Cannes/Nice or Nice/Provence? help
 

hey guys,
still tryin to decide on where to go! Ideally I'd luv to see Provence + Nice. seems as if cannes may be all glits and glam which I don't really have the money to get that experience :-)
please tell me if my perception of cannes is wrong.

If we fly into nice stay for 2 days. can we take public transportation to provence for a 3 day stay? If so how long would this take. is the trip feasible without a car? We are traveling end of may early june.

would like to explore some of the villages, great food, architecture and get in a wee bit of beach time. any advice is appreciated.

Well I have really only been to Nice but IMO there is plenty to do in Nice for 5 days - easy daytrips to other Riviera towns and also up into some villages in the nearby mountains. See what the other posters say - I had no desire to visit Cannes or Monte Carlo - we stayed in Nice, went to Antibes for a day, that was a lovely old town. Esay to do alot in the area by train or bus. Great food, several nice art museums, late May or early June should be quite pleasant.

thx

We've spent 32 weeks vacationing in the Cote d'Azur & Provence.

I agree with suec1 100%.

There are plenty of cute little perched villages in & around Nice. No need to consume time to travel to Provence if you only have 5 days.

If you want to be real active and explore some remote villages that see few tourists, rent a car for 2 days & head north into the Alps. If this seems to interest you, let me know & I'll suggest some village in addition to the "top 5" (St Paul, Vence, Eze, Tourrettes sur Loup, Gourdon, etc)

Stu Dudley

clarify - that's 2 day-trips from Nice, not overnighters.

Stu Dudley

Nice and Cannes are both in Provence, the eastern part of it--so you'll see it no matter where you go. I'd head to Nice and then take a look at some of the small villages that abound in the region: St-Paul-de-Vence, Vence, Valbonne, Mougins, Cabri, and the old town of Grasse. If time allows and you like mountain driving, head up to Tourrettes-sur-Loup (a very pretty village known for its artisans) and then on to Gourdon.

Thanks so much for the info guys.
So is it as possible do this without a car. just public transportation. I doubt either of us will be comfortable driving :-(

>>I doubt either of us will be comfortable driving <<

Break the ice - give it a try and then decide. If this will be your one and only trip to Europe, then perhaps don't try to drive. Otherwise, see if it's really 'comfortable", which will open up a lot more opportunities for you.

Lot's of others have driven in Europe!!!

Stu Dudley

ok thanks dudley we'll try and be brave :-)
any advice on hotel & plage beau rivae in nice. I searched teh forum but haven't seen any post about it. It's on 24, Rue Saint Francois de paule, is this a central location?

thx

perfect location !!!! They own one of the private beach concessions also.

Do you have my 27 page itinerary for the Cote d'Azur & Provence. If not, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll send you one on the reply e-mail. I've sent it to over 800 Fodors people.

Stu Dudley

We found the Beau Rivage sterile and the employees unhelpful when there were problems. Rooms are down in grey, brown, and white, not exactly the colorful feel of Provence. The location is good, however, but so is that of the Mercure Promenade des Anglais, which looks out over the Mediterranean from behind the Promenade. The Beau Rivage has no views, and outside rooms on St-François-de-Paule are quite noisy.

just back and the trip was absolutely fabulous! although I need a vacation from my vacation. we did rent a car and the driving wasn't difficult at all and it let us discover a bunch of hidden treasures. I should have listen to "underhill"I wasn't impressed by Beau Rivage at all. the only good thing was the location. on the contrary our hotel in Cannes (Hotel Des Gabres)was great!!!

melodious,

So how did you like Cannes? Personally, I didn't care for it at all, but loved everywhere we went on daytrips from there. We drove too, it was easy.