If you had the choice of visiting either Nice or Menton as a day trip from Cannes, which would you choose and why? We like old buildings, markets, shopping, beaches but are not too big on art museums.

We loved Menton - you will find all that you want there. We didn't spend much time in Nice, other than a few quick rides through, but it seemed to have more of a city feel to it. Menton had more of a small town, resort atmosphere.<BR><BR>There is an area of Menton, for walkers only, with many shops, cafes, restaurants, etc. which we really enjoyed exploring. The area along the beach is beautiful - great scenic views.<BR><BR>Menton is about a half an hour away from Nice so you could visit both if you wanted to. Italy is just over the border from Menton.<BR><BR>Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for your views. My 20 yr old son and I are going to France next JUne. We'll be based in Cannes but we'll do some side trips; already been to Gourdon, Grasse, St Paul de Vence, Biot, Eze. I want to take him to Monaco one day. Am still debating rental car vs coastal trains. I'm not nuts on driving the A8 after dark and it would take hours by the coastal road.

We were in Cannes in June of this year and we used a service which I believe was called Great Tours, which was a small van tour with a driver escort. They provided an excellent day , 1 tour had a stop in Menton and on to Italy Ventimiglia and San Remo, with differetn itineries depending on which Italian city had the market. If you do this go on the San Remo market day as Ventimiglia was rather taudry.<BR> I actually had a funny experience while looking for a ladies room in Menton. I was in such need i was willing to pay 10 Euro to use toilet and was trying to explain to a busboy in this cute restaurant. I couldn't understand why he looked so flustered, I could possibly be the first person to offer money to use the toiulet. Then I realized he was in the process of changing clothes for work and was naked from the waist down , covering his " essentials " with a napkin. he manager came took the cash and let us use the toilett, but we lauhged all the way to Italy

Linda, here is your original post.