My fiance and I were engaged in Paris and fell in love with France. We'll be honeymooning for the first two weeks of September and had been considering Nice for its beaches and culture but a friend of the family suggested that Vence would be a better way to go. We're having a hard time finding information about Vence and we're wondering about transportation to other cities, proximity to the Riviera, things to do there, and the general "feeling" of the town. Can anyone share their experiences? Thanks so much! Carrie

I'll be staying a few days in the next village St-Paul-de-Vence.
To read about Vence, you can go to google or
www.provenceweb.com
wishing you a perfect honeymoon. All I got was cigar ring..lol..but ,,a great guy.

I was only there once, three years ago, but it is one of my favorite places. I just loved the atmosphere. I can't wait to return. Not quite as "perfect" as St Paul de Vence (2 miles away) but also not as touristy. It has beautiful scenery, buildings, atmosphere - but it's a real town, people not in the tourist trade seem to actually live there. Several lovely squares with fountains, alleyways, etc. Plenty of restaurants, shops, etc.

Not sure I'd want to spend two whole weeks there if I didn't have a car though. There is a bus that stops there so you could probably do day trips. You could even walk to St Paul de Vence. Nice and the coast was about half an hour car ride away, don't know how long by bus. I strongly recommend it.

Vence is a very nice town. We were just there a few days ago , though not actually staying there ,and they were doing a lot of work on the streets (sewer lines I believe) which took away some of the charm. If you want to spend time on the beaches though the traffic to and from is pretty heavy . Can't help you with transportation. We had a car. I also don't think its a place I would spend 2 weeks. I personally would rather be near the beaches.
Which ever area you choose have a wonderful honeymoon.

Congrats on your upcoming wedding, clgarbas! I agree with what others have said. Vence is a "real" place with charm, but I think you might prefer having a car if you stay there. There is bus service to St Paul (where I've always stayed) that then goes to Cagnes sur Mer which is the town nearest by on the coast. If you wanted to go to the beach, this is where you'd go. It's about a 30 min drive so I'd guess it would be a bit more by bus accounting for stops along the way. From Cagnes sur Mer you can get a train to Nice, Monaco and beyond going east or toward Cannes & Antibes to the west. I'm sure there are also taxis that would go to the train station. The train along the coast runs quite frequently in high season (not sure if Sept. is considered high season though.)

Vence is most known for the Rosaire, a church designed by Matisse. Vence has a food market 2 or 3 times a week (fresh veg, cheeses etc.) as well as lots of wonderful regular food shops.

My Insight Guide to the Cote D'Azur (which may be a bit outdated) lists 2 places to stay in Vence, Chateau du Domaine St-Martin (which sounds very expensive)with a pool and great views of the coast or La Rosarie- "a small friendly hotel in a 1930s villa. Pretty garden and swimming pool."

I spent my honeymoon (also in September but later) at La Colombe D'Or in St Paul de Vence. It was magical.

If you are beach people, you should know the beaches in the Nice/Cagnes sur Mer area are pebbly rather than sandy. Going west to Cannes and Antibes, there is sand. I do agree with your family friend that the idea of staying away from the coast is more romantic, but for a 2 week stay I think you'd want a car to be able to explore more.

Bonne chance!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to help out--I really appreciate the advice. Because we've been offered a great deal in Vence and because we're young, in love and broke, it's looking like that will be our choice--but we'll be saving enough that we plan to do several day trips. Nice, definitely. Probably some other Riviera cities. What about Corsica? Or nearby Italian cities? Any recommendations? And would train be the best mode of travel? And this is another rookie question, but I've seen Eurail passes, but what about passes for the bus system? Are they available? How? Merci encore! Carrie

Don't have definitive answers to your questions but:

If you look on a map, you'll see Corsica is much farther than a day trip. You can go into Italy though. The train that runs along the coast stops in Ventimiglia and places further east.

A good website to help you plan your trip is provencebeyond.com They have info on trains & buses-routes & schedules.

Cigarbas:

My wife and I just got back at the end of May and spent a total of 7 days in the Provence area, 4 in St. Remy and 3 in Eze (above Nice). I would strongly recommend renting a car. It was extremely easy to get around and the villages are small and fairly close together. Parking really wasn't a problem. With a car, you can easily see several villages a day, while with a train or bus, you will have difficulty seeing too much.

I would recommend that you divide your stay also. Vence and St. Paul de Vence are neat and it is easy to get around to other towns nearby but 2 weeks may be too much for this area. St. Remy was agreat location to get around to Avignon, The Camargue, Les Baux and many other spectacular villages. The drive from St. Remy to Nice, with stops along the coast, was only 4 -5 hours. Have a great honeymoon!

We enjoyed our stay in Nice. We really liked Vence. Again, the posters who said Vence was "real" as opposed to St. Paul de Vence "unreal" have a good point. The musee Foundation Maeght make up for any lacking quality of St. Paul de Vence, but that's beside the point. We vote for honeymooners...

Just go stay in Antibes.

Much more honeymoon-ready for people who value both beaches and culture. We stayed in Nice, so this is not "our choice, so it should be yours" prejudice. Antibes has its Picasso musee plus neat stuff. Heck, you're so near the hang-out of F. Scott Fitzgerald, St. Cap d'Antibes,you can walk it. From there, it's an easy jaunt by rail to Cannes, and you can then take buses or cars to Vence, St. Paul de Vence, or our secret favorite, Mougins. We enjoyed the Renoir home in Cagnes sur Mer, also easily accessible. Want to go to Monaco for the day? Easy train ride. Want to go to Nice? No problem--easy train. We think their museum of modern art is the bomb--and we adored the Chagall Biblical Museum (I liked the Matisse but it wasn't what I expected--the old Expectations=Satisfaction thing).

I think if you're on your honeymoon you should feel as though you have "your" coffee shop, "your" ice cream stand, "your" favorite beach spot, "your" favorite table in "your" favorite restaurant. I see that happening in Antibes.

Check it out. Another town that would be even more intimate and would have some of the same pluses would be Villefranche sur Mer on the Monaco side of Nice.

Have a wonderful wedding and honeymoon!

If you're on a budget and still want to rent a car (definitely the easiest way to get around) try Easy Rentacar. They probably offer the best rates. If not, as someone said, take the bus to Cagnes sur Mer, and then the train will take you to Nice, Monaco, Cannes, Antibes. Do check out Haute Cagnes too; pretty hilltop town.

Thanks so much, everybody, for all your help. We are so excited about this trip!

Greetings,

We are ardent Francophiles who spend time in France each year--and I say that before I offer a different opinion. We have just returned from France this month and spent a day in Vence. We found it most unpleasant on this trip. It was unusually dirty and our little trek up to the Matisse Chapel was met by extremely unfriendly cashiers who were reading a magazine and did not look up to take our money. We were frankly shocked at the only place we had been in France in ages which had a "bad attitude"--it is not a matter of our French---I went to school in France, was a French teacher and we love the country where we have many friends.

So I would vote for another option if you have one--certainly the near Antibes suggestion above is far more appealing from our perspective.

Good luck,
Robyn France