gooster

Unless you have specific restaurants picked in advance (and reservations are recommended at some of the best choices, even in offseason), my general rule for visitors is to avoid the restaurants on the Rue Massena, along the Promenade and on the main squares in the Old Town. There are exceptions, of course, but I find most of the better, most creative restaurants are in the side streets and not in these areas. I've not seen a lot of places serving hot dogs, yes weird French tacos at the kebab shops, but of course I'm not seeking those out.

HappyTrvlr

Antibes definitely should be on your list.
We took buses most days as they started in city center and went right along the water. For Antibes, the train worked better.
Glad we spent a few hours in Monaco but won’t return there.
Loved Cap Ferrat with Villa Ephrussi, town of St. Jean and Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu-sur- Mer. We walked from site to another there.
Skipped Eze due to reported crowds.

waboss

mjs thank you for your suggestions. I'll download the Moovit app. I've seen their site pop up when planning our day trips.

Is Marché Provencal in Antibes worth a visit or is it similar to the markets in Nice? We can probably go to Antibes for the market, lunch, and maybe a museum. I didn't know there are a lot of museums in Antibes, there's even one for Absinthe!

In general, how would you know if a restaurant at least makes the food onsite? They say you could tell by the size of the menu.

scrb11

Spent a little over a week in Nice and Villefranche sur Mer in late June and early July.

Really 4 weeks? In November?

First, Nice has a great tram system, which is less than 10 years old. Best way to get from Airport to the town. There are hubs around the tram stops and one area which seems popular is Place Massena, which is near Vieux Nice as well as the beach. Not too far from Castle Hill, where the elevators were not working so you have to climb up the steps.

I studied the Nice bus schedules with the Lignes d'Azur map but some of the trips out of the area, like to Eze or the St. Paul, seemed daunting, really long travel time and maybe not enough frequency to give you flexibility.

I mostly looked at some guided tours, for instance to go to Eze (I've been before) and to Monaco. From Place Massena, near where I stayed, you have to get to the train station, which is easy enough to do on the tram but it's still a bit of a slog. When I stayed in VsM, I had the guided tour pick me up. Only problem was that area, near the mid Corniche, was not convenient to the train stations. I didn't see the buses from there. It does have nice views though and the place I stayed in had parking and I had a rental car for some longer trips.

I didn't drive too much though I did drive in corniche for some views and visits to La Turbie and then to some panorama viewpoints above Monaco, like 2-5 miles north of Monaco as the crow flies. Downside was a lot of construction in some places.

But I didn't rent the car so much for the Riviera so much as continuing towards Gorges du Verdon and eventually Luberon and Provence.

With 4 weeks, you might consider a rental for a couple of days or maybe up to a week, to consider places like Gorges du Verdon. But parking in Nice is expensive so another thing to consider is to spend some of the time in areas away from the center of Nice. But the downside is that you might be so far out of town that it's inconvenient for restaurants and markets. You still have to drive into town for restaurants but you could look for not "super marches" but "hyper marches" which are like big Walmarts with plenty of parking.

So if you like to hike, and assuming decent weather in November, you could do the hike around St. Jean cap Ferrat or Cap Martin. Also Villa Rothschild in St. Jean cap Ferrat could be stunning, especially the gardens on a sunny day.

gooster

The Marche provencal in Antibes is covered, which is a plus in November. I have not been in November, but I'm guessing it will be less touristed but largely things start to get similar at area markets.

You can look for a sign that says "fait maison" or a logo -- or it will be noted on the menu. There is a law surrounding this, but like things French I think it has had its struggles.

waboss

scrb11 thank you for sharing your experience in Nice and the surrounding areas

gooster I read that Marché Provençal becomes a crafts market at 3pm on Friday-Sunday so we might visit that time. Good tip on "fait mason".

We've booked an apartment near Blvd Victor Hugo and Rue Alphonse Karr. We are now making more detailed plans on how to do our day trips. For Eze, we need to take a bus or tram to Boyer then take bus 82 to Eze. Does it make sense to go to Vauban instead of Boyer so that we can grab a seat on the bus? Boyer is the 4th stop I think and I'm not sure if it would be full by then.

gooster

The crafts market in Antibes I think is only for the summer season (similar to Nice, with its night market).

You can take the tram to the Garibaldi or continue on to Vauban. In the offseason, it may not be a problem. I've actually taken it from Boyer with no issues.

Underhill

We were in Nice one December and especially enjoyed walking around the streets leading off the the market--shop windows beautifully decorated, special holiday foods on display, buildings with decorations (don't miss the Mairie)--and at night gorgeous lighted swags. The candy shops and bakeries will call to you! We bought some very nice tree decorations at a René Le Clerc, types we'd never seen in the U.S. When at a bakery be sure to ask for a chouquette, a delicious little ball of pastry covered in bits of rock sugar. Book early for a Christmas dinner; hotel restaurants would be the best bet, as many restaurants close. Christmas Eve is very much a family event.

waboss

We'll try Boyer since it's more convenient for transfers.

We're staying in Nice until late November only but thanks for the advice as we'll be in Paris for Christmas. Chouquettes do look good, need to try those!

Underhill

Be warned: they are addictive! Shop windows will be gearing up by late November; so you should be able to get at least a taste of Nice during the holidays.

mjs

If you are going to be in Paris for Christmas you might want to stop along the way for Christmas markets in say Strasboug or someplace in Germany. The Paris Christmas markets are not that interesting

waboss

Already planning on going to Strasbourg. Any particular market that you like there or in Paris?

waboss

We got our pass sanitaire! After 1 month of no activity, even after sending a message, I submitted a new application with the same details as suggested by gooster and I've also read in another forum. We got our passes less than 15 minutes after submitting.