Nice…Then WHERE in Italy?
 

OK. Let's see what the experts think.
I will be in Nice for a conference and then we want to see a bit of Italy.

Where would you go for five days after Nice? My wife and I have been to Italy five times but we are taking my sister and teenage daughter who have never been.

What would you do?

We are probably going to go to Piemonte and see as much of that as we can, but do you have any other suggestions?

When ?

Why would you leave the Nice area - unless you will have already explored it thoroughly by the time your sister & daughter arrive?

I think there is more to do & see in that immediate region than most any other place in Italy or France. You have the Alps that you can take remarkable sightseeing drives into, the coast, cute villages just back of the coast, St Tropez, Cannes, dozens of perched villages, Nice itself, Villefranche, Menton. If you don't mind driving a bit with an overnight or two, you can hit Aix, the Luberon, Arles, Avignon, Dentelles, Pont du Gard, Rhone winegrowing region, etc. Really, much to much to even attempt in just 5 days.

Stu Dudley

>> Really, much to much<<

That's "much too much"

I agree with Stu. I just came back from 3 weeks in Europe starting in Nice for 5 days and had such a wonderful time there. I did like Stu said and visited Menton, Antibes, Villefranche, Monaco, EZE, etc., all of which are absolutely beautiful.

jdc

I agree with PP., but if you you really wish to go to Italy you can take a train to Genoa and from there to Cinque Terre (?)

I agree with the above posters who say stay and explore the French Riviera-do JDC26's itinerary-you'll absolutely love it-I did this just this past May, and had a blast. (even when the Euro was at 1.60 to the dollar!)

P.S. And make sure to have my favorite aperitif while in the French Riviera, un "Ricard."

You asked for Italy, right? Presuming you are flying into Nice, if your flight plan is still flexible, you can go deeper into Italy and return from Italy instead.

Reading your other posts, I get a feeling that you go to Nice often and you have no need to specifically plan trips around the area?

Other than Piemonte, Liguria is a possibility. If you can fly back from Milan, Lake Como is also possible.

At my last conference in Nice we toured parts of Provence. Didn't see it all by any means.

WE just love Italy I guess.

It's in November.

In November, I would stick close to cities. The countryside is pretty "brown" then. Upper Italy could be cold.

I still think Nice, Cannes, Villefranche, Aix, etc would be a good choice for Dec. St Tropez will be pretty dead.


In Italy - Venice, Lucca, Florence, Siena, Perugia, Assisi would be good choices. Our closest friends who have a second home in Tuscany, said many some hotels & restauants are closed in Nov because that's they only time the owners can take off for a vacatioin. They also told us that the countryside is "brown" then where they live (San Quirico - Val d'Orcia).

Just remember, you'll loose about 1/2 of a day getting from Nice to Italy, unless you start your Italy adventure in Genoa. Tuscany will take most of the day in Nov when daylight hours are short.

Stu Dudley

From Nice, you can get to the first small town in Italy Ventimiglia, in about 45 minutes, and then you can be in the seaside resort town of San Remo in about 15-20 minutes more-both of these Italian cities are very nice, San Remo, is of course a seaside resort town, but not much of a historical center. Ventimiglia on the other hand, is far more interesting and has an ancient medieval historical center-I would suggest going here. Ventimiglia also has excellent restaurants, (as does San Remo) in addition to its world-famous Friday market-which people and toursts come from all over the French Riviera to experience-excellent table linens to be found here, among other interesting bargains. So if you wanted to do the Riviera itinerary suggested of Villefranche sur Mer, Eze, etc. you COULD go on to Italy as a day trip as well-I did this just this past May.

If you wanted to go farther into Italy, then you should go to the ancient port city of Genoa, which is about three hours by train from Nice-all the other cities would take from 4 1/2 hours (Milan) up to 6 hours by train to see-best to schedule a separate trip for them, when you can spend your time solely in Italy.

We visited San Remo, Bussana, Ventimiglia in May last year.
It was o.k. but , but I would not spend much time on the Italian side of the coast , especially in Nov.

Better to head for the cities - Genoa, Milan etc.