I am taking a trip to the French Riviera mid- September with a female friend and would love suggestions of where we should stay/visit if we only have 8 days and don't really want to rent a car or just lie on the beach every day. (We're from Miami, we can do that anytimeI)ha

We'd love to sightsee and wouldn't mind staying in more than one town the entire time. Where would you suggest we stay (cities) and which hotels would you recommend? We'll be flying into Nice and can fly out of anywhere. We love Italy so someone mentioned we should fly over to Verona/Lake Garda for a few days since we've never been to that part of the County, but thinking maybe we should just stay in France.

I look forward to any suggestions you may have.

Thanks,
D

Having been to the South of France 3 times- 4th coming up in May- We rent an apartment in old Nice for at least a week. It is very easy to get to all the cities on the train or buses.We rode them to Monaco, Taradeau,Cannes,St. Tropez(to boat)etc.
Nice seems to be central,and a great walking town.Old Nice is close to the tram which will take you from the airport and to the train station. The tram was just across the street in old Nice.
PS I live in the Florida Keys and also don't want to lie on the beach!

Old Nice is a great location to stay in if you don't mind a fair amount of noise at night and in the early morning. We prefer the area around the Parc Prince Albert and last month rented this apartment:

http://www.go-nice.com/avenue_de_sue...ty_details.asp

It couldn't have been better: close to everything, including the pedestrian rue Masséna and the Place Masséna. Within 2 short blocks are a SPAR market, two bakeries, a pharmacy, and any number of cafés and restaurants.

I agree if you don't drive, Nice should be the choice as everything you might need is available. I don't drive but my late husband did and if he were still alive, i'd return to the Colombre D'or in St Paul de Vence if only for the two days we could afford.

My husband and I are going to Nice in April for a week. We booked an apartment through Nice Pebbles and intend on using public transport to visit the hilltop villiages, Monaco and San Remo.

We have also booked to do a market/cooking class with Rosa Jackson which we are really looking forward to.

I vouch for Nice as home base as well. Last time we stayed in a villa in Antibes and it was a real pain. We didn't have a car and ended up paying over 500 euros just to get to and from public transportation. In Feb we'll be staying in an apartment rented through Ownersdirect.com in walking distance to everything. If you base yourselves in Nice, you can get to any of the nearby cities for day trips by bus or train. Nice has a wonderful flea market with antiques on Mondays. The boat ride to Monaco is very scenic and the train to Ventimiglio is a fun day trip as well. Enjoy your trip.

Also suggest you write to [email protected] and ask him for his South of France itinerary and his recommendations. He knows a lot about the area.