arunkumarsivaraman24

Hi,
First time France tourist here. I'm looking to get some opinions on my itinerary. At this point, I haven't got down all the places to visit but I'm going to try updating this post as I figure out more details. Here's what I've got down so far for my itinerary. I've added my questions below each day

Day 1: Land in Paris: Get settled in. Visit some attractions or take a walking tour late afternoon/evening and call it a day.
[Q] My original plan was to fly out to Nice on the day we land in Paris but I found tickets to be ~$500 for 2 people round trip. Found out that the day after we land is a holiday, which may be the reason for prices to be high. If we fly to Nice on Day 3, then the total price is 1/2 or lower. Should I take the costlier flight on Day 1 itself to Nice and save on hotel cost in Paris for 2 nights?

Day 2: Visit Versailles

Day 3: Take early morning flight to Nice. Rent a car. Go around Nice. Retire in Nice for the day.
[Q] 1. The earliest flight I get out to Nice is @ 7a. This would mean being at the airport by 5a (or should I be there even earlier).
a. If I stay in Paris, would there be enough service, like say, @ 3.30-4p for me to get to CDG by 5a.
b. Is CDG checkin and security better if its early morning flights?
2. Is a car required if I were to spend the day around Nice only?

Day 4: Drive to Menton. Spend day in Menton & Monaco. Retire either in Monaco/french side for the day.
[Q] 1. Will US Visa cards work well for the toll roads? If cash should be the preferred mode, how much cash should I set aside?

Day 5: Drive to Eze/Rothschild/Nice. Retire in Nice

Day 6: Drive to Antibes. Spend day in Antibes & Cannes. Retire in Antibes/Cannes

Day 7: Drive to Gorges du Verdon/Grasse. Retire in Nice.

Day 8: Do some sight seeing in Nice. Travel to Paris. Retire in Paris

Day 9-13: Paris

Day 14: Travel home

I'm still piecing together my itinerary. So, pls add places that you would recommend to add as always welcome to critique my itinerary. Pls also add any places that were off the beaten path in the areas of my itinerary.

TIA.

HappyTrvlr

I do not understand, “Rent a car. Go around Nice. “
Nice is a city so walk and use public transportation such as buses.
Or by “ go around Nice” do you mean visit areas outside of Nice?
If do, visit Antibes and St-Jean Cap Ferrat.

arunkumarsivaraman24

I meant around the city only. I was wondering myself (question #2 for Day 3) whether its necessary to rent the car that day or push it to the morning of Day 4.

thursdaysd

You neither need nor want a car in Nice itself. In fact you do not need a car to visit places like Menton and Monaco and Eze etc. Use the buses and trains. You would need one for Day 7.

There is no need to fly from Paris to Nice, take the train. See: https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-ro...e-by-train.htm

You could, in fact, take the train direct from CDG, but you would have to change at least once (Marseilles).

mjs

Why don’t you open jaw your flights and fly into a Paris and home from Nice or vice versa. No need for a car in Nice.

abbydog

Hop-on hop-off tourist buses aren't for everyone, I guess, but I absolutely loved the one I took in Nice. In fact, I did the tour twice. It goes everywhere, and from the open top level you can drink in the gorgeous architecture.

gooster

By "retire in Nice" do you mean stay in a hotel/lodging? If so, that is a lot of changes in places that are not too far apart and well connected by public transport. Even if you insisted on driving to some you would be best served by reducing the number of times you are moving. Nice to Menton is about 38 minutes by train, all stops included.

You can arrive by plane or train and stay in Nice. You can take a train to Antibes and back very easily. You can go to Menton and then Monaco by train or train/bus. You can take the bus to Eze and then take buses (or a taxi) to Villa Ephrussi. Bus back to Nice. You could also do this last day with a car. If you do that, I encourage to you go to La Turbie and the Trophee des Alpes.

