bluesphee

Hello,

My 25 year-old sister-in-law and soon-to-be husband are going on their honeymoon to the French Riviera in September/October of 2011, so I wanted to help them out on making it a memorable trip. What better place to ask than the Fodor's forums! They have been focusing on spending a week in Nice and doing day trips around the area. They want to add on one more week somewhere else as well around the area. I have a number of questions I'd be interested to hear opinions on:

1) This is the place in Nice they were looking at booking
http://www.vrbo.com/27834
Thoughts on this? Are there better places out there for that kind of money? Here are the rate details for that place:
The Rate is €1400/week July and August, Christmas and Easter holidays.
€1200, May, June, September,October.Low season €1000/week.

2) Any suggestions on how you could rent a villa like this and get a package deal on airfare? Flights to France are expensive but package deals with hotels make it so much cheaper it seems! If they want to add on a week in another place it seems like it would be difficult to do a package deal though

3) Any suggestions for where they should go for week 2? Marseille and Aix en Provence are about all I have heard of people going to but I'm sure there are tons of great options! They are looking to do a combination of relaxing, some site seeing and memorable restaurants (not break the bank, but they are willing to spend some decent money here and there)

4) Any suggestions for day trips and restaurant recommendations in Nice or around the area?

5) Any suggestions for Chateau's to visit?

6) Any suggestions for wineries to visit?

That's a lot of questions but feel free to respond to one or all of them! Thanks very much in advance. I'm jealous of their trip already! Hah!

Underhill

I haven't come across any flight plus villa deals; most villas are rented by their owners. But a good travel agent might be able to come up with something.

Provence is not blessed with a large number of châteaux, but there are some. I'd recommend giving your relatives copies of the Michelin Green Guide to Provence and the associated Guide to the Côte d'Azur (the French term for the Riviera). That will allow the travelers to do some research and decide where they want to go and what to see.

Some of the prime sights in western Provence are the Pont du Gard, Les-Baux-de-Provence, Avignon, Uzès, the Lubéron's hilltop villages, the village-on-the-sea of Cassis, Arles, and Aix-en-Provence. Marseille...not so much.

From Nice one can make day trips to the perched village of Eze, the beautiful peninsula of St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, the coastal village of Villefranche-sur-Mer, Mougins, the mountain village of Tourrettes-sur-Loup, Antibes, Valbonne, and much, much more. Nice itself deserves a few days; public transportation is very good.

kerouac

I would like to make an off-the-wall suggestion. The French riviera is a pretty much has-been place and has been taken over by the Russian elite, which was already there a hundred years ago. (The Moscow-Nice train service was reopened recently, and the Nice Russian orthodox cathedral is the largest one outside of Russia.)

For something more unique and special, I would like you to consider a honeymoon in Corsica.

bluesphee

Underhill: Thank you very much for all of the suggestions. I just did a few Google image searches of some of the places you suggested and they look incredible! Definitely something they will love

Kerouac: Cool suggestion as well! This couple was pretty much set on Mexico (ok, but certainly nothing special!!!) so it's great that they are willing to do this trip instead. The guy has never been outside of the US so this is a big trip no matter what they do . Corsica sounds like an excellent suggestion too! I wonder if they could stick with their original plan and look at a week in Corsica in addition to the Nice region.

bluesphee

I just looked up that green guide you recommended and sounds like a great guide!

TPAYT

Having gone to France in Sept. for many years and rented different places these are my thoughts:

Great time of year for the weather.

Agree with Underhill about Eze(our favorite), Cap Ferrat (the Greek House & Roschild Museum House & Gardens are fabulous),Villefranche(another oneofour favorites), Antibes(the Sentinel walk along the rocks is memorable as is Keller Plage Beach resort on Garoupe Beach w/rentel chairs & restaurant)), and Tourettes-sur-Loop(great drive up there and such a cute town). All were fantastic including Monaco(the Palace & yacht harbor and stunning), and Grasse(perfume factory).

A restaurant they might like is called "Stars & Bars" right on the yacht harbor in Monaco. It's an Aussie more casual(not at all cheap, but casual). Outside seating overlooking all the gorgeous yachts. They may even run into a celeb or two.

We've based in Antibes, Aix, and Avignon. I think Nice or Antibes are the better locations for access to the above towns.

