Christina

This coming December my best friend and I will be traveling through Italy, the French Riviera and Spain. We will be starting from Florence, and since I am in love with Nice and Cannes we will be heading along the coast to Spain. I imagine that we will be visiting Barcelona and Madrid as we travel through Spain. We will be there for three weeks and will both be on a rather tight budget as we are college students. Any advice? Interesting cities between Cannes and Spain? Anything a little off the beaten path? Great restaraunts? Fun clubs, bars and music scene? Any cheap hotels to take advantage of? Any idea what the weather will be like? I'm just looking for any advice that any of you may have. Thanks so much!

Christina

I don't have too much specific advice, but the western part of France between Marseille and Spain is a lot cheaper, less crowded, and has better beaches than the Riviera, so I'm sure you'll have a good time. I have heard that there is a really nice hostel in Cap d'Ail where you might want to stay--it's in an old villa. YOu can find a list of all French hostels by area in www.gaf.tm.fr, and even make reservations in some.<BR><BR>Montpellier is supposed to be a fun, pleasant city with a large younger/student population due to the university and other schools there, you might want to stop there a bit. It's very near the coast and on the mail rail line.

Anthony

Christina,<BR><BR>Here are some places between Cannes and Spain that you might find of interest. You can refer to a map but the path I have shown goes from east to west. One problem you face is closures. By December, some of these suggestions may be closed. I have never traveled in Provence in the winter--it is such a good place, however, you may find interesting little bistros, etc. throughout it.<BR><BR>-St. Paul de Vence-Meaght Foundation-wonderful site of modern art.<BR>-Nearby,Vence-Matisse Chapel<BR>-St. Remy-Wednesday is market day (8 to 1 p.m.)inexpensive hotel near town is "L"Amandiere". You can walk in to town for dinner. Good restaurant in town is "Gousse d'Ail".<BR>-Collioure near the Spanish border. A quaint Catalan village with nice shops on the sea. "Casa Pairal" is a nice hotel. "Neptune" good if a bit pricey restaurant. <BR><BR>Good luck.

hobis42

I had the wonderful opportunity to backpack across Europe when I was a student as well - Florence is awesome, I recommend staying in a 1 or 2 star hotel - there aren't many hostels in Italy at all. The only hostel we found was in Rome and it was sooooo far away from the city it sucked. My best advice to you is to not have your itinerary too detailed - if you have a euro rail pass (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

hobis42

I had the wonderful opportunity to backpack across Europe when I was a student as well - Florence is awesome, I recommend staying in a 1 or 2 star hotel - there aren't many hostels in Italy at all. The only hostel we found was in Rome and it was sooooo far away from the city it sucked. My best advice to you is to not have your itinerary too detailed - if you have a euro rail pass (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)then I suggest staying a few extra days where you want, and if you don't like a place, take off. We ended up staying in Florence for 7 days just because it was so awesome and Pisa only took an afternoon. Don't know much about Spain... have a great time, and don't try and pack all of the "must sees" into your vacation. Instead of going to the Louvre, we ended up sipping tea at a little cafe on the Seine, and you know what? I don't care that I never saw the mona lisa because that was the best afternoon that we had in Paris.

Christina

Thanks so much for all the great advice.