Would appreciate some help on deciding best location for 3 days in June. My wife likes the idea of staying in one of the hilltop villages above Nice but I don't want to be too isolated. We will have a car and want to do a day trip to Monaco (possibly by train) have a look at Nice, Villefranche, Eze, St. Paul etc. Our thoughts at the moment are Tourettes sur Loup, La Colle sur Loup or Haute de Cagnes, any comments on these locations or other suggestions would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

We had a wonderful lunch at the Cagnard in Haute de Cagnes. The hotel is in the relaischateaux.com luxury "chain". It seems very nice, not large. Parking could be a problem.

Hi Owen,<BR><BR>I've been recommending this town a lot here on the forum lately, but what about Juan-les-Pins, which is about six miles from Cannes and has excellent rail connections to most of the other villages/cities in the Riveria? Offers actual sandy beaches (!!) and a wide price range of accomodations. Good luck, and have a wonderful time.

This is the second time in three days I've gotten to recommend Le Mirage, a Best Western Hotel, in Bormes-de-les-Mimosas, not all that far from Nice. The hotel is on the mountainside overlooking the ocean and atop the hill is a beautiful ancient village. I had no complaints with the hotel, it was reasonably priced and the village can't be missed.

Thanks so far for suggestions. This will be our 4th trip to South of France and have pretty well covered the Var area and the coast from Cassis to Cannes. This trip we want to explore the towns and villages around Nice but not keen on actually staying in Nice. Any comments at all on Tourettes sur Loup as a base, anybody stayed at Le Mas des Cigales?

Owen, Since you only have 3 days, why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone &amp; stay in one of the places you actually want to see? I've stayed in St Paul de Vence &amp; found it a great location for hitting the places you mentioned and it's certainly not isolated as it's a major tourist stop. From there, you can take the train to Monaco from Cagnes sur Mer. If that doesn't appeal to you, on a recent thread entitled &quot;Please Help-Cote D'Azur B &amp;B&quot; a B&amp;B in Tourettes sur Loup was recommended called Le Mas du Soleil www.masdusoleil.com Final suggestion, stay in Villefranche. Not up in the hills but very convenient &amp; charming with several places to stay. I've been to the Hotel Welcome which is good value &amp; well located (although hell to get to without good directions!)

ttt

Hi Owen - never stayed at any of the places you mentioned, but I just love Tourettes Sur Loup - have been there twice, and just want to go back. Although St Paul is beautiful with a lot of shops and reastaurants, I just love Tourettes atmosphere - and it is so close to everything ... with quite a lot of artisans and nice shops!<BR><BR>Kindest regards.<BR><BR>Helen Malan

We are also going to this area for 3/4 days late May and are keen to stay in Tourettes sur Loup. Have looked at Le Mas du Soleil, yes it looks lovely but is a bit beyond our budget. Is there anybody who has stayed at another Chambre d'hote in the Tourettes area that they can recommend.

Anybody?

Hi Valerie - me again! Yes, we stayed at a beautifull small Hotel La Belle Terrace(Sp) - it is a few (maybe 3 km) from Tourettes, and was cheap! We stayed there last year, and we payed under 400 FF for a double room with private bathroom. The Hotel has the most wonderful view, and almost all the rooms have a small balcony where you can sit and take in the view! We also had dinner there one night, and the food was very good.<BR><BR>We were driving around, looking for a nice place to sleep, and discovered them - will any day go back. The Hotel had a sign in the road (it could be that green and yellow &quot;Logis de France&quot;? Anyway - I can really recommend this small Hotel!<BR><BR>Kindest regards.<BR><BR>Helen Malan

Helen, thankyou for your recommendations, will have a look at Hotel La Belle Terrace. If anybody has any other recommendations I would be most greatful, we would prefer not to pay over 100 euro per night for 2. Thanks.

if you are going to have a car may i suggest that you consider driving to monaco...there is a fabulous large garage sort of under the palace...go to the bottom of the road and it leads you right into it....not a real good description but look on a map and you will see it listed....its huge and not terribly expensive....an elevator takes you right up into the area around the castle...there is a lovely park overlooking the water with lots of benches and beautiful views...