Sidestepping behind the French Riviera
 

My husband and I are staying for a week in Cap-Ferrat in July. We have been thinking about hiring a driver or taking a tour from there to some wineries. Is there a company that someone could recommend for this?
We would prefer to leave from our hotel or close by. I don't want to spend all day trying to get to the tour.
We will not have a car. Do we need one?
What do you think the cost would be for 1/2 a day?

Your best bet would be to hire a car and driver from one of the major car-rental outfits, such as AutoEurope or Europecar.

I don't know of any winery tours in the area around Nice, as most of the wineries in Provence are farther to the west (such as the Cassis region) and up along the Rhône river. But a while back someone replied here to a post for information about wineries in the Nice region, and you might try searching for the information in the box above.

Thank you Underhill. I will try to find that post.

Does anyone have a good private guide they can recommend for Cap-Ferrat and Monaco area?
Since it seems we might not make it to the wineries, I would like to do a different day trip.

On a different note does anyone know if you need to make advance reservations for dinner at Chateau Eza?

The main thing to see in Cap Ferrat is the Rothschild mansion. Villa Kerylos in nearby Beaulieu is also worth a visit. I don't know where you are in Cap Ferrat, but we stayed at the Royal Riