italian Riviera and the Cote D'azur
 

Hello,

I am in the middle of planning a trip to Italy and the French Riviera for late June -mid July. Our flight is booked and we have reservations at a villa in Tuscany with relatives the first week. From there we are heading to the Italian Riviera and on the Cote D'Azur where we finally depart from Nice for home. This is where I need some advice. What towns on the coast of Italy and in the French Riviera would be the most interesting and least (ha ha) overwhelmed with tourists?
We will have 3-4 days in each area and prefer to "settle in" to one hotel and take day trips into the surrounding countryside. Any suggestions about a good base of operations in Italy and again in France? We have read that Cinque Terre is ridiculously crowded so are looking a bit further up the coast. Any thoughts on towns like Levanto, Sestri Levante or Rapallo? and what about Nice and Villefranche? By the way,is room A/C important in these coastal locations in the summer? Finally, Will we need a car? Thanks

Whew! Well, if you want to have a base and take daytrips around the countryside, you will need to rent a car. The train along the French riviera is good, but takes you from town to town, but not up to places like St. Paul de Vence or Grasse, etc.

At this time of year, you will have tourists from all over Europe vacationing here, along with tourists from around the world. In August, it gets worse, so look at it optimistically. If you like Jazz and Blues, you might want to base yourself in Juan les Pins during the festival. Okay, it's crowded, but very fun.

Nannyvee, we spend the first three weeks on the Cote d'Azur most years, and while it is definitely not quiet, it is not that bad either. After the 14th of July, it gets busier, but before that it's ok.
Nice would be a good base, and after a week in the Tuscan countryside you might like to stay in a city. Villefranche is nice, so is Cap Ferrat and Beaulieu. To the west of Nice, Antibes is a good place too. I like Juan les Pins a lot, but the crowd there is quite young; lots of bars and discos.
As Surfergirl said, renting a car is the easiest way to see other places there. Unless you limit yourself to places that can easily be reached by train; Monaco, Nice, Cannes, Juan les Pins, Antibes are all easy to do by train.

Nannyvee - For the Italian Riviera personally I'd recommend one of the towns on the Portofino peninsular, which is very scenic.

I'd recommend Santa Margherita Ligure or Camogli - but Rapallo is pleasant enough too. Any of those make a good base.

You don't really need a car in this area - trains up and down the coast are quite frequent.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

For anyone not aware of it. The rail line between Cannes and Grasse is being rebuilt with a modern new station now about finished at Grasse. Regular service begins this spring. I was in Grasse a few weeks ago and observed the track and station work near completion coming into Grasse. Railway engineering is my profession.

Larry J

Larry, that is great news -- this is the stuff I really like about Fodors!

We did a trip similar to yours last summer, only we began our trip in Nice, then headed by train to Santa Margherita Ligure, then Tuscany.

I am a little concerned that you may be late in planning your hotels, since many hotels get booked a year ahead for the busy summer season. I'd try to get in touch with places that you're interested in ASAP!

Anyway, I'd highly recommend basing in Santa Margherita for the Italian Riveria portion of your trip. It's a very pretty resort with a palm-lined harbor, and long promenade. From Santa Margherita, it's easy to day trip to Portofino and Cinque Terre. In town, depending on your budget, I'd recommend the Miramare (an outstanding hotel and resort!) and the more reasonably priced Hotel Continental.

Since I'm a big fan of Nice ( it's one of my all-time favorite cities), I'd recommend basing there, and doing day trips to Eze, Monaco, St. Jean, St. Paul De Vence and Cannes. All of these towns can either be reached by train or bus. ( St. Paul is about a 50-min bus ride from the Gare Routiere, main bus terminal in Nice.) I'd advise against having a car in the summer, since traffic and parking can be a nightmare.

In Nice, again depending on budget, I'd advise checking out La Perouse, (expensive!), Le Meridien ( less expensive) and Hotel Grimaldi. There's also The West End Hotel, but I don't know much about it from personal experience.

And yes, since you asked, try to stay at hotels with AC whenever you can-- even in coastal areas. It may not work as well as you'd like, but at least you'll also be able to shut out noise and bugs!

Have a great trip!

Thank you all for your information. Weadles, you had also responded to a previous post of mine about this trip, and I appreciate your insights.We will probably travel by train except in Tuscany, but I am a bit overwhemed by the rail website choices.
Also, I have sent inquiries to Hotel Continental in SML and a few others. Any thought on Sestri Levante and Moneglia b/c there is room availability there and photos of the towns are lovely...We are definitely staying in Nice the last 4 days of our trip. so I'm going to check Nice hotels tomorrow. Is one area better that another?

again, thanks for your help.

nannyvee,

Sorry, but I don't know anything about Sestri Levante or Moneglia. Have you checked this forum and slowtrav.com for information? Slowtrav.com is a good overall resource for Italy.

For Nice, I'd recommend looking for hotels that are close to Vieux (old) Nice. Vieux Nice is home to the flower market, excellent bistros and pizzerias, galleries, and shops. La Perouse is closest to this area, although Le Meridien is only a few minutes further.

You should also check previous posts by UNDERHILL, a poster who seems to know Nice and the Riveria very well.

Good luck with your plans!

I agree with the Antibes and Juan Les Pins. As a nice side trip head up to Biot above Antibes near Sophia - Antipolis.

In Antibes we always stay at a small 3 star hotel called Hotel Josse - ask for a room on the front with a balcony - second floor. The rooms are clean, nice bathroom but very very simple - you do have a lovely balcony porch and AC in the summer which works. They have a nice little bar area and the night watchman will make you a midnight - late night snack if needed even though there is no room service. I don't know your tolerance level but after aa day in the sun and an evening of wine drinking we LOVED the AC.

A few years back we found Menton on the French side and Santa Margarita Ligure (especially) on the Italian side to be good bases. Easy access for day trips.

Hello - Well, I think I have our accomodations all set and I want to thank all of you agin for your help. We have decided to stay in Sestri Levante at Hotel Vis a Vis. This seems centrally located for day trips to Cinque Terre and SML and Sestri seems lovely and picturesque. In Nice we're taking Weadles advice on La Perouse ...a splurge at the end of our trip. Does anywone have info on boats that run between towns along the Italian Riviera? Thanks again..I have always received great info on this forum for any of the trips I have planned!!

We stayed in SML at the Miramare http://www.grandhotelmiramare.it/accomodation.html and another trip stayed in Porto Venere at the Royal Sporting. We really enjoyed both.