dwdvagamundo

I would not really classify Nice as Provence, but as French Riviera (Cote d'azur). Since you asked for my subjective opinion, I'd probably fly to Marseilles, explore for a day, then rent a car and drive north through Arles and some of the smaller towns around there.

Or fly to Lyon, explore for a day, then drive up through Burgundy or over to the Loire Valley to explore some chateaux.

bilboburgler

"While the Riviera is ok, it is a bit "international" and bland"

"You must lead a tremendously exciting life to write that."

Hi, welcome to fodors.

You are of course allowed your own opinions on places to visit. Do your comments help either the OP or help me change my mind?

No. I'm sure my life is just as exciting or as dull as most people on this site.

We don't all like the same thing, the world would be boring if we did. If you find Riviera exciting, good. I felt it was cosi-cosi and a little disneyesque.

PalenQ

The French Riviera was exciting the first time I went and then several times after that but yes it is subjective and also greatly depends on when you go - August is a complete zoo -fall and spring delightfully calmer.

jtpj777

"You are of course allowed your own opinions on places to visit."

How very generous of you! (except I suspect you don't really mean it!)

PS The "Riviera" (how quaint!) can be described as many things, "bland", I believe, is not one that many people would use to describe it and it gives the OP a distorted view of the area, given that he/she appears interested in visiting there.

PPS I have been reading this forum for many years and occasionally post what I hope is helpful information. The forum is dominated by a small number of posters and, with some notable exceptions among the regular posters, there does appear to be an anti Cote D'Azur bias. Given it is one of he most popular areas in the world to visit, this bias is not shared by people in the real world beyond Fodor's.

StuDudley

We first visited the Cote d'Azur & Nice Hinterland in 1979. We now spend 2 months vacationing in France almost every year - exploring different areas. We continually return to the Cote d'Azur for many, many different reasons. We were in St Tropez for 1 week this past June, Nice for 3 nights last year, and Nice for 2 weeks in 2015. "Bland" is not how I would describe it. If you get tired of the coast - venture into the Nice Hinterland with it's wonderful red-rock canyons, mountain ridges, hidden villages, raging rivers, and other attractions that you won't find on the immediate coast.

Stu Dudley

massimop

If you spend a lot of time in Italy (with the exception of many parts of super-austere Tuscany), much of the French Riviera can seem bland and over-organized by comparison. Worse, if you have visited parts of the world that adopted "Mediterranean-style" architecture for their 70s/80s condos & strip malls, it's not the fault of the French Riviera that it now looks like -- well, a suburban development or a strip mall -- but it can get hard to feel excited about seeing the original. Some of the coastal towns do display their Italian roots to a stronger degree, and the inland hilltowns have distinct personalities and are embedded in a unique landscape. The idea of the French Riviera occupies such a glamorous romantic place in literature and avant-garde art, movies, the reality can be a bit of a letdown.

massimop

Better quickly add that I am not calling Tuscany bland, only observing that in many Tuscan towns what is striking is the absence of colored exteriors, which are quite of feature in many other popular historic centers of Italy.

StuDudley

Gee - I never thought Siena, Florence, Lucca, Pienza, Montepulciano, etc lacked color.

On the Riveira - Nice, Old Antibes, Villefranche, Menton, St Tropez, Bormes, St Paul, Tourrettes sur Loup, Vence, Peillon, and dozens of other towns sure didn't seem bland to me. I'm not a fan of Monaco or Cannes, and there is certainly a lot of what I call trashy development along the Cote d' Azur - but seek out guidebooks & get advice from people here on Fodors as to what places to visit and what to skip.

My wife's Shutterfly book of our month trip to the Cote d'Azur & Provence in 2015.
https://stududley.shutterfly.com/28

Stu Dudley

massimop

With the exception of Florence, I would describe all the places you mention in Tuscany as lacking color and austere in comparison to other historic towns in Italy. Please note I am making a comparison. And even in Florence the austerity of many of the buildings is what gives them their power as architecture. And very rarely to you see the exterior color that jumps out at you Emilia-Romagna or the Veneto, the Trentino and certainly Liguria

Also, I'm talking about literal color. On the exteriors. Like pastel. Or Venetian red. Or Parma yellow. I'm not talking about colorful street life or store windows or interiors. Lucca is just not a very colorful place. Nor is Montepulciano etc.by comparison. Monochrome. Unpainted stone.

Gee. Just the way it is.

Offtoeurope

I like the idea of Nice+Menton and Lyon.
Is it possible to combine a stay in Lyon with an overnight somewhere in the Fench Alps?

massimop

Lucca

http://www.luccaterre.it/immagini/bi...RC_F0140_B.jpg

Sarzana (in Liguria)

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...italy-trip.jpg

Trento

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/pede...o-41869023.jpg

Montepulciano
http://www.greatestate.it/magazine/w...12/toscana.jpg

Brisighella (in Emilia Romagna)

http://www.brisighellaospitale.it/wp.../06/FotoN3.jpg

Pienza
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BvzwXq9zzC...and+valley.jpg

Bologna
https://gaytravel-destinations.s3.am...ife__large.jpg

Siena
http://www.italoamericano.org/sites/...s/siena-c3.jpg

Venice
https://www.insightvacations.com/~/m...g?h=640&w=2010

massimop

my link to a pic of colorful Venice didn't really work. Hope this one does

http://travelify.co.uk/wp-content/up...nice-Italy.jpg

massimop

Sorry OfftoEurope -- I'll desist. (I don't know the answer to your question).

massimop

(except I do know Menton is colorful. It may be the most Italian of all the French Riviera towns, being right on the border with Italy)

PalenQ

Is it possible to combine a stay in Lyon with an overnight somewhere in the Fench Alps?>

Car or train - It would be 3 hours at least to anywhere in high Alps - 4 hours by train to Chamonix - one of the best places-so possible but a fairly long way away.

Andee01

We spent 5 nights in Nice in May 2016. It was one of my favourite destinations on my trip. We spent our time walking around Nice, along the Promenade and to the lookout over the city. We also did a day trip by train to Menton, a pretty spot and easy to visit. There are plenty of destinations to visit from Nice by train or bus.