on the FR.

daria

Thank you! Sorry I didn't mention when we want to go. I was thinking either mid-late June or late June - early July. I'd like to be in the Riviera when it is warm enough for the beach and swimming, but not terribly crowded. It would be a bummer if restaurants were closed.

Antibes sounds so great, but now I'm not sure. I'd like to be able to walk to a nice beach.

Our budget is $250 - $350/ night for lodging.

Thanks again!

neckervd

Why not stay at a Tuscan beach resort (like Follonica, San Vincenzo, Cecina) if you will have a car? From there, you could easily visit most places of Southern Tuscany.

In France, you may check the sandy beaches in the Baie de Roquebrune,as well as around St.Raph, Ste Maxime and Ramatuelle.

Venice - Tuscan beaches is easiset by train. May be you will rent a car at Pisa or Livorno.

Most relaxing itineray Tuscany - Nice: Ferry Livorno - Bastia plus ferry Bastia - Nice
http://www.corsica-ferries.co.uk/?_g...435.1421947319
http://www.mobylines.com/routes.html

Tulips

Late June / early July is not so busy, you could rent a car if you wanted to explore further from the coast.
Is that budget for all 4 of you - in one room? You'll have to search for that as not all hotels have rooms for 4.

Juan les Pins would be good; still fairly quiet, and it has nice beaches, lots of restaurants. Have a look at hotel Sainte Valerie, in the Pinede area. It looks lovely, in a quiet street but close to the beach. I've often passed it, but haven't stayed there.

For 7 days, with kids, an apartment would be better, though.

sandralist

Given your wish list for Tuscany, I recommend that you stay somewhere near Siena. Something you might consider is to put your 2 nights in Lucca right at the beginning, and go there by train from Venice. Go to Pisa and pick up your car (you could stow your luggage in the train station while you visit Pisa, then pick up the car at the end of the day). Drive to your Tuscan stay with the pool.

You might give some serious consideration to using Corsica as your beachy/swim destination. rather than the French Riviera, and then topping it off with some nights in Nice prior to the flight home. It doesn't sound like you've got a big cultural agenda for the French part of your stay, and you might find Corsica to be more price friendly and interesting.

If you decide to stick with the French Riviera, then I would recommend driving to the French-Italian border from Tuscany and leaving the car there (San Remo or Ventimiglia, whichever has a car rental office). Then take the train from there, or rent another car over the border.

Train rides and car drives from Tuscany to southern France are fairly long and demanding. That is part of the reason I suggest Corsica if you are not needing a variety of cultural attractions for that part of the trip. Another possibility would be to leave Tuscany by car and head to an airport in Rome to fly to Nice.

sandralist

Actually, I should take that back about Corsica prices, because in either destination (French Riviera or Corsica) you need to do some diligent research to find price-friendly accommodations, and Corsica can get very pricey. Not to mention that the cost of two ferry rides will also need to be fed into the data crunching.

But thought you might want to explore some options that are more interesting than ground travel between Tuscany and the French Riviera.

daria

Thank you! This is a lot to think about. Actually, one of the reasons I am interested in the French Riviera is because of the combination of beaches and museums. One of the reasons I was lookkng at Antibes was because of the Picasso museum. I'm also definitely interested in the Fondation Maeght in St-Paul and the aquarium (in Monaco?). I thought I read about a Matisse musuem too.

If we don't have a car in the riviera, we could probably do more than $350/night. I've had luck using booking.com for lodging for 4 because you can put that in your search. An apartment is a possibility, but I was hoping for a place with staff on-site to answer questions.

Thanks again, and more advice is welcome!

sandralist

If you want beaches and museums then the Nice area is definitely the only choice in that area, where there are many different kinds of museums. I'm sure you can find a "museums attractions Cote d'Azur" list by goggling. If you don't want a car, you should check out the logistics of getting to the Fondation Maeght. By public trans they could be tricky but don't overlook the possibility of a one-shot taxi expense. Even though the cost of a taxi ride might be shocking, it still might be the cost of a rental with parking, especially if most of the time you won't be using it.

