Nice vs Monaco/Monte Carlo
 

We're flying into Nice, then taking a train to Tuscany. Should we stay in Nice or Monaco/Monte Carlo?

Or, should we stop by monaco/Monte Carlo on the way from nice to Tuscany?

Any help is appreciated!

For practical purposes, Nice is better, more centralized to visit the hilltowns(ST PAUL, VENCE, TOURETTE SUR LOUP as well as HAUT CAGNES etc) or the beach towns which is between Monaco & Nice. It's just that Monte Carlo is more upscale, Beverly Hills like. I think most Fodorites prefer Nice.

Thanks!

We're going to spend 2 days in the region before going to Italy. Do you recommend making Nice Home Base?

Can we tour the Italian Riviera in 2 days making Nice home base?

Thanks again!

There's so much to see in the area around Nice that it would a shame to miss them. You can always divide your time and stay in San Remo if you want to view that side of the Italian Riviera. If you must pick a dual country homebase due to time limitation, then I would recommend you to stay closer to the border like Menton which is also a nice beach city.

Of course the jewel of the Italian Riviera is Portofino east of Genova, that's a definite must see. Many people combine it with Cinque Terre which has a younger/hiker's appeal to it. I have also used Lerici as a homebase to tour the area. It's an inexpensive beachtown with a gorgeous view. We stayed at the Lord Byron's hotel when we just got married (starting out poor couple). It's a place where the poet Shelley drowned nearby after his yearly hang out with Lord Byron and Mary Frankenstein (?). Our beachfront hotel had an incredible view for 65 dollars a night vs staying in Portofione for $400 a night back then (now it's more like 1500 Euro a night).

"Should we stay in Nice or Monaco/Monte Carlo?"
I agree with Dax, Nice is much more practical. Much more to do in Nice. Hotels in Monte Carlo are seriously expensive.

"We're going to spend 2 days in the region before going to Italy. Do you recommend making Nice Home Base?"
Yes, Nice is a good place to base when exploring the FRENCH Riviera (Nice, Monte Carlo, Cannes, St. Tropez...)

Can we tour the Italian Riviera in 2 days making Nice home base?
I don't understand. Do you want to explore the French or the Italian Riviera or both? Impossible to do both in 2 days. Difficult to do one in 2 days. If you have no interest in exploring the French and only want to see the Italian riviera, then don't stay in Nice. Determine which part of the Italian Riviera you want to see - the part west of Genoa or the part east of Genoa. Then choose a base in one of those areas.

Personally, I find the French Riveria MUCH more interesting than the Italian Riveria. Many more things to do & see in addition to the beach scene. I thought San Remo was quite un-appealing. We've stayed overnight in Santa Margarita a few times, & visited Portofino from there. We've also spent 4 days on the Cinque Terra - which I think is unique & very interesting. We've spents months on the French Riveria.

No way would I stay in the French Riveria and attempt to drive to the Italian one for a day trip. That's a tough drive. A recent poster did that (many suggested that she not do it), and on her trip report, she stated that it was a really dumb thing to do. I think she went all the way to SML, however.

Monte Carlo is very un-appealing to us - too much concrete & congestion & glitz, and expensive places. We love Nice.

Stu Dudley

We spent three nights in Nice last May, and loved it. It's a charming city in itself, with many, many day-trips depending on your interests. We went to Antibes one day, and it's beautiful. I wrote a very detailed trip report from our stay there. I'll paste it below, in case it helps.

(We had also spent three nights in Santa Margherita Ligure, to see the Italian coast, visiting the Cinque Terre and Portofino on different days. I have a trip report posted from there, too.)

"Nice, three nights in May, 2006

We arrived in Nice in the early afternoon on Friday, via train from Santa Margherita Ligure. Our Hotel le Grimaldi (http://www.le-grimaldi.com/) was a short cab ride from the train station, 10 EUR for myself, my daughter, my gargantuan bag, and her two small ones. We were greeted graciously at the hotel, which immediately struck us as a good find.

The hotel is actually two Belle Epoque buildings back-to-back. One side is much prettier to enter, as it faces a nice church. The other side is fine, too, but a bit boring. I think the side on rue Grimaldi is the plain one, and the other side on rue Maccarani is prettier.

The man at the front desk carried my bag to the room, and showed us around. There’s a business center on the ground floor, with free internet use on their two computers, and a free printer to use. (Also wi-fi in the lobby, I think for a fee.)

Our room was a ‘classic’, twin-bedded room, which was quite large (for Europe), had a little balcony, a sparkling yellow and white tile bath with fluffy bright yellow towels, and nice toiletries. It was 150 EUR plus tax, and 10 EUR per person if we opted for the hot/cold breakfast buffet. They suggested we check out the buffet served till 10:30a.m. the next morning, and if we were interested we could sign on for it. The deal is that you have to buy it everyday to get the 10 EUR rate. Otherwise, per day, it’s 15 EUR per person.

So the next morning, we were happy to find hot eggs, proscuitto, yoghurts, cereals, cappuccino, assorted croissants, juices, etc. We thought it a good deal and quite convenient, so we enjoyed it each morning.


It's an easy walk to the train station (w/o luggage) from Le Grimaldi, and a slightly longer walk to the bus station. Easy walk of a few blocks to the grand promenade at seaside, just past the pedestrian zone. Also not far walking to Vieux Nice. The neighborhood felt perfectly safe, and we walked back to the hotel late each night.

