zago_krebs

Dear friends,
IŽll be going to Cannes next November (almost next week!), since my husband have a meeting to attend there (and IŽll just trail along...). I donŽt know the hotel yet, but would like to receive tips of what to do and to see. I wonŽt have a car, so itŽll be basically train, bus, or walking shoes. Daytrips are also welcome. Thanks in advance!

Debora

zago_krebs

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TimS

Train and bus service is frequent and cheap along the coast. You can get to hilltop villages by bus, but service is less frequent. What are your interests? Go to a library and read some guidebooks on Provence and the Cote d'Azur (French Riviera) and you'll find lots of suggestions that will match your interests. If you want to buy a guidebook, I recommend either the Lonely Planet Provence & the Cote d'Azur or Rick Steves Provence & the French Riviera.

sasha_g

Hi Zago,
Been to Cannes this summer & based out of Cannes, did a few day trips along the Cote d'Azur.

Cannes, itself, is a very small place - walkable - full of designer shops. Do visit Le Sequet - the closest thing to an "old town" in Cannes, overlooking the west end of the port. Very peaceful. And quite a refuge from the hustle & bustle of the main town (I was there in June, hence more so!)

Now for day trips.
Of course there's Nice. It's a 20-30 mins train ride from cannes. Right next to the station is the tourism office. You could walk to the old town & have a quiet lunch & take a stroll down the beach. You could also take Bus numbers 15, 17 or 22 to visit The Cimiez district from Nice, where there is a Matisse Museum.

From Cannes, you could take a 15 min. ferry ride to Les Iles De Lerins. There's a 19th Century Abbey building in the island of St-Honorat, which is worth visiting. (Do check, however, if the ferries ply in November).

Then, there's Monaco. A waste of time, really - with high rises & casinos..but you would be visiting a new country, so you could give it a try.

On the way back from Monaco, do drop off at Villefranche sur mer - which is a sleepy village with good sea food. Do check the train timings, though..we missed the last train & had to cab it back to Nice.

Then there's Mougins. Take Bus 600 from the bus stop, right next to Cannes station. Mougins is without doubt one of the most wonderful places to visit on the Côte d'Azur. Only 15 minutes from Cannes, this superb medieval village is set amongst pines, olives and cyprus trees.

Then, you could combine a day trip to St. Pauls Vence & Tourrettes-sur-Loup.

For St. Pauls' Vence, get down at Cagnes sur Mer & take Bus400. It's a fortified village - a bit touristic in summer - but again, worth a visit. You could carry on to Vence, another fortified village by the same bus, I think. But do check the bus timings, as they are few & far between.
From vence, take bus 510 to Tourrettes-sur-Loup.
Tourrettes is a beautiful medieval village perched on a narrow spur of land extending from very rocky hills, with the gorge of a small stream deep below one high wall of buildings.

Last but not the least, try Chemins de Fer de Provence. It's an old fashioned train journey from Nice to the villages of Entreveux & Annot (we only had time to do Entreveux) The journey is breathtaking & the village of Entreveux is nothing like I have seen before. Again, check the train timings, as you will need to catch the train back in time. There's a citadel in Entreveux, that's a thrill to climb (quite steep) but the view from the top is worth every sweat & tear.

Do a google search on all the places I have mentioned - there's enough & more info. out there.

And have a great time - I am sure you will love it.

sasha_g

Here's a few sites you could look at for the bus/train timings

The Chemins de Fer de Provence train journey:

http://www.trainprovence.com/pages/e...teractive.html

For Bus timings along the Cote d’Azur:

http://www.beyond.fr/travel/bus17.html
http://www.lignedazur.com/index.asp