bartorlando

I was able to get tickets on Delta using Skymiles to fly into Nice and out of Barcelona in early May. My girlfriend and I will have 10 full days while we are there. I've never been to that part of Europe and really know very little about it other than it looks beautiful. Both of us enjoy the beach very much, but I have to admit I'm not used to going to the beach in Europe (never been the the med coast). We are hoping to make this trip more lesiure, our last trip to Europe was a 14 day whirlwind tour.

In trying to prepare an itenary I had a couple of questions for those of you that have been there.

1. If we are landing in Nice and leaving out of Barcelona how should I break up the ten days?
2. Which would be better to stay in Nice or Monte Carlo?
3. If I rent a car to drive through the south of France, what are the 'must sees'?
4. How often and how do I get tickets to a bull fight in Barcelona?

By the way, I have a ton of Hilton and Marriott points that I probably use in Nice/Monaco and Barcelona. If anybody knows any good properties in the area I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks,
Bart

rex

Wow. Another great "blank slate" question (click on my name for one I just answered) - - you need books. Big books. Numerous books, with lots of pictures.

Ten days won't be that much, for an itinerary that could span 50 days as easily as twenty. I think you should start with pursuing whether you really want to use those Hilton/Marriott points. I would probably not choose to use them, but then I don't where else/when else you might use them.

Nice and Monte Carlo are as different as Providence and Newport (that's probably a very clumsy analogy, but it's the best I can think of)... I might recommend any of a number of smaller lovely towns (including some I don't personally know)... Antibes, Juan les Pins, Eze - - potentially more bang for the buck in lodging, but then even a good bargain can fail to compare well to "free" (using your points).

Must sees? That's what books are for, and there's no accounting for personal taste, but here are some oft-mentioned sweet spots (again, I am not as knowledgeable as some here)... Gordes and all kinds of other hill towns near Nice (half day? overnight?), the Corniche d'Esterel (only takes 1.5-3 hours - - a little like Big Sur, even if not quite as spectacular), St. Tropez, Aix en Provence, Montpellier, Sete, Collioure...

... and yes, Nice and Monaco are worthwhile in their own right... for 2-3 hours, up to 36 hours or more.

Assuming that you're renting a car for the France portion (sound like you want to, and I endorse that)... you'll almost certainly find that returning a French car in Spain will be prohibitively expensive. So plan on turning it in when you reach Perpignan, and take the train from there to Barcelona. I would allocate no less than 2 or 3 days to the Catalan corner of Spain (of course, it could take up five or more, but you only have ten to work with).

Another lovely dilemma...

Best wishes,

Rex

mpprh

Hi

10 days is too short !

A few things you could see :

Cannes / Nice / Monaco
Cote d'Azur arrieres pay / Grasse /
Vence / Gourdon
Menton / Italy
Var / St Tropez
Marseilles
Provence
Camargue / Aigues Mortes
Nimes / Pont du Gard / Uzes / Sommieres
Montpellier / Pezenas / Sete / Cevennes
Beziers / Narbonne
Carcassonne
Perpignan / Collioure / Ceret
Pyrenees / Andorra
Figueras / Girona / Port Legat / Cadaques
Costa Brava
Barcelona

A bit of research needed ?

Practicalities -

Cross border car drop off is expensive

Hotels by brand for France Med coast : http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/to...-in-france.htm


The good news is that traffic will be fairly quiet in May with nice weather : sunny, probably dry, and not too hot.

Information about Languedoc here : http://www.the-languedoc-page.com


Peter

bilboburgler

Avignon, Arles, Nimes, Camargue, Carcassone, Canal du midi,

I like the description of Barcelona (reminds my of Portsmouth with extra elegance)

Tulips

There's a Hilton right on the Croisette at Cannes; the hotel is ugly, but in a good location. And the beach is great in Cannes, though many on this forum do not like Cannes. It's glitzy, expensive, but also has an old town with nice restaurants. And it's easy to visit Nice, Antibes, Mougins, and other places from there. Make sure it's not the film festival week though. And isn't the Monaco Grand Prix in May as well?
I really cannot think of other Hilton or Marriott properties on the Cote d'Azur. Isn't there a Marriott just outside Monaco?

MaureenB

We really enjoyed our three nights in Nice last May. There are so many easy day-trips from there, and Nice itself is very pleasant. We chose Nice over Monte Carlo, St. Tropez or Cannes, because it's more of a 'real' town, not overly glitzy, etc. We loved it's old historic area and its waterfront promenade. We easily went to Antibes for one day by train, which is a beautiful little town. Smaller than Nice, but maybe nice for a couple of nights.

Here's my trip report link:
Nice-- http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

Have fun planning! >-

bartorlando

Thanks for all your input.

I'll do some research on each of the towns listed, see what looks good. We are primarily focused on relaxing and taking pictures. We just enjoy being some where different.

We'll probably drop the car off in a town on the French side of the Spanish border (I read a recommendation on another post).

I'll definately take a look at spending a couple of nights at the Cannes Hilton (I got a ton of points and would like to save a few dollars ,especially with the dollar to euro conversion being so lousy).

If anybody has any experience the the Marriott near Monaco I would love to hear it.

I suppose we would rather position ourselves in a convient location to the sights in the area.

How walkable is the area? Specifically Nice, Monaco or Caines.

And I looked it up, the Monaco Grand Prix is at the end of the month, we'll miss it by two weeks.

Bart