The only site that is really tough to get to is the Gorge du Verdon. In that case, I recommend driving a car and taking an overnight stay in Moustier St-Marie. You can hit Grasse on the way there or back -- I also recommend villages/towns like Tourettes sur Loup, Gourdon and Vence/St. Paul de Vence. You can hit these before returning back to the airport (or staying in/near St. Paul de Vence).

You can consider an open jaw back home.

aliced

Suggest taking TGV not plane to or from Nice, idyllic, and restful particularly at very beginning of trip (day 3 after Versailles). No car needed in Nice per se, there are trams that run from the old town in all directions in the city. Took taxi from train to our hotel (over near St. J Cap Ferrat, and took tram back to train station where we rented a car for St. Paul de Vence only, cheapest venue for car rental. (Train/bus doesnt work for St.PdeV, 20 min car ride v 1 1/2 public transp.) Along the coast, the train does go, however, so leave it open on the car rental and use trains. Check stop for Eze, however, it is well worth it. There is a train station in Monaco, of course. Trains to Nice leave Paris from Gare de Lyon. Trains back from Nice go right into CDG, very convenient. From CDG into Paris, we always take the RER B right to Jardins du Luxembourg, so always stay there in St. Germain (the 5th or 6th arr) for sheer convenience. And as recommended above, you could fly back from Nice, but in our case would have had to make a very short connection in Zurich connection, so opted to TGV both ways, which was very relaxing after a hectic three weeks.

arunkumarsivaraman24

Thanks for the thought about train. I looked into again - this time figuring out how to work with the sncf connect website - and found that I could travel on the day I land for the same price as travelling on Day 3. So, actually I'm changing our itinerary. As far as car goes, while I see that there are buses available, going by google maps going from Eze to Rothschild in Nice shows 1-1.5hrs using public transport and about 15mins when using car. So, getting to lot more places and being out lot longer into the evening/night when having a car would be helpful.

Yes, by retire I meant staying in a hotel/lodge for the night. Based on changing my travel to/from Paris to train, I'm now actually looking at getting down @ Antibes on Day 1 and departing back to Paris from Nice.

Thank you for the staying recommendations. I'll definitely look into it. As far as open jaw back home, I did try that option but flying into Paris and back out of Nice to Boston was expensive compared to the round-trip flight to Paris that I eventually booked (1/3rd the price).

I think we'll end up doing the same.

Thanks for suggesting the train too. I think I'll end up taking the train itself but from Gare de Lyon instead of CDG.

During the tour in the riviera, I'm now thinking of staying the as below

Day 1 - 3 nights: Nice

Day 4 night: Antibes/Cannes

Day 5 night: St. Tropez

Day 6 night: Nice

Day 7 afternoon: leave for Paris

I had done a "cancellable" car booking for $325 for the 6-7 days that I'll be in Nice. When I try to shorten it only for 3-4 days, the cost ends being double of the current per day ($50/day becomes $100/day). So, I'm thinking of just keeping the car.

gooster

If you do keep the car, consider going to Saint Tropez first and then return to Antibes/Cannes. You can drive to the airport directly from there. Antibes to the airport is relatively close and it will save you the lost time from checking in/out of a place you've already been. You can spend your extra day taking a day trip into the hinterland. I recommend the loop of St. Paul de Vence, Vence (for the Matisse Chapel, if that interests you), Tourettes sur Loup and Gourdon. It will give you some beautiful villages to visit in the hills, with distant views of the sea. If you drive to Eze, I recommend continuing on to La Turbie (Trophee des Alpes, view down on Monaco) or the Tete du Chien (a nice hike to an even higher view).

