Planning first 2 weeks of June based out of Nice. This is our second vist. Needing help in ideas for day trips. No car so will depend on public transportation,. Any interesting ideas?

There are lots of great places to go from Nice, it's hard to pick. It depends a lot on what you like doing - museums, beach, glitz and glamour? My favourite thing to do when I lived in Nice was to walk along the coastal roads. The buses that run along the coast are fairly frequent and only cost a euro, so you can pretty much just walk until you're tired and then catch a bus. The walk from Nice over Mt Boron is nice, for example.

Other than that, Antibes and Juan les Pins to the west have nice beaches, as do Villefranche and Beaulieu-sur-Mer to the east. For the hill towns, Vence/St Paul de Vence to the west (arty historic little villages) and Eze to the east (atmospheric old hill town) are always popular. Antibes has the Picasso Museum, but I never went so can't comment. All around the Cap d'Antibes is very scenic. On the other side, I enjoyed visiting the Villas Ephrussi and Kerylos on Cap Ferrat, nice to see how the other half lived! Cap Ferrat has some lovely beaches (sand's a bit gritty but lovely clear ocean of course) as well, on the Baie des Fourmis notably. Menton is also worth a wander.

I'm not a big fan of Monaco or Cannes, but you probably may as well visit just for the experience while you're there. Why not pop over to Italy as well? I think San Remo is probably nicer than Ventimiglia, either is an easy train ride.

I just learned of a 10 euro day pass for the trains that is available only in summer. Here's an article on it which should give you some ideas for trips as well http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/201...avel-in-france

I never did it, but the train from Nice to Digne les Bains is supposed to be a great experience http://www.beyond.fr/travel/railpignes.html

In Nice itself, I would recommend going up to the Musée Matisse - I was never blown away by the museum (it's free though, so may as well take a look), but I love the park it's set in with its Roman ruins (you can go and wander through the ruins for free by passing through the archaeological museum. If you walk right through the park, on the far side from where you come in, there's a nice little church and a cemetery where Matisse is buried. I used to live 5 minutes from this park, so it's dear to my heart!

Do go up the castle hill as well (there are stairs up the hill at the end of the Quai des Etats-Unis, or you can get up there on the little train if so inclined).

That's probably too much information all jumbled up together, but since no-one else answered, thought I would give it a go I have quite a lot of photographs and writing on my blog http://gwannelsandiego.blogspot.com - it's not all tourist-focused of course, but I was there between October 2009 and April 2010 if you're interested in having a look. Enjoy your trip

D'oh, just as I posted I noticed it's your second visit. So, sorry if I mentioned only completely obvious things that you've already done! My blog has some more 'minor' destinations on it, or if you have any other questions I'll try to keep an eye out.

> just as I posted I noticed it's your second visit....

OP should say where he has been to the last time, what he has done.

Definitely visit Italy - - it is a short train ride, and it is a completely different world from the Cote d'Azur. It is amazing what a shift in cultures occurs from Menton to Ventimiglia, right across the border. One easy destination and a nice draw is the Friday market in Ventimiglia. That could be a simple daytrip, but from there a bus runs beautifully along the coast, through flowery Bordighera to vibrant San Remo (you can also train to either one). Further east from there are the wonderful medieval town of Albenga and remarkable Imperia (Porto Maurizio). These are not intensely touristed destinations (though San Remo is bustling), but this might make you enjoy them all the more!

I am in Nice now. Today we traveled by bus to Villefranche. It is absolutely beautiful there. You can get some great photos here. On Sundays, there is a small antique market. From there, we took the bus up to Eze Village. I have been to both places many times and I never get tired of them. St. Paul de Vence is another wonderful village perched on a mountain top. Yesterday we really enjoyed a trip to Cannes. If you like the works of Picasso, there is a small museum in Antibes.

For a change of scenery, take the cute little Train des Pignes from Nice north into the mountains. (www.provencebeyond.com/travel/railpignes.html) The usual turn-around point for a day trip is Entrevaux.

Another option is boat trips from Nice. Here's a link: www.trans-cote-azur.co.uk. This would be a good option for St. Tropez, which is not on the train line.

With 2 weeks you'll be able to see a lot of the Cote d'Azur. Lucky you.

I think gwan pretty much covered all the obvious day trips but I have to mention that I absolutely loved Cannes with its beautiful seaside promenade and sandy beaches. It's nothing like Monaco, IMHO though there are a few luxury hotels around which do bring in the international jet set crowd, but there are many "normal" tourists all over the city as well.

Another place I would recommend is Grasse, which is the center of the French peffume making industry where you can visit perfume manufacturers and purchase your own perfumes directly from there. My mother thought she was in heaven there, being a huge perfume fan.

Speaking of Cannes, I forgot I always wanted to visit the Iles de Lérins just off the coast there, but I never made it. Honestly, I think sometimes you see less living in an area for months than you do spending a few weeks there because you think there'll always be another opportunity...

http://www.beyond.fr/sites/lerins.html

My TR for my first trip to Nice (six nights) is here: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ern-france.cfm

I just went back for another six nights, in not great weather, and added the Matisse Museum, Monaco, Vence, St. Paul, and most enjoyably, a walk round Cap Ferrat.

No car either time.