They could base in Avignon or Aix to tour farther west to Provence. Isle su Sorge, Rousillon, Gordes, Nimes, St.Remy, etc.

As far as air fare goes, keep a watch every few days. We usually start this process at the beginning of July. When you see a ggod price, take it immediately, it will change shortly. (EX: Sept. 2010 we decided to change it up and go to Ireland.. July around $950 rd. trip from Chicago, watched every few days on Trip Advisor. Then it waivered between $850 & $950, still too high. At the end of July for 3 days only $633,we snapped it up. It pays to keep watching.) For France we have paid between $700 and $800 rd. trip from Chicago.

We have also taken a hotel for 3 nights to get the lower air fare and then extended the date and rented an apt. for the rest of the time.

Keep up your research, narrow it down, and ask more questions. BTW, love the VRBO apt. We have rented through VRBO often with great success.

Underhill

The French Riviera is a has-been? No way. We have yet to see any Russian elite during our stays. But we do see many people from other countries, as it's a great area to visit. Just look at all the posts from people wanting to go there.

The beautiful Russian Orthodox cathedral has been around a long time, dating from the days when Russian royalty summered in Nice.

hkto

I wouldn't spend the whole week in Nice; may be a couple of days at the most as a base for side trips to Eze, St.Paul de Vence, Monaco, etc. For the rest of time I would rent a car and travel Cote d'Azur, Provence and beyond. If beach is a priority then it's all hard pebble in Nice. Sandy beaches are further west.

StuDudley

My wife & I have vacationed for 16 weeks along the Riveria, and 18 weeks in Provence (Avignon region). You could spend several weeks in the Riveria area if you include day-trips into the beautiful Nice Hinterland/Alps and the Var department around Cotignac, etc.

Provence would be a good choice for the second week. Fly into Nice & out of Marseille (or take the TGV from Avignon back to Paris).

I have a 27 page itinerary for this region that I've been passing out to Fodors & aol people for many years - over 2,000 copies. E-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach a copy to the reply e-mail. It describes my favorite day-trips, scenic drives, restaurants, villages, farmers markets, and has a section about Provence fabric.

I've never "experienced" many/any Russians in this region - we were there for 2 weeks this year & 5 1/2 weeks in '07.

Stu Dudley

TDudette

Depending upon their tastes:

Arles if they are interested in art and van Gogh

Colliure if they are into the Fauvists (spelling?)

Menton is sweet, has a lovely old town, a small casino and is a stone's throw from the big market in nearby Italy (Ventimiglia).

DH and I based in Aix and stayed at a wonderful hotel with a pool and spa (Aquabella). Excellently situated if they want to drive (garage almost on site) and tour van comes to the door if not (they have to fill the van though).

The Russian cathedral in Nice is really neat. I can't speak to Nice being passé but the old part of the city is great to explore. They can take a train or a bus to many of the nearby towns along the sea. It may be late for van tours-I don't really know.

Please let us know where they ended up!

bluesphee

Wow, all really great suggestions! The only bad part is I don't get to experience any of them!

I'll pass along this info to them and of course if there are more suggestions, keep 'em coming! StuDudley, if they are interested in seeing your itinerary I'll let them contact you.

Suggestions on the flights are really helpful to hear since they have been seeing them around $1000. I think they are flying out of Denver but they may fly out of Minneapolis too.

SeeDee

Nice provides a good base for local exploration without the use of a rental car.
Hilltop towns: Vence, St Paul du Vence, Eze, Roquebrune.
Bigger cities/towns: Cannes, Menton, Monte Carlo.
Gardens: Villa Ephrussi (Cap Ferrat), Villa Hanbury (Ventimille).
Walks: Cap Ferrat peninsula, Cap d'Ail - Monaco.

Week 2. Would they consider adding Italy to their itinerary in preference to travelling west to Provence?
There is a regular train link to Genoa, where the onward options are Milan and the Lakes (Stresa on L. Maggiore, Bellagio on L.Como) or Santa Margherita Ligure (the Portofino peninsula) and Vernazza/Monterosso (Cinque Terre).

If they do opt to stay in France, they should not miss the 3 A's - Aix, Arles and Avignon.

Underhill

The "Greek house," actually the Villa Kerylos, is in Beaulieu, not on St-Jean. We tried to see it but gave up: no parking to be had anywhere near.