Hello, my DH and I are going to be on the Riviera for a few days before heading up to Paris. We were originally going to spend 3 nights but now may do 4. We will get in early in the day into Nice from our Boston flight (which leaves late at night). A few questions:

1) If we only spend 3 nights, we'll just stay in Cannes, but if we spend 4, I was thinking of spending a night in Monte Carlo at the Fairmont. Would it be unreasonable to fly into Nice and then go to Monte Carlo for one night, before heading to Cannes? (I ask about putting the Monte Carlo before Cannes b/c the hotel we want in Cannes only has availability the latter 3 nights anyway, so we would have to either change hotels or switch properties or something anyway if we were to stay there 4 nights).

2) Either way, is Monte Carlo a good trip to take (either day trip or overnight) from Cannes?

3) We want to go into the casino. I'm aware we need to dress up. For me, will a cocktail dress be sufficient? For DH, are pants and a jacket (say linen pants with a navy blazer) appropriate? Tie, too, or no? Or does it need to be a full suit or tuxedo?

4) What are the travel times between the Nice airport, Monaco, and Cannes? Do you need reservations on the train, or is it a pretty casual set up?

Thanks in advance!

Where are all the Francophiles today?

ah, lukesaunt, you gave them all of 20 minutes before you topped your own post.

maybe they are {gasp} working, eating, supervising... are people not allowed a few minutes to ponder before they jump to your reply ?

Okay, point taken, but I need to leave work and need to plan this (it's getting to be crunch time on hotel reservations-- everything is booking), so I'm a little antsy and stressed out!

Still there, or have you booked? Nice to Monaco is about 1/2 hour by train. Nice to Cannes is about 45 minutes by train, in the opposite direction. Nice airport to Nice train station is only about 20 minutes by taxi (at least at other than the busiest commuter hours), although our recent experience is that Nice taxis are not cheap. There are public buses from the airport to downtown Nice, but I believe you'd have to change buses to get to the train station, or walk about 8 blocks if you know just where to get off (you'll need a decent map of Nice and its bus routes).

There is frequent train service between all three cities. Go to www.sncf.com, and if you don't read French, scroll down to the bottom of the first page that opens and click on the British flag. You'll see that the regional trains (TER) have very frequent service and Cannes to Monaco takes 1 hour 15 minutes.

there is a direct bus from the Nice airport to either Cannes or Monte Carlo, no need for trains.
http://www.nice.aeroport.fr/acces_st...us/default.asp