Places to visit near Nice
 

We will be visiting Nice in October. Can someone recommend places to visit near Nice? Any great hotel recommendations?

Thanks!

We loved ST. Paul de Vence, Eze, Menton,Monaco(loved the aquarium that Jacques Cousteau once was a part of and the restaurant on top overlooking the harbor for lunch) and also taking the train to the Italian border for the day .Its been several years but we stayed at the Sofitel off the Promenade de Anglais(sp?) and loved the rooftop pool and view.Most people want to be on the Promenade and if you are there off season you should be able to stay wherever for a reasonable price. The Russian church and the Chaghall(sp?) windows were definitely worth seeing. There is a street called Messina that had wonderful restaurants and shops on it-we loved a wood roasted pizza at Tavern Massina.
The public bus and train system worked well for getting us around the region.have fun and enjoy-we loved Nice and have wonderful memories of our time there!

St. Jean Cap Ferrat - absolutely gorgeous scenery and views and it's only a bus ride away from Nice.

Take the small Dignes Les Bains railway from Nice, but only to Entrevaux - makes a very pleasant day trip.

Depends if you have a car or for how long you are going to be staying. St. Paul de Vence is a bit too touristy but still very pretty and charming. If you have a car, you can take a trip to Grasse (perfume capital of the world) and on the way back visit Gourdon, a town situated on top of the mountain, with a breathtaking view of the mountains and little beautuful Provence pottery and crystal shops...We also visited St. Remo (2 hours by car) and drove back on the scenic route from St. Remo through Monaco to Nice. Cannes is obviously another palce to visit. However there are just so many places of historic significance to see in Nice that you should be able to have a wonderful experience exploring just that.

Take the commuter train to Antibes - lovely town!

....and if you're going to Gourdon include Tourette-sur-loup.

Thanks! Great suggestions. I will start researching some of the places today. Will we need to rent a car to visit most of the places, or can we take public transportation?

We used public transportation for EVERYTHING! Buses to places like St.Paul de Vence and trains for everything else that run back and forth along the coast. Easy and inexpensive.

I'm one of those that hated Eze ... too touristy. It has jumped the shark from 'destination that tourists like to visit' to 'destination that solely exists for squeezing every dime from tourists'.

We loved Villa Rothschild ... actually the gardens.

Where are you staying ? Nice itself has a lot to offer.

We just started planning our trip, so not sure yet where we will be staying... maybe in nice or just outside nice.

If you like modern art, the Maeght Foundation at Saint Paul de Vence is well worth a visit:

http://tinyurl.com/nrzbb7

http://tinyurl.com/n8tsjm

See my recent TR - http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-france.cfm?46