StuDudley

Last time we were in Nice for an extended stay (2 weeks). We used a bus to get us to Rothchilds & Greek place, Villefranche, St Jean Cap Ferrat, and Menton. We used a train to get us to Antibes. Then we rented a car to get us to the Nice Hinterlands.

Nice Hinterlands

Trip 1 - La Turbie, Roquebrun - perched village, Gorbio, Ste Agnes, Peille, Peillon. We parked near the bus stop for one of these villages (maybe Gorbio), and there was a bus schedule posted with 2 stops every day. One was in the morning & another in the evening. So you have to visit it for almost a full day if you choose to take a bus to Gorbio. It's only a 1/2 to 3/4 hr visit. Obviously, you can't visit all 6 of these villages in one outing if you rely on a bus to get you there.

Trip 2. St Jeannet, Carros village, Bonson up on a cliff, Le Broc, Gilette, Haute Cagnes. These are mostly very small villages with infrequent bus schedules. Cagnes is not Haute Cagnes.

Trip 3 Gorge de Vesubie, St Martin Vesubie (larger village), Bollene-Vesubie, Lucarene, L'Escarene, Sospel (larger village).

Trip 4. Villars sur Var, Touet sur Var, Entrevaux and the view of this village from the opposite hillside, Annot, fabulous Gorges Du Cians & Gorge de Daluis, Roubion. We stayed in a gite in Entrevaux for a week and enjoyed this region quite a bit. The two Gorges are more interesting than the popular Gorge du Verdon, IMO. This area is 1 hr from Nice.

Trip 5. St Paul, Vence, Tourrettes sur Loup. The Loup loop - Gourdon, Pont du Loup, le Bar sur Loup.

Pal. How many of these villages in the Nice Hinterland did you visit by bus?

Stu Dudley

PalenQ

The average traveler with limitd time don't have time to see all those villages. but by bus I did do Vence, St-Paul, Tourettes-sur-Loup, Grasse, Eze.

I have driven around but in summer was a nightmare.

Folks spending week or so in area will love having a car but for someone only there 3 days?

Plenty of places to visit by bus and train.

StuDudley

St Paul, Vence, Tourettes, Gourdon, and the Loup River gorge are all very close to each other. Did you visit all these places in one day by bus?

We were in Nice with a car the second week of June 2014, and didn't experience any traffic that had a negative affect our driving plans. Just the usual workday traffic, but we did a "reverse" commute out of Nice in the morning, and also for the afternoon return to Nice. We stayed near the Negresco and purchased a weekly pass in one of the nearby parking garages.

Stu Dudley

PalenQ

No and i was long ago but I did the loop from Nice to Turettes to Grasse.

but you miss the point the average tourist in Nice at most visits St-Paul and Eze and a few coastal towns. And for them the bus is great and trains along the coast so frequent. You are writing for folks spending many days there not someone just there a few days like OP and most tourists -no need to rent a car to do day trips by bus.

StuDudley

I always advise people that if they will only be in Nice for 3 days (4 nights) or less, and Nice is their only destination in this region before/after taking a plane or train to/from elsewhere - don't rent a car and only make 1-2 trips outside of Nice by public transportation. But for many people, Nice is not their only destination in the region. We've visited Nice at least 12 times and anywhere from 3 nights to 15 nights. We have always combined it with a visit to the Alps, Provence, Italy etc. Often, it is our first or last destination because there are convenient flight connections to & from Nice. In these cases, if a person will be in Nice 3 or more full days, I advise them to pick up a car on their last few days, or keep the car they already have for their first few days - and explore the Nice Hinterland by car.

It seems that Laura will be in Nice for 4 nights and will arrive by car. She even suggested that they keep the car for 1 day to visit the area around Nice. My suggestion for that one day is the Trip 5 mentioned above - which I call the Loup Loop. Once they are out of the Vence sprawl, the scenery is gorgeous. Most people stop at various lookouts and villages along the way to admire the views. I don't think this is possible by bus. A trip to only St Paul and/or Vence would be a disappointing day for me because I am very familiar with what "other stuff" there is to explore in the region. We've stayed in a Gite in St Jeannet on 2 trips for 4 weeks total and in Entrevaux for 1 week and Nice for perhaps 6 weeks total.

Stu Dudley

Judy

Our last trip in September 2016 we rented a villa in St Jean Cap Ferrat. We also rented a car but opted to use Uber when not using public transportation. It was efficient and we found it to be cheaper than using it at home. It was great not to have to worry about traffic, navigation, and wine consumption with a meal.

If we return to the Cote d'Azur we will not rent a car.

StuDudley

My wife's Shutteffly book for our 2014 trip to Nice & Provence.

stududley.shutterfly.com/28

Because of Shutterfly software problems, you will need to cut & past this link, and captions and headings are often missing or truncated. And there is no longer the "Full Page" capability.

