The following pohots might give you some ideas, taken by me last November.

Villefranche-Sur-Mer
http://photobucket.com/albums/b388/k...%20Nov%202005/

Antibe
http://photobucket.com/albums/b388/k...%20Nov%202005/

Cap-Frerrat (La Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild) & Beaulieu-Sur-Mer
http://photobucket.com/albums/b388/k...%20Nov%202005/

Eze-Villages
http://photobucket.com/albums/b388/k...%20Nov%202005/

Forgot to say I was most impressed by Eze-Village (without S at the end)at my last trip though I loved all.

Yeah I want to see Eze too.

I had to pay for parking in Nice.

Maybe it's better in one of the smaller towns.

Even Cannes seems to have a lot of apt. complexes where parking may be on the premises?

But usually, these are away from the coast.

Aiz isn't that close to Nice. I think it's easily a few hours each way by car.

If you go to St. Paul de Vence, try to have lunch at the restaurant in HOTEL LE ST. PAUL. The hotel dates from the 16th century, and has a beautiful terrace overlooking the valley. The food was very good, too!

Excuse the typo! That should be "Aix" not "Aiz"!

Dunhill; don't go to Aix; it's too far for a 5 day trip, and there are so many things to do closer to Nice. Grasse is closer (and has the perfume factories to visit). Mougins is nice too; lots of good restaurants.
It's true, in my experience at least, that it's easier to park a car in Cannes than in Nice; just past the Martinez on the Croisette the parking is free. We go to the beach in Cannes in July and park for free on the Croisette.

If you are planning to spend a day in Villefranche, consider taking the train there and walking back around the headland to Nice. We did this on a walking trip and you can see that place - Villa Euphrenie(?) - with the nice gardens on the way back. It is not very far - perhaps 8 kms around the coast track back to Nice.

Thanks, dunhilldk, for posting this question...it was mine as well. My husband and I will be in Cannes for 3 nights for a business trip at the end of April. We'll then have a free weekend before flying home. After reading this post and others, we plan on moving to Nice for two nights.

Thanks, kappa, for the awesome pictures. I assume it will take us a day to see Nice. If we only have ONE other day to see other towns, would you all recommend Eze? We will not have a car but are comfortable taking trains, buses, or hiking.

I will do a search for hotels in Nice...does anyone on this thread have suggestions?

Thanks

We spent a week in Nice at Christmas and visited several places in the area. We absolutely loved it!

Here's our travel album with notes:
http://rozault.com/riviera2005

We stayed at the Hotel Windsor, recommended above in this thread. It was a good value, if you don't care about a sea view (which comes at a premium price).

Our favorite hotel in Nice is the La Pérouse, where Raoul Dufy once lived and painted.

As for visiting one or two of the hill villages, ask your hotel for directions to catch a bus that goes to St-Paul-de-Vence and on to Vence. Both are well worth a visit; St-Paul is a medieval village, while Vence is part modern town and part lovely old village. You could make a day of it and have a fine time.

If you're going up to St. Paul de Vence, don't forget Fondation Maeght.

topping for wanderlust125