first time to Cote d'azur, where to go?
 

my parents and I are planning a ten day holiday in July and I am spending 4 of them in Paris. I would like to visit the french Riviera and I am not sure where to go. I don't want any of the commercial places.<BR>Any suggestions??<BR>thanx.

A good advice: don't go to the C&ocirc;te d'Azur in high season. You'll regret it. Traffic jams everywhere...

hi<BR>Would you suggests somewhere else in France? we are still in very early stages of planning, we're open for suggestions.

Consider Provence. You can take the TGV speed train to Avignon, only a three hour trip. Provence is full of charming villages with interesting markets, etc. It is rural and unlike Paris. You would need a rental car to fully explore it. St. Remy de Provence is our favorite village. For a small city Aix-en-Provence, that can be reached by TGV, would be the choice. <BR><BR>France is very crowded in July and I agree with the earlier poster that Cote d'Azur would be a rather poor choice in July.

I have to disagree with the posters who warned against going to the Cote d'Azur in July. We've gone there quite frequently in July, and as long as you're willing to use public transportation to get around, it's not much of a problem. Would need to know more of your interests, budget, age, etc. in order to advise on where to go.

Was in the Cote D'Azure in July and loved it! Rented a convertible and drove from Monaco to St.Tropez. Based in Cannes. It was hot but we love hot weather, it was crowded but we had a ball. Going back there this June for 3 weeks.

The French Riviera is a mob scene in July...but there are a couple of nice spots that are a whole lot less crowded. My favorite is St Jean Cap de Ferret. The Royal Riviera is a beautiful hotel there, albeit very expensive.

take the train to nice and use it as a base ...there are tons of lovely towns to visit from there, many of which you can get to on public transportation...<BR><BR>normandy is also a lovely area, but you should really have a car for that

I agree with the poster who recommended St. Jean Cap de Ferrat. It's a good location, only about 6 miles from Nice, got a lively port with good restaurants, boutiques, galleries, and beautiful cliffside walk along the water that hugs the road of the old villas. From there, it would be easy to take a bus into Nice, or hop over to the train station next door in Beaulieu and continue on to Monaco. Some hotel recommendations in the moderate range:<BR>Hotel Clair Logis, which is set in a garden of semitropical flowers; or Hotel Brise Marine, an old villa on top of the hillside.<BR>Another town that might interest you is VilleFranche, 4 miles out of Nice, and on a huge bay. There, I would recommend the Hotel Welcome, which is very close to the port. If you want a room overlooking the water, ask for one on the 5th floor. From VilleFranche, there are excellent train connections to other towns on the Riveria.

If you &quot;don't want any of the commercial places,&quot; you cannot want the C&ocirc;te d'Azur, which is commerical to the max for the most part, especially in July, when it's packed. <BR><BR>If you are genuinely wanting to experience non-commercial parts of France in the high season, you have lots of choices, including parts of Provence, the Dordogne, Burgundy, Alsace-Lorraine, the Pyr&eacute;nn&eacute;es, the Loire, Normandy, Brittany....the list is endless. They will all have lots of tourists in July, but won't be as jam-packed as the Riviera. It's up to you to decide what kind of atmosphere you are looking for. France is a tremendously varied country.

If you decide against the Riveria, you could check out La Rochelle, a very lively historic port town on the Atlantic coast, about an hour and a half north of Bordeaux. You can easily get there on a TGV from Paris ( about three hours). La Rochelle has an old town that often has summer festivals and entertainment. In fact, it's the host to a film festival that begins in early July. From La Rochelle, you could visit Ile de Re,where many Parisians go for their annual August holiday, or head down to Bordeaux by train and see the St. Emilion area. <BR>As you can see, there are many possiblities. Good luck!

La Rochelle is a very nice place, indeed. <BR>But, if you prefere the Medideranean, why wouldn't you go to the Roussillon, the west-side, near Spain. I prefere that region over the C�te d'Azur, because there is much more to see, a lot of history, the Pyr�n�es at one side and also a beautiful see at the other side, much wilder nature and... very important too: normal people!