My daughter is going to be finishing up her semester abroad in Aix-en-Provence. We are going to be meeting her mid December and will stay through the end of December. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where we should plan to be for Christmas? I heard Nice has things going on, but I am really clueless. Any help would be great.

Nice will have a big Christmas market on the Place Masséna, along with decorations everywhere. That's a good place to base yourselves, as you can travel from there by train, bus, or car and visit the smaller villages.

We spent a week last Christmas in Nice and really enjoyed it. Here is a link to my report -

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

We found Nice busy with locals and tourists and lots to do. There are lots of places nearby for day trips, either by bus or train or car. The weather was cold but sunny most of the time.

I did a report on the apartment on the www.slowtrav.com website and there are other vacation reports on there from people who have stayed in the area at Christmas, you might find reading them useful.

Kay

KayF

When you provide a link to a past post on Fodors, retrieve the post by clicking on your name or searching. Then click on the title of the post in the center of the screen & it will be displayed again. Then copy the URL & paste it in your reply.

You will get a format that looks something like this:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35164996

with a big number at the end of the URL

Stu Dudley

Thank you. We are always on the lookout for a good place to spend Christmas/New Years and Nice has never popped up before. What a great idea. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Several years ago, we arrived for a visit to Nice the day after Christmas, and had a great time! For more, see our phototravelogue at http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...0&y=-run25

There's a big Christmas market in Aix.
suggested reading: The Boss Dog, by MFK Fisher.

Thanks Stu, I didn't realise. Take Two -

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35097933

Hope it works this time.

Kay

To SemiMike:
Thanks for the pictures! 27 years ago when I was a college student, I did my study abroad in Nice. The pictures brought back nice memories. Thanks for sharing

Hi Kay:
Thanks for the great information. The thread worked (thanks to Stu)! I will go to the sites and see what I can do as far as an apartment rental. Anyone have any tips on car rentals there? I know the cars are small, but my daughter is going to have two large suitcases (from 5 months of being abroad) and we will have our luggage too.

Who told you the cars are small? They don't have the massive SUVs we have in the US - but the cars we rent can hold 4-5 large bags. Try
www.AutoEurope.com

Call, don't reserve on their web site. Ask about any discounts or promotions. They have at least a 8% AAA discount.

Stu Dudley

...and don't walk away from the car with luggage in it.

Ask for a "compact wagon".

For car entals, take a look at the sixt.com site. That's one of Europe's largest rental agencies, and recently there have been posts here about problems with autoeurope.com--extra charges at the end of the rental. We're going to give sixt a try; the downtown office is in the Le Meridien Hotel, and we got a very good early-bird rate. Paying in advance is not required.