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

Uber is a car. IMO, there is little difference between you driving a rented car, and you renting a driver to drive a Uber car. There is a big difference between a public transportation bus in the Nice Hinterlands and a car in the Nice Hinterland. I would love to have a Uber car take us to Entrevaux and the beautiful canyons in that area.

Stu Dudley

PalenQ

The train des Peignes is a good way to reach the likes of Entrevaux and Annot and many other sleepy Provence hinterland villages. And you can hike between stations. Officially called the Chemins de Fer de Provence it leaves from a station next to Nice-Ville main station and is a narrow-gauge train thasnakes thru river valleys in a remote area- good way for folks without cars to see a completely different side of this part of Provence.

StuDudley

Here is what the Chemins de Fer de Provence schedule would look like for visiting Entrevaux and Annot.

- Depart Nice at 9:25 and arrive in Entrevaux at 10:46 (I assume not many people would want to take the 6:55 departure from Nice)
- Walk 15 mins from the train station to the bridge to Entrevaux
- Visit Entrevaux for 1 1/4 hrs. Probably not enough time for a sit-down lunch (too early, anyway) or climb to the Vauban place high up on the cliff
- Walk 15 mins back to the train station
- Catch 12:38 train to Annot that arrives at 14:49
- Walk 20 mins to Annot
- Visit Annot for 3/4 hr
- Walk 20 mins back to the train station.
- Take 16:13 train back to Nice that arrives at 17:45
- Or take the 19:23 train to Nice that arrives at 21:00

Assuming that the traveler wants to get back to the hotel before 19:00, that's a 1 1/4 visit to Entrevaux and a 3/4 hr visit to Annot. Assuming the rider sits on the correct side of the train & has a good seat for a view - there are some nice views along the way. But no excursions into the canyons or visits to the villages of Villars, Touet, or Puget Theniers. This is mainly a train trip, IMO.

Stu Dudley

PalenQ

Yes it's the train trip that is really sweet and again for folks sans cars a great way to see the hinterlands of Provence. I took train 2 hours from Nice to Annot - walked around and then did a nice hike back along the railway to another station. Of course cannot hit as many places as with a car but still a great train ride -I enjoyed watching locals get on and off - not a spiffy tourist train but a real local railway.

Laura_A

I need to purchase a travel guide...do you suggest Rick Steves ‘Provence & French Riviera’ or another? I suppose the e-book would be best, so that it will be easier to bring.

PalenQ

I'd suggest also the Michelin Green Guide to Provence - one of best on giving historical info.

StuDudley

Rick Steves books on France are underwhelming. Get the Green Guide. Did I sent you my 35 page itinerary???

Stu Dudley

StCirq

Rick Steves can be good for first-timers, but IMO he is shallow and doesn't give much info about the really interesting places - he tends to focus on the tourist-crazy sites (many of which he has created as tourist-crazy sites). Michelin Green Guides are the best, but Cadogan (I honestly don't know if they have one for this area but I love their guides) is usually brilliant. I also like the Blue Guides, and Lonely Planet is worth looking at. You don't have to buy them (or buy secnd-hand - guidebooks are always out of date anyway); you can get them at a library.

PalenQ

Steves' books are too prescriptive to me - nice for someone who wants to see the places Rick thinks you should but no a comprhensive guide like Michelin Green Guides or just about any major guidebook.

Plenty of info online to print off or get on your phone as you go.

Laura_A

[QUOTE=StuDudley;16676283]Rick Steves books on France are underwhelming. Get the Green Guide. Did I sent you my 35 page itinerary???

Yes Stu, thanks very much!

TDudette

I agree that Steves has good info for people who are new to an area. StC, I have to disagree a bit though--his cities ARE the ones most folks want to see and would be touristy with or without him! I will agree that too many people have glombed onto some of his specific areas (like Rue Cler in Paris) rather than diy-ing it.

Laura_A, you can get a bus from the Avignon station to AIx. Below is my TR--Aix is in the middle of a Paris trip--and you can read the places we visited from Aix and my comments about driving from our hotel. Aix's ring road was daunting to me but with GPS, it might be easier these days:

Trip Report: A Provence Sandwich

We also made Nice a base one time and were able to take trains to most of the interesting places along the coast.

ssander

When taking day-trips, one thing you should consider: If renting a car, the driver doesn't get to see as much when you are on the move. He/she has to watch the road.

From Avignon, we took day-trips using train/guided service (Pont du Gard, Marseilles, etc.) and also rented a car for a couple of days to visit some places that were not so readily accessible by public transportation (Roussillon, Abbaye N.D. de Senanque, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgueetc., etc.)

ssander

TDudette

Agree with ssander about driving. DH and I got a good van tour from Aix to the 3 places you mention plus Lourmarin and Gordes. A second one to Marseilles and Cassis.