Nice to Cinque Terre where to stay.
 

Hello,
We are travelling by car from Switzerland in August this year for 5 days, then back to Switzerland.
What we would like to do is go as far as Nice and then all the way through to La Spezia. We would like to go to Monaco, Genoa and of course the Cingue Terre. We are thinking of going straight to Nice and staying for 2 days then on to maybe La Spezia for another 2 days. This is our first time doing this route so we are unsure about where to start our trip or where to stay.

Albenga is the most interesting small town between Nice & le Cinque Terre. A b&b in the historic medieval center might offer nicer accommodations than a hotel, but be sure to get air conditioning and a guarantee of a parking space (even if you have to pay extra for it).

Many people do not find Monaco very interesting or charming, but if you are determined to go (and don't have a lot of things you want to see in Nice), then you can easily see it by train from Nice in probably half a day.

In such a short time frame you will find it difficult to see much of Genoa unless you opt for a half-day walking tour. The city is a very difficult place to park.

If you want to see le Cinque Terre then you should stay in le Cinque Terre unless you cannot get a guarantee of a parking space or have a hard time negotiating steep hillsides, in which case consider staying "next door" in flat Levanto and viewing le Cinque Terre by boat. It also has more opportunities for parking. Flat La Spezia also has boats that visit le Cinque Terre and easy parking, but it was heavily bombed in WW2 (it's the port of the Italian navy) and was unable to rebuild in a charming way. But if you need a very modern hotel then it makes sense to stay in La Spezia (and the food is quite good there).

To do the itinerary I just outlines you do not need a car, and if it would be cheaper to drop it off in Nice, you can take trains to everywhere I mentioned. If you want to see Genova en route to le Cinque Terre you can store your luggage in the Brignole station while you visit the city center.

and if it would be cheaper to drop it off in Nice>

A Swiss rental car to return in France may have huge drop-off charges?

Drop it in Switzerland and take the train perhaps - otherwise you'll be spending most of your time on the road. Anyway for loads of stuff on trains check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

If driving consider Switzerland to Turino (lovely town really) then via Cuneo and Sospel (neat old town with old fortifications) down to Nice and coast back to Genoa and coast to CT then blast back to Switzerland on autoroute.

hi Guys,
just letting you know that we are not hiring the car as we have family in Switzerland. and also should we split the accommodation or stay in one place?

Bookmarking.

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I stayed in Nice recently (without a car) and day tripped to Monaco - what a waste of time!!! Very boring place, though I didn't venture over to the casino. Easy to do via bus (more scenic ride) or train, though.

In Italy, I spent three nights in the delightful town of Camogli, an Italian tourist town with few Americans. Of all the places I stayed, it was the one place I hated to leave the most. I did day trip by train down to the Cinque Terre (unplanned and brief - I had been there before) - there is a direct train in the morning that does take about an hour so not ideal but not awful, but Camogli at night is probably going to be much more pleasant than any of the CT towns mobbed with tourists at night (but I love most of the CT towns, too). I day tripped up to Genoa as well from Camogli. The regional trains in this area of Italy seem prone to delays, but they are fairly frequent and not expensive.

Not sure if I understand your question correctly, but if you are asking whether it would be better to road trip down the coast or stay in one place, up to you. But if you want to stay in one place, the towns of Camogli, Santa Margherita Ligure or Rapallo would be best located for seeing Genova & le Cinque Terre as day trips (park your car and use the train for the day trips). You would need to see Monaco from Nice.

The local regional trains run on the same tracks as the national Inter-City trains, which are given a priority for use. Therefore, if there is a competion between who gets to go first through tunnels or into stations, the Inter-City trains get the privilege, and thus the local trains are prone to delays.

Thanks for all you help everyone,
We have decided to go from Switzerland to Turino then via Cuneo and Sospel down to Nice and coast back to Genoa and coast to CT then back to Switzerland on autoroute. special thanks to PalenQ