French Riviera Help
 

I'll be traveling to St Paul for a wedding mid/end of Sept.
We're planning on using our hotel there as a "home base" and making day trips for the extra days we're there.
We'd like to go to Cannes one day and Monaco another day via train.
Any insight as to how difficult or easy this may be. Any tips or suggestions?
It was suggested I perhaps rent a car, but I don't feel comfortable driving in a country I've never been to nor speak the language.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

I believe the closest train station would be in Nice which can easily take you from Nice west to Cannes or east to Monaco. There are also a number of stops between Nice and Monaco that you might find of interest if you wished to get off and visit. Believe you can buy a daypass which allows you to get-on/get-off during that given day.

As to driving, you'd have to check the price for car rental if less than 1wk (cheapest rate) - but driving is a breeze, all the signs are in English and we had no trouble understanding directions (the one time we needed it, even though we don't speak French) all you have to do is just "watch the hands."

Thanks very much for your response.
I've never been to europe before so I'm a little concerned about the ease of getting around.

It's great to have a little advice from someone who is obviously familiar with things.

My God. You've never been to Europe before and you get to go to St Paul as your first trip??? <b>Lucky Charles!!!</b> Ok, Charles, I spent my honeymoon in St Paul and have been there 3 or 4 times since. The nearest train station to St Paul is in Cagnes sur Mer. You must take a cab to the station (about a 10-15 min drive at most). You can get the driver who takes you (the hotel will arrange a taxi) to pick you up at a specific time.

If you're a confident driver at home in NYC, I see no reason not to rent a car though. The only big difference is they do use round abouts. While the train runs fairly often along the coast, it's just a bit more convenient to have your own wheels. That said, I quite enjoyed the train ride from Cagnes Sur Mer to Monaco because the train runs along the coast very close to the edge (closer than the road) and you get to see all the villas set into the rocks.

Post back with more questions. :)

I think you mean St-Paul-de-Vence? If so, you'd need to take a bus down to the coastal area (about a 20-minute drive; don't know about the bus times) to get to a train or bus station to go to Cannes and Monaco. I do think you'd have a better time if you were to rent a car--you can stop when something interests you. Driving in France isn't difficult, especially in the area you'll be visiting.

From St-Paul, BTW, it's a short drive up to beautiful Vence.