For our first dinner, I had brought the name of a restaurant I’d found on Travel Talk, and the front desk agreed it was a good one, a local favorite in old Nice. It’s called Acchiardo, at 38 rue Droite in Vieux Nice. We headed over for their opening at 7 p.m., and were very happy with it. Really friendly and attentive service, very quaint and casual atmosphere, with a good menu. I had a steak dinner, which actually included vegetables on the side. My daughter had two different salads. We had bottled water and a half-liter of house red wine. When the bill arrived for 28.50EUR, I thought they’d made a mistake because it was so much less than I’d been accustomed to paying in Venice, Florence and Rome. But, no, it was correct. (We would have maybe eaten there another night, but found out it closes on weekend nights, believe it or not.)

We walked all over old Nice, then through the pedestian area to the promenade and took that way back to the hotel. It’s such a beautiful walk at night. The Chateau hillside is all lit up, the palm trees are lit, and the waves look so pleasant. It was how we ended each of our Nice nights, with that walk back to the hotel.

The next day we decided to take the short bus ride on the #81, to visit the Villa and Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild, near Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. (The bus is just 1.30EUR each direction, which you pay in exact change on the bus.) We didn't stop to see the Greek Villa, but it's also on that same bus route, near the Ephrussi. You can easily catch the #81 for your return trip to Nice, at any stop along the road.

It was a nice visit, especially to see the views of the sea down below on both sides of the hillside. I thought the price was a bit steep, at 9.50EUR for an adult, because the Villa isn’t really all that interesting (sorry!), but the gardens are pretty. There’s also a nice little café there, for a light snack or drink or meal, which was a welcome break from all our walking.

While we were there, a very strong wind came up, which caused quite a bit of white caps in the water below, and chased everyone in from the patio tables. The wind stayed with us for the rest of the day, but wasn’t terribly annoying.

From the Villa, we did the easy walk down to the port of St. Jean to walk around and check it out. There are nice boats in the little harbor, with cute restaurants and shops. It’s very tiny, so doesn’t take long to walk from end to end of St. Jean. We spent just about an hour and a half there, then caught the #81 back to Nice.

That evening, we returned to old Nice for dinner. We loved that neighborhood’s little streets, overall atmosphere, and cute shops. We found the Restaurant la Tapenada, 6 rue St. Reparate and had a very nice dinner. It was probably about 60EUR for the two of us, on their fixed price menu, with a bottle of house wine. Very nice little place, with friendly and attentive service. They even let my daughter trade her dessert for a salad. So she had two salads to start, one after the other, and they timed the arrival of our main courses perfectly. We were completely happy with our meal there.

The next day we decided we’d stick to the coast and see Antibes, which is a short 20-minute train ride from Nice. We were glad we’d chosen Antibes, as it’s beautiful. The sea wall makes a nice walk, and the Centre Ville is very charming.

We wandered its streets, shopped in a tiny clothing boutique, found a little place for omelettes (nothing special, but nice enough), then headed back to Nice by train after about four hours total. It was a good choice for a quick day-trip.

That evening we weren’t very hungry, so opted for the simple Pasta Basta, once again in old Nice. It was a nice meal, although not extraordinary. Good prices and decent service.

All in all, we were very impressed with Nice and the surrounding area. It’s a very pretty city, with a friendly attitude, sitting on a lovely shore. There are many options for things to do near Nice. We’d considered St. Paul de Vence and Digne, but with the beautiful clear weather, we were drawn to stay at the seaside, and were glad we did."
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Thanks for the replies! What do you think about the following:

This is what we have scheduled:

- Nice (2 days)
- Train to Genova then to San Margarita (excuse spelling)
- Spend about a day at Cinque Terre
- Drive to Cornoa (4 days in Tuscany)
- Drive to Florence (3 days)
- Train to Venice (4 days)

What do you think?

How many nights comprice driving to Genoa, Santa Margarita, and about a day on the Cinque Terra??

Where is Cornoa?? If you mean Cortona, I find the Val d'Orcia around Pienza to be MUCH more scenic and interesting than the region around Cortona. In fact, I think the Cortona region is very un-appealing - too much commerce & ugly developement below Cortona & surrounding area.

Stu Dudley

Strange how my second reply completely disappeared. In case you didn't get to read it, I notice that your trip seems to focus on Tuscany & Venice, so perhaps you may want to drop Nice completely and save it for another trip. If it's still possible to change, I would recommend flying directly into Genova or at least Milan if you want to explore Cinque Terre.

I personally would not drop Nice or the Ligurian coast. They are very pleasant, and make a nice contrast to the hill country and to Venice.

Santa Margherita Ligure makes a nice home base, because it's an easy day-trip to the Cinque Terre, and also to Portofino. It's also a nice smallish oceanfront city, that didn't seem overly touristy. Good restaurants, inexpensive and nice hotels/B&Bs. We loved the coastal areas of Italy, and spent 3 nights in Santa Margherita Ligure. We liked the little Hotel Nuova Riviera. (I posted a detailed trip report about it.)

I'd suggest: 2 days Nice, 2 days Santa Margherita Ligure, 3 days Tuscany, 3 days Florence, 3 days Venice.
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