Something else you can consider if you are driving from Tuscany to Nice is to make a stop for a swim in one of the coastal towns of the Italian Riviera before turning in the car somewhere near the border. For the most part, it really doesn't matter which town you pick, just leave yourself a bit of time once you leave the highway to find parking. It is easier to do that in the middle of the week in July than it is on a weekend.

sandralist

Sorry for the typo that made my sentence unclear. Meant to write:

"Even though the cost of a taxi ride might be shocking, it still might beat the cost of a rental with parking, especially if most of the time you won't be using it."

Tulips

There's a bus from Nice to St Paul de Vence - I've never taken it, so can't say how convenient it is.
All other places are easily reached by train.

While I love Nice, with two 9-year olds I would go for somewhere with a sandy beach, rather than the pebble beach that Nice has.

You can rent apartments that are run like hotels, with a front desk. There are two in Juan les Pins from this organisation;
http://www.resorts-open.com/gb/fset.html
Again, I haven't stayed there, but know that they are popular with families. You are traveling outside of school holidays, so could probably get a good deal.
Check how far these are from the train station, not sure about that. Most people staying there will have a car.

daria

Thank you! After more research, I am still leaning towards Antibes because it sounds like such a nice town for us. But, only if there are beaches.

I found this website that says there are several sandy beaches in Antibes: riviera-beaches.com. But, a couple people here seemed to think there was only one small beach. Do you think this website is accurate?

Thank you again.

Tulips

There are beaches to the south/west of the old town. If you look on a map, it's next to Boulevard Marechal Leclerc and Boulevard James Wyllie. This is a nice sandy beach.
It's a 10 minute walk from the old town. There are a few hotels along this stretch.
Hotel Josse has an amazing location, it's a 3 star, I have no idea what it's like inside, but we often pass it, and it looks good. Rooms have balconies overlooking the sea. There's also the Royal Antibes which is more expensive.

There's a very nice beach at Plage de la Garoupe, but this is not walking distance from the old town of Antibes. There are beach clubs where you can rent chairs.

Then there's the small beach just down by the city walls in the center. You'll have to bring your own parasol and beach chairs or mats, the public beaches don't have those.

Tulips

Daria, the site you mention is accurate, but not all beaches they mention for Antibes are walking distance. They list Juan les Pins, which has the best beaches, but you'd have to take the train or bus from Antibes. Plage de la Garoupe can be reached by bus, and is lovely. There's a path around Cap d'Antibes that starts at Garoupe. It's easy enough for a 9-year old, takes about an hour to complete.

daria

Thank you!!!

daria

After extensive research, I am leaning towards booking the Royal Antibes because I really like the sound of Antibes, there don't seem to be other nice accommodations there near the beach, the Royal Antibes seems to be in a good location, we could book an apartment that has a kitchen and thereby save a little on meals after splurging on the hotel, and it seems to be close to a nice public beach (I don't think we want to pay for the hotel's private beach). Does this sound reasonable?

Tulips

As I said I've never stayed there, but we often pass it, and it looks great. You just cross the road for the beach. You have a beautiful view from the hotel, with Antibes on the left and the Cap on the right. If you have a kitchen, you can do your shopping at the Provencal market.

Only thing is that it will be a longer walk to the train station. But you're not going to be able to stay near the beach AND the station. There's probably a bus to the station.

daria

Thank you! Also, if it is such a long trip from Tuscany over to the Riviera, could we take an ovenight sleeper train from Lucca to Antibes? Not sure if it takes that long, but just a though.

daria

Also, does anyone know how we would get to Fondation Maeght in St-Paul from Antibes without renting a car? I am trying to figure out if that is doable as we would like to avoid th expense of a car in the Riviera. Thank you!