zoe10

hi! my boyfriend and i will be taking a four-week trip to italy, spain, and france in two weeks, and we were considering stopping in nice for a day in between florence and barcelona - do you think it would be worth it to take a day to relax and walk around? we are students without much money, so shopping and expensive nightlife is out of the question. or should we skip it and instead spend our time exploring florence for an extra day?
any comments would be greatly appreciated!

(along this line, any suggestions for a beach/ beach town near barcelona??)

thanks so much!

zoe

Patrick

If you want a day, you're talking about two nights in Nice during the busiest, most crowded, and most expensive time of the year -- August!
Frankly, although I love Nice, I'd forget it this trip and stick to your other places.

annesherrod

I went there as a poor college student for a day as well. We enjoyed it. We also went to Monaco. We went insdie the casino just to say we gambled at the casino. All of a dollar or two!! I remember eating the best salad of my life there - very inexpensive little place - It is the memories many years later!!!
I would say go for it!

rex

Try Sete, as an interesting alternative stopover.

Best wishes,

Rex

radiofanatic

I would also say go for it - I went there for a day as a poor student and loved it! I also went to Monte Carlo for a day as a poor student and had a blast there too!

Christina

I would definitely stop for a day or so to relax and walk around. It's very different than your other two cities, and it is pleasant just to walk around Old Town, and along the beautiful coast and up to that little park overlooking the bay. Nice is probably cheaper than Florence, and you are going there, so I don't see why you wouldn't due to the money. There is plenty to do other than shopping and expensive nightlife.

Underhill

If you're going to spend a day and a night in Nice--which I srongly recommend--start looking RIGHT NOW for lodgings--this is a very busy time of the year. Try lastminute.com for starters.

Brahmama

If you are talking about a "day trip" as opposed to a day and night, I would heartily recommend that you do so. We have taken 2 day trips to Nice - it's a wonderful little city. Many beautiful markets, intriguing old churches and nice places to eat outside and people-watch.
If you are planning to spend the night, do some searched for Nice And Budget. Maybe the search function will work - it's been ailing for a long time.
Or google the same way.
Have a great time!

trvlgrl

Yes... stop there and enjoy yourselves. I can remember backpacking around Europe when I was a student too... loads of things to do without a lot of money.

I don't know what your budget is, but check out the guidebooks Let's Go and the Berkeley Guide books for suggestions of cheap places to stay - they are targeted primarily to American students, though have become a bit more international. The Rough Guide or Lonely Planet are also good options for cheap and cheerful suggestions for places to stay, but are not nec. geared toward students. As much as I love and use Fodors, I find many of their suggestions are for people who have a bit more money...

Weadles

Another recommendation to stop in Nice. I think it's possible to eat very inexpensively in Nice, esp. along the rather tacky but interesting for people-watching Rue de France, where there are tons of pizzerias and cafes.

There was a poster awhile back who mentioned an inexpensive B&B, a few blocks back from the Promenade des Anglais. It was owned by an Italian family, and unfortunately I can not remember the name! Maybe if you check for budget accomodations in Nice, you'll find it listed? Or maybe somebody else here has the name? If not, you might also want to check out Hotel Flots d'Azur, which is on the Promenade des Anglais, and used to be reasonably priced. I have no idea what they charge now.

For beach towns close to Barcelona, I would highly recommend Sitges, which is only about 30 minutes away by train. We stayed there last month, and very much enjoyed it. Sitges has a long seaside promenade ( about 4 miles), a wonderful old town full of very cool shops and galleries, and lots of inexpensive but good seafood and chicken places right in town. There are several beaches right in town, all of them flat, sandy, and far superior to ones that we saw in the French Riveria.

We checked out the Hotel Subur Maritim, which is at the far end of the beach ( about 20 min walk into town), and the front desk manager was ready to offer us a deal on a beautiful room with terrace for $125/night. I'm thinking that maybe now that the season is winding down, it may be even cheaper. It's definitely worth asking about since the hotel is very nice. If this is too much $$, I'm sure there are other cheaper accomodations to be found if you search previous posts.

Good luck, and have fun!

rex

topping... can't tell if you have discovered yet how to locate any of your previous posts (you haven't acknowledged any of them yet)... click on your own name...