What time of year are you going again? Traffic can be very thick along the Cote d"Azur, especially in/out of the coastal cities. Within Nice itself driving is not recommended. You tend to park and then walkaround (the center is relatively small), or take the hop-on hop off bus or the modern tram system. It is only 13 to 21 minutes by train to Antibes (faster than a car) and 27 to Monaco. We have a place in Nice and only rent a car when we take trips to the countryside. Even if I had a car full time, I'd still take the train to places like Cannes, Monaco and Antibes (easier traffic, less parking charges)

Underhill

Every time you change hotels you lose about 1/2 day (packing up, travel, new hotel, unpack). You wouldn't want to backtrack from Antibes/Cannes to St-Tropez--do it the other way around, but you really don't need to change hotels as the towns are fairly close to each other. But if you must, then start in St-Tropez and work your way back to Nice.

arunkumarsivaraman24

Thanks for your input, gooster & Underhill. I'm going in mid-May.

gooster ,
Does the loop suggested by you be done only in a car?

I was actually thinking of going to the Gorges on day 1 in the riviera. So, based on the input here's what I'm thinking now for the Riviera itinerary.

Day 1: Gorges Du Verdon (Travel from Nice). Pls suggest any interesting spots on way to Gorges or back on the way towards St. Tropez. Stay for the night in St. Tropez
Day 2: St. Tropez. Travel back to Nice.
Day 3: Antibes & Cannes. Travel back to Nice
Day 4: Menton & Monaco. Travel back to Nice
Day 5: Eze & Rothschild and some Nice (time permitting). Travel back to Nice
Day 6: Nice. Stay in Nice
Day 7: Take early morning Ouigo to Paris

StuDudley

The Loup River loop is done by car.

FWIW, we are not fans of the Gorges du Verdon. If you do it - also visit Moustiers.

Stu Dudley

arunkumarsivaraman24

What did you not find well with Gorges? What would be your recommendations?

StuDudley

Unless you want to take a kayak down the river or walk on a "skilled hiker only" path along the river, the only way you can view the gorge is from the (too few) lookouts/belveders from the canyon's rim. Almost all the Michelin 3 star belvederes are on the treacherous Route des Cretes, which is a circular 1 car-wide winding one-way road, with not enough road guardrails.

We've visited it 3 times.

Stu Dudley

shelemm

Monaco left no impression on me whatsoever. Also not a fan of Gorge du Verdun. In fact, I don't really think visiting resort areas one after the other like St Tropez, Cannes, and Antibes is all that great either,..... maybe you should choose one and expand your horizons. This all seems repetitive to me.

gooster

The loop I suggested is best done by car (St. Paul de Vence, Vence-optional, Tourettes sur Loup, Gourdon). Stu probably has it in his itinerary. There is a regional bus but it is very inefficient for this route.

Be careful with your timing. At Mid-May you are at the time of the start of the Cannes Film Festival (16th-27th). This can be a benefit if that is your thing, or a nightmare if you want to go there for any other reason (the streets will be blocked, places swarmed with people, etc .... not good also the days right before and after due to setup/cleanup of barricades, tents, other temporary structures). If you do go, take the train.

Southam

It will be more efficient to fly into Marseille Provence or Nice airport to start, often requiring a connection so it will be a long day. Let airline search functions find the route for you. Work your way north (I like the train) to Paris and then fly home, all flights on a single itinerary.Departing from Paris means a mid-day departure rather than early morning with a connection.

touringtimothy

2 things: Firstly, Gorges du Verdon is quite far from Nice. It's a good +2 hours each way. Secondly, what actually interests you? Just sightseeing famous places or anything in particular? architecture? nature?

If first time to Paris Id suggest just starting with basic tourist places eg. https://theparisshortlist.com/places-to-visit-in-paris/

For Cote d'Azur, coastline, driving tricky as crowded and nuanced particularly if you havent driven in Europe before....unless you plan to go inland e.g. to Gorges du Verdon, everything you listed is along the coastline and so travelling by rail will be easier as stations are all in central places and can walk from there (or short bus or taxi ride).

https://cotedazurfrance.fr/en/stays/...on/travelling/

shelemm

Renting a car is a great idea for the Cote d'Azur, as it gives you tremendous freedom to explore. But constantly going in and out of Nice is not the way to take advantage of that freedom. Instead of being tethered to Nice (or any city) and backtracking, you should just move forward.