Cote d'Azure in November - where to go
 

I'm thinking of spending a few days in Nice in November - probably about four nights. I think I'll have about ten days total and plan to spend the first and last 3 in Paris, flying to Nice for the few days in the middle.

First question - I looked up the weather history and know about what temps to expect but I'm wondering what the "atmosphere" will be like. Will there be potted flowers blooming like there are in the summer? I know there are palm trees and that it doesn't freeze there,but I'm wondering about things like fountains (do they shut them off ?), boats (do they remain in the harbors all winter ? ). Stuff like that.

Second question - I know I'd like to see Eze and Villefranche-sur-Mer. Do they each take the better part of a day to visit or can I expect to do more? Could a quick stop in Monaco be combined with one of them? I'd just basically want to "see" it, not go to the casino or fancy restaurant or anything.

What about Antibes - how easy is it to get there?

My main interests are photography and soaking up atmosphere. Just wandering, poking into shops, shooting pictures. I'd be alone for this part of the trip so no long meals and probably not much in the way of museum going.

So, any and all opinions welcome. Thanks

You will be able to visit Eze and Monaco in one day. I did it when I was a student some years ago. November in my opinion is a good time to go. I have even been in the French Riviera in January and had a good time. The summer crowds are gone.
Antibes, just catch the train from Nice and you are in Antibes in short order.
Monaco Ville and Monte Carlo are small places; we saw most of everything including lunch and the casino in less than 6 hours.

Thanks Franto. From my research it certainly looks like you could do two towns in the same day trip but you never know about the logistics of public transportation until you get there.

What specifically did you do in Monaco Ville and Monte Carlo. My guidebooks seem to talk mostly about dining and casino, neither of which is important to me.

Hi Isabel, Do you want to see Eze-sur-Mer or Eze Village? Probably you are thinking of Eze Village, the walled city off the middle corniche. There's not much to see/do in Eze-sur-Mer. Eze village does not have a train station so you need to take a bus from Nice. Getting there and back by bus and then going to Monaco in the same day with short daylight hours may not be possible unless there is a bus directly from Eze to Monaco.

Monaco has an exotic garden (as does Eze Village) and the palace which you can only tour when the family is not in residence. I can't remember anything else but then it was a while ago that I visited Monaco.

One place I enjoyed on the coast was Villa Kerylos. There's also a nice walk along the coast from the house to St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (about 30 minutes). Lots of photo ops here.

http://www.villa-kerylos.com/en/kerylos/

Isabel....we enjoyed the nearby Ephrussi (Rothschild). I think there is bus transportation from Cap Ferrat, although we had a car and parking is tight. Photo ops at Eph. are primarily on the handsome grounds and gardens.

Nice itself has a good deal to offer; the Saleya Market is one of the best we've experienced in the south of France...also, Antibes is a good suggestion, especally without a car... since there is that train from Nice mentioned above by Franto. with four nights, check out the transportation to St. Paul de Vence (bus from Nice, I believe)...the Maeght Foundation museum (interior and exterior) is uniquely outstanding, and just strolling the village is appealing also. Cannes at that time of year might be fun for you, too. We were last there in '06 two weeks before the big event, and it was a kick.
Enjoy your visit.

stu t.

You can find out the logistics of public transportation BEFORE you get there.

For NICE <-> EZE Vilage, you can take #82 or #112 from Nice's Gare Routière) for €1 one way. On this section, both Ligne d'Azur and TAM accept a Ligne d'Azur ticket. You can also pay cash to the driver.

- Ligne d'Azur #82 (Gare Routière - Plateau de la Justice) http://www.lignedazur.com/horaires_l...asp?rub_code=6

or

- TAM #112 (Nice-Beausoleil) http://www.cg06.fr/fr/servir-les-hab...s-et-horaires/

EZE village <-> Monaco. TAM #112 serves 6 times a day. It is also €1 one way, BUT a Ligne d'Azur ticket is NOT valid. Pay the driver when you get on.

