excited_confused

Hi, had planned to stay 3 nights/4 days in Nice on our upcoming trip to France in May but have been reading Fodors France and Antibes sounds quite appealing too. Sine we are travelling with our 20 something children, looking for opinions on which one would be better as a base? Would Antibes be too quiet at night?
Also thinking of taking the train from Nice/Antibes to Paris instead of flying Easyjet. It is almost the same price, leaves around 3pm so I thought the scenery might be nice. It doesn't get to Paris until 9.15pm but I assume finding our way from the station to the hotel should not be a problem? Would most people recommend the train over flying? The Easy jet flight I was considering leaves at 5, gets into Orly at 6.30.
Thanks!

mjs

Will you have a car? What are your plans while in the area? Antibes is much smaller than Nice and if you are into night life Nice would be a better bet although Juan les Pins probably has some stuff going on at night.

greg

What are your other plans in Nice? If you plan to visit surrounding area by train/bus, Nice is very convenient. Obviously, there are more things for everyone in Nice.

Regarding Nice to Paris. I presume you are familiar with the Easyjet pricing. 35EU face price becomes 46EU after fees, then becomes 57EU after first luggage and so on. Then you add cost of reaching Nice airport as well as traveling from Orly into Paris. Time wise, you will be ahead. However, your activities are restricted during many stages, security check, take off and landing, and be sardine canned during the flight.

Train trip does take longer, but you can do more things during the trip. You can use your phone and computer all through your trip. Also there is no liquid limits, no knife/scissors restrictions, no practically imposed luggage limit imposed by SNCF etc. The stations are much closer to the core of each city. The seats are more comfortable and you can walk around any time. The iDTGV and PREM fares up to mid May are already available and they are 42EU (iDTGV) and 43EU(TGV PREM) respectively on some trains. Unlike flights, there is NO additional charges to deal with on boarding. The iDTGV and PREM fares sell fast.

madamtrashheap

<i>travelling with our 20 something children</i>

You're taking more than 20 children with you??!!

In terms of nightlife, Nice has a bit more going on than Antibes, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing to do at night in Antibes for your adult children as it too has some funky bars, nightclubs ("discos" in Europe) and plenty of places to wander (see Boulevard d' Aguillon) to find some bars. Either one will offer night entertainment as well as daytime persuits, so it just depends what you're looking for in a base and what accommodation you're searching for.

As for train vs plane, even in May the daylight doesn't last until 9pm so your scenery on the train journey will get dark around 7.30ish. If you prefer to take the train rather than fly then go for it as you'll spend 1hr prior to takeoff, the flight time plus around 45mins from landing to departing the airport, then travel time to Paris centre (allow an hour if you're doing public transport/Orlybus) so the extra bit of time on the train, that arrives at Gare du Lyon which has good access to Metro, taxis, etc, will be fine.

excited_confused

Thanks so much, glad I am not taking 20 children!! I will book the train tickets today in that case.
We will not have a car in Nice though was thinking of maybe renting one for a day to see the surrounding towns. I did want to visit Eze as well but can do that by bus. Thought we would go in one direction from Nice on one day & the other direction on the other & spend the third day in Nice or Antibes, wherever we are staying. Want the kids to be able to go out at night & have a good time, not feel bored (staying home with their parents) since the side trip to Nice is my idea! The Promenade in Nice seems more lively but the beaches in Antibes are the attraction! How long is the bus ride to Antibes? Thanks!

dfourh

I would choose Nice for their sake. Nice has different aspects to it, each of which is kind of a scene of its own, that will give the 20-somethings more options and variety (the old town; the pedestrian zone; the mallish shopping; the long,long beach - - Antibes only has a couple postage stamp-sized beaches. Antibes makes a great daytrip, and all your daytripping will work perfectly well with trains and/or busses.

excited_confused

Sorry, one more question - if we stay in Antibes, would we still take the train to Paris from Nice or is there a train from Antibes as well? Thanks.

excited_confused

I guess the train starts in Nice and makes a stop in Antibes. Anyone know if we can board in Antibes if I buy the tickets from Nice?

suec1

you can get detailed train info at www.bahn.com (german rail site) or google sncf - french rail site - train may not start at nice, some will stop at Antibes but maybe high-speed, no.

excited_confused

Hi, So I guess we will stick with Nice, thanks for the help!

