partymine

I am visiting southern France , the French Riviera , and also Italy , I am booking an hotel in Ventigmilia , need suggestions to visit the area , and if it is better to stay in Nice or Ventigmilia area .

Michael

Friends happened to like the Menton area, which is between Nice and Ventimiglia.

StCirq

Ventimiglia, IMO, is a pour cousin to the French Riviera, but if shabby chic suits your fancy and budget, it's fine, and probably considerably cheaper. Mento is a good suggestion.

PalenQ

I spend some hours in Ventimiglia and would never call it shabby but a real Italian town - it'snot shabby at all but a typical Italian resort town - it has an especially lively market many days with folks from France flocking over when I was there - the usual Italian caffes, etc - way different from yes the more glitzy French Riviera perhaps.

Nothing exceptional in town though San Remo is just down the road or train line.

Trains trundle from Ventimgilia every half hour or so all along the French Riviera - French trains that terminate here so Nice is about 40 mins or so away and Menton is just across the river - Monaco not far.

Now Ventimgilia is not nearly as good a base as would be places in the Nice area - where many things of interest are within a short drive or bus or train ride away. I rode a bike thru the string of Italian Riviera towns neighboring Ventimgilia and none seemed that interesting - the Nice area however has so many neat day trips - Nice itself of course having lots to do and see - but hill towns like Vence; St Paul-de-Vence and seaside gems like Antibes and Cannes and its famous beach.

For info on trains that go up and down the coast and beyond to Italy check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. Thello trains are currently the only trains to do direct Nice to Genoa - www.thello.com - beyond that check www.trenitalia.com for discounted tickets if you book far enough in advance to get those limited in number discounted ducats. Booking early saves a lot of money over walk up fares but those tickets are train-specific and I think cannot be changed nor refunded at that price at least.

I'd base somewhere near Nice or have a longish commute each day - now if just into beaches then Ventimiglia may be neat though its beach IMe is not as neat as those between Nice and Cannes. Nice itself if a nice town to stay in with a wide range of accommodations.

sandralist

I prefer the food in Italy, but I might pick a prettier or bigger town than Ventimiglia. Prettier would be Bordighera, and bigger would San Remo.

If you are planning to spend most of your time, however, touring sights inside France, then it will be easier if you just stay in France rather than keep crossing the border, which may no longer be a border without checks and delays.

pariswat

Vintimiglia is at least several notches below French Riviera.

thursdaysd

I visited Ventimiglia once. Have no interest in going back, although the Botanical Garden was OK. Nice is an infinitely better base.

PalenQ

Vintimiglia is at least several notches below French Riviera.>

looks do not tell everything - what Ventimiglia looks like is real Italy - shabby to some but old-world to others. Not a good base for tghe French Riviera as explained above by several but a rather ordinary Italian beach resort town - parts of Nice could be called shabby too.

PalenQ

for those staying in the ritzy French Riviera who would like a taste of Italy can day trip by train to Ventimiglia - especially nice on market days- every day but Sunday I think:

https://www.google.com/search?q=vent...HddnCJAQsAQIMg

bvlenci

<< ...beyond that check www.trenitalia.com for discounted tickets if you book far enough in advance to get those limited in number discounted ducats. >>

Almost all the trains on the route between Ventimiglia to Genova are regional trains, which never have any discounts but are always very cheap. There are a few Intercity trains, which do have discounts, but the savings aren't spectacular. I'd just buy the tickets when you need them. Even the Intercity trains usually have some discounts left right up to the day of travel.

yonderbound

Hi,

Ventimiglia is a quaint and simple border town. It's definitely cheaper than Nice and the coffee is way better that the ones you'll get in the neighboring French towns.

Which parts of Italy and France are you planning to see? If you want to focus on Monaco, Cannes and St. Tropez then Nice is more accessible, Promenade des Anglais will be right in front of you too so if you're a big fan, I suggest you stay there instead. It's a busy but entertaining place, with lots of bars by the beach so you can enjoy a glass of rose after walking aroung.

You can easily move around the French Riviera through SNCF, trains tend to be delayed though, but you can check them in the website.

Hope this helps. And hope you have a great time exploring Cote d'Azure!

