basj

Want to see Paris and then head to the Rivera. How many days should I plan in each, how do I get from Paris to the Rivera and what to do in each?? If time permits, would love to also go to the Amalfi coast.

fbc34

But a r/t ticket to Nice with a stopover in Paris. That way, you can fly to Paris, spend five or six days, then fly to Nice for the balance of your time. Fly home from Nice. There are so many posts on this board that could help you plan your trip in both cities. I'm sick that the search function is behaving so badly. Just keep scrolling down and you'll find many many posts that will help you! And get a couple of guide books (one for each area) to get your started.

In Nice, don't miss Antibes or St Paul de Vence, both accessible by public transportation.

I can't help you with the Amalfi Coast, but I can't imagine you have time to hit that also.

Have a wonderful trip!

Underhill

What part of the Riviera--Cannes? Nice? Antibes? St-Tropez? The main airport for the region is Nice, and you can fly there from Paris's Orly Airport in about 1-1/2 hours; the train takes about 6 hours because not all of the track is configured for the high-speed trains (TGV).

What do you want to see in Paris? On the Côte d'Azur? With 10 days (does that include arrival and departure) I think you'd really be pushing it to go into Italy.

StuDudley

5 full days minimum in Paris, 6 days minimum on the Riveria. Forget the Amalfi coast - too far away & difficult to get to. Instead visit Provence.

-Land in Paris - 6 nights there.
-Take the 3 hr TGV train to Avignon. Rent a car & spend 6 nights there - 3 in St Remy & 3 in the Luberon (Gordes, Roussillon, Bonnieux).
- Drive to Aix en Provence & spend the morning & afternoon there. Then drive to St Tropez & spend 3 nights there.
- Drive to Nice & spend 4 nights there. Explore the small villages back of Nice the first 2 days. Dump the car & take the train to some coastal villages around Nice.
- Fly home from Nice.

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

Oops - just realized that you only hazve 10 days. Definately skip the Amalfi coast.

- Land in Paris - 5 nights there
- Take the plane to Nice - 5 nights there.

Stu Dudley

basj

Stu, Underhil and fbc,

Thanks for your replies. What day trips can I take from Nice and how long will it take to get there? Also any hotel recommendations for both Pairs and Nice?

StuDudley

There are scads of day-trip from Nice. I have a 20+ page itinerary for the Cote d'Azur & Provence. E-mail me at [email protected] if you want a copy. Do so soon - we'll be out of town this weekend, and on Wed we're leaving for a month in France.

We always stay at the Windsor in Nice. We rent apts in Paris.

Stu Dudley

Guenmai

Take the train. That's how I got there most of the time. I think I only flew down there a couple of times in the dozen or more times I've been there. I don't know how you're going to throw in the Amalfi Coast(ITALY), plus Paris and the Riviera in only ten days. I've been to the Amalfi Coast, but did that on a separate trip. I'd stick to only France and not try to do Italy,too. Plus, the Amalfi Coast takes time to get to. I like it better than the Riviera actually, but you can't just zip there. I was in Vietri and surroundings. Happy Travels!

StCirq

Curious what motivated you to plan this trip when you don't even know what to do in the places you've chosen.

I never understand posts by people who are going places but have no idea what they're going to do when they get there.

Read a guidebook? Do an internet search?

The cart before the horse syndrome kinda baffles me.

gracejoan3

StCirq..

You have asked the question that has baffled me for so long!! I see this all the time. I can't imagine how people decide to go some place without a clue as to what is there...yes, how do they pick it in the first place!!

Half the fun is in the planning of a trip.........

Guenmai

Back in the day before the forum, folks had to buy a guidebook or two and do some research, but now I'm finding that many folks are depending on us on the forum to figure it all out for them. I have absolutely no problem with helping folks as I'm a regular on the Asia forum...where posters definitely seem to have done more research than over here before posting.
I like folks to at least do some BASIC research before they post questions and to at least know basic geography. Happy Travels!

Christina

I've gone by train and flying between Paris/Nice, and it's just a matter of time. I wouldn't think of buying a RT Nice Nice ticket with a stopover in Paris myself, as that doesn't seem efficient to me (having Nice on both ends of your stay). Also, tickets with stopovers can be expensive. Just buy an open-jaw ticket with Paris at one end and Nice the other, as you choose, that is very cheap, probably about the same as a RT Paris ticket. So you can fly into Nice and out of Paris, or vice versa. That takes care of the trip one-way and then you need to take the train or something for the other end of the trip to get between the two points. I fly Air France usually to France, and if you add on Nice to one leg, it doesn't usually cost much if anything. It will go through Paris anyway, and you'll transfer there.

I think people have heard of Paris and the Riviera, even if they know nothing about them, so assume that would be a good vacation. In this case, probably so. I'd suggest you split your time 50/50 maybe, or give a little more to the Riviera to account for the travel time (eg, 6 days and 4 days Paris).

Forget the Amalfi coast, that doesn't even make sense in this trip due to logistics.

StuDudley

Christina
I think the Nice/Nice RT with stopover in Paris would be:
Fly to Paris & visit Paris.
Fly from Paris to Nice & visit Nice
Fly home from Nice.
Or it could be:
Fly to Nice & visit Nice
Fly from Nice to Paris & visit Paris
Fly home from Paris

Last time I checked (many years ago) this RT with a stopover was the same price as a RT to Nice (via Paris, of course).

Stu Dudley

MaureenB

In Nice, I can highly recommend the Hotel le Grimaldi. I wrote a detailed trip report about our three nights in Nice, in May '06:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34810691

Here are my specific notes about the hotel:
"Our Hotel le Grimaldi (http://www.le-grimaldi.com/) was a short cab ride from the train station. It was 10EUR 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 wireless in the lobby, I think for a fee.)

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

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."

I agree you won't have time for the Amalfi coast, but you could go down to the Ligurian Coast of Italy. We stayed three nights in Santa Margherita Ligure, from which we easily day-tripped to the Cinque Terre and Portofino. Then we took the train to Nice for our three nights. (There's a typo in my trip report, which says we arrived in Nice from Venice.)

It's a lovely part of the world. Enjoy your stay there.
>-

Guenmai

Christine...You're right...most people have probably heard of Paris and the Riviera...however the Riviera covers a lot of miles. I just ask that posters do enough research to be more exact as to what they want. I've been all over the Riviera for decades. I don't know if the poster wants Nice, Cannes, etc...I personally stayed in Beausoleil for decades. So, that's where research comes in so that we can answer the questions better. Happy Travels!