I can buy the train tickets on http://www.tgv-europe.com, I am redirected to the Rail Europe UK site when I go to sncf. The TGV site shows a fare of 172 euros for all 4 for the 3.34pm train from Nice to Paris. I selected France as my country of collection? Where it asks me the age etc. of each passenger, I picked 2nd class daily for the 2nd dropdown & did not touch the Loyalty program tab (3rd dropdown). Does that sound right?? I just want to make sure I am not getting any discount that I may not be eligible for!

excited_confused

Hi, anyone??? Just want to make sure I am not making any mistakes!

suec1

You might want to start a new post with a topic about buying the tickets, that may bring better responses to your question about train fares as opposed to Antibes or Nice. You might be able to get PREM fares which could be cheaper but it's been several years since I purchased tickets for French travel and I've forgotten the details (plus it may be the procedures have changed). Enjoy your trip!

Tulips

Beaches are better in Juan les Pins, but it's very close to Antibes, so you can easily go there if you stay in Antibes. Antibes has a public sandy beach just out of the center of town towards the Cap. Juan has many more; some public, some where you rent chairs. Plage de la Garoupe on the Cap also has a sandy beach, but the public area is very small. There's a path around the Cap that you can walk; quite beautiful.

Juan has quite a bit of nightlife; Antibes may do as well. But we've only been in July and August; May is probably a bit more quiet.

RobynFrance

Don't know if you checked all your prices, but we found the train from Nice to Paris to be much more expensive than air to Orly. And the train is quite long--7-9 hours of travel on the available ones for us. It is true that flying is a bore, however there is easy transport from Orly into Paris. We opted for the cheap air--actually on Air France--$66 all fees included. Just some thoughts to consider.

excited_confused

Thanks for the suggestion RobynFrance, I had just checked the discount airlines because I figured they would be cheaper but Air France is also the same. Easyjet is about 200 euros for all 4 of us & the train is showing 171 euros (is I have it right) so not that different. Air France is $260 for 4, very similar. The train takes 5 hours 40 minutes & while I too would prefer to fly because it is faster, I am just wondering whether the scenery might be worth the train ride. And the novelty of taking a high speed in Europe!

mmcclaren

To accommodate its high speed the Nice/Paris TGV travels in a ditch frustratingly often (said the nose-on-glass-person), but there would still be some lovely vistas early in your trip. That said, I found the NCE-Orly flightpath along the Alps to be breathtaking. You can't lose.

CYESQ

Have stayed in both and preferred Nice for things to do and ease of transportation. The Nice antiques flea mkt on Mondays is a lot of fun and a chance to take home some real French souvenirs. Le Cave de l'Origine was a favorite restaurant of ours. We ate lunch there several times.

Micheline

Another vote for Nice. I have also stayed in both. You can always train or bus from there to Antibes for the day. You don't have that much time so I would fly over training. The airport is only approx 4 miles from the city centre.

mjs

I have also stayed in both, well Cap Antibes, and would also recommend Nice for what you are trying to do. Cap Antibes for us was a one week relaxed summer rental with some drives around the Cote. You have much less time and will be mostly moving around without a car so Nice makes the most sense.

Weadles

I've gone both by train and plane, and I say fly! If you want beautiful vistas/countrysides, take bus or train trips from Nice to many of the towns/cities along the coast. The TGV is so fast that sometimes its hard to take in the scenery anyway before you're already past it. Nice aiport is very close to the city- about a 15 minute drive tops into the center of Nice.