PalenQ

Almost all the trains on the route between Ventimiglia to Genova are regional trains, which never have any discounts but are always very cheap. There are a few Intercity trains, which do have discounts>

There are at least 3 daily EC trains Nice-Ville to Genoa and Milan - Thello trains that do have I believe a large different between full-fare and discounted ticket prices. Check www.thello.com - these trains will save a couple of hours over regional or IC trains to Milan a bit less to Genoa and are a lot more modernand comfy IME and also require advance seat reservations.

partymine

Thanks to everyone , I am going by car , and saw a big difference between hotel prices , and usually french hotels do not offer breakfast included , as well as parking , so the idea was to stay in ventimiglia as a base and travel to Menton , Nice , Antibes and Grasse .Maybe you could help me in this matter .
Thanks again

PalenQ

re-consider the car if going to all the places you mention, which are easily reached by train- parking can be hard to find and expensive and if in summer IME of a couple of car trips there then the whole area can be gridlocked.

The coast trains - the Cote d'Azur Metro as I call it - goes up and down the coast incessantly and at times between Mention and Nice right along a pristine sea coast - roads are busy and higher up.

Even to get to the iconic hill towns like St-Paul-de-Vence is a snap - buses go from train stations. Driving can really be hellish in high season = opther times tolerable but still not needed - I'd rather hop the train and get off in say Menton or Nice and head right to sightseeing rather than foraging for a parking place.

thursdaysd

Nice is a much better base than Ventimiglia - at Ventimiglia you are at the far end of a string of worthwhile sights. Nice is nearer the middle. And I agree with PalenQ, avoid the gridlock and parking fees by taking the train.

Michael

<i>Even to get to the iconic hill towns like St-Paul-de-Vence is a snap - buses go from train stations</i>

Yes and no. Saint-Paul-de-Vence is one worthwhile stop, mainly for the Fondation Maeght, but the bus stops frequently so that it takes an hour or more to get there. So you'll get to see that, but not Vence and the Matisse Chapel (a major attraction) because the bus schedule will not allow it unless you are very lucky and catch a bus within five minutes of your arrival at the Saint-Paul bus stop. That was our experience, and we missed Vence. In other words, going by car is more efficient that taking the bus.

PalenQ

I took a bus in August from Nice to Vence - yes slow-going because of gridlocked traffic it seemed mainly - and then did a lovely few-mile walk down thru bucolic countryside and forests to the4 Maeght Foundation, just outside the walls of Saint-Paul-de-Vence - much better than a bus ride on a busy road and if you just wanted to see the Maeght Foundation - yes it is nice if into art - you could then forego mobbed St-Paul-de-Vence and board the bus right near there.
Cars may be better for the few hill towns folks like to go to - like Eze (for the views otherwise sadly overrun with bus groups - perfume factories are Ersatz and just shells to sell to tourists - Grasse is a really neat old regional town with the real deal in perfume factorties - it is easily reached by train from any place along the coastal train line.

Cars are a waste of time and money if just going to places along the coastal rail line - absolutely no advantage - the rails parallel the coastal road - cars are great for going to hill towns or inland areas or the corniche roads but overall for OP plans definitely not the best way of getting to those towns, at least in the tourist season.

I had a car there one August because I drove down from northern France and it was a complete hassle driving anywhere - I left it in the camping and took public transportation everywhere.

even to go to the hinterlands of the area of Provence the narrow-gauge "Ligne Digne" - official Chemins de Fer de Provence, is an excellent way to do this - go up to Annot for example - a sleepy regional town way WAY different from the Cote d'Azur and then perhaps do a short walk on footpaths between stations and return to Nice.

This is not a fancy tourist train but one mainly for locals and quite bumpy at times when I last rode it:

https://www.google.com/search?q=chem...HafWAJoQsAQIGw

another great scenic train ride (apart from Nice to Ventimiglia, largely along a pristine coast) is Nice to Sospel, a main line that spirals up the Alps-Maritimes from Nice - Sospel is another neat regional town with a famous fort if I recall correctly.

Public transportation is so so great along the Cote d'Azur and into the hinterlands of this area of Provence to boot.

partymine

Thanks , I am travelling from April 19 till the 22 , is it a very busy season , or not ?