Monaco <-> Nice. TAM #100 (Nice - Menton) provides a frequent service. It is also €1 one way, BUT a Ligne d'Azur ticket is NOT valid. Pay the driver when you get on.

Villefranche-sur-Mer, Cap Ferrat, etc are also accessible by Ligne d'Azur buses.

One gotcha with the Ligne d'Azur is same as the SNCF; US credit cards don't work at vending machines. On buses, I can use bills and coins to buy any kind of tickets from the driver. But if I want to use a Nice tram (which I used often), I either use coins to buy tickets from the platform vending machine (no bills) or visit the Ligne d'Azur office at Place Massena to buy multi passes using a bill.

Also, when I land at Nice airport, I always use a coin changer machine in or outside the baggage claims area to convert bills into coins to build up sufficient inventory of €1 and €2 coins

Isabel--we went to Eze-sur-Mer and Eze village hiking up Nietsche's trail. But we were young military types at the time. We had lunch in Eze ville (Chateau de la Chevre D'Or) and took the bus to the train station and continued to Monaco. I recommend dinner at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo.
Monaco Ville: we saw the changing of the guard at the palace--being military, we were drawn to that. We then went to the aquarium--a must see.
Monte Carlo: We did dinner at the Hotel de Paris and went to the casino.

Château de la Chèvre d'Or is closed during winter, already from sometime in November. Another luxurious place, Château Eza seems to be open longer. The tropical garden (with magnificent view) offered a haf price entrance for the low season.

As Grg above mentioned, after Eze-Village you can take a bus diect to Monaco, no need to return to Nice (or first Monaco, then to Eze-village).

Thanks for the replys. Greg I'll check out those links as soon as I get a minute, they look like they'll be very helpful.

As I said, I'll be alone for these few days and am not much for fine dining anyway, as long as the views are there I don't care much if some of the hotels/restaurants are closed. I was just wondering if everything was closed. Why is it I keep reading about the Cote d'Azure as a "winter holiday destination" if things close down in the winter?

I'm thinking of something like three and a half days/four nights and doing a day trip for part of each of the three full days. That would still give me four afternoon/evenings to explore Nice itself. Does that sound reasonable? It sounds like if I did Eze and Monaco it would be a fairly full day, but Villefranche and Antibes could be done in half days. And I'm still not at all sure I want to Monaco.

Thanks for the input.

Bkmk

Just returned from there last night.

Ran into some rain and a lot of overcast skies, which really disappointed from a photography POV.

Had a car so drove from Cannes where I was staying to Eze village. I got a 2 hour parking ticket and I covered most of Eze including the botanical gardens. Also hiked up the road about 1/3 of a mile to get shots of the village from NE.

Then I drove up to Turbie, didn't enter the trophee d'Auguste but got plenty of shots of it in about an hour.

Then went to Villa Ephrussi (got a combo ticket when I bought the ticket to the Eze Botanical Gardens, which saved money. There is a combo ticket for Villa Ephrussi and Villa Kerylos as well). Spent about 2 pr 2.5 hours there. Weather started out nice and then it got very windy. There was enough blue skies for awhile.

Then drove down by the lighthouse and walked some of the path. Really beautiful but by then it had gotten overcast. It was about 5 PM and i would have driven to Menton, which was about 45 minutes away. But without the sun I decided to head towards Nice instead. There was a lot of traffic getting out of Cap Ferrat and while stuck in traffic it started to pour.

Did some shopping and then took some pics of the old town at night.

I had actually visited Monaco to take some shots of the casino and the Hotel de Paris after sunset, some shots of the Rock from the other side of the port.

In the summer when the sun doesn't set until 8 PM or later you can hit Eze and Monaco easily and get plenty of the Mediterranean sun. Also, I tried not to reach Eze too early in the day because there seems to be a haze that obscures the sea views. OTOH it also gets crowded from noon on, especially when the tour buses arrive.

scrb - Do you have photos posted anywhere?

Not yet.

Will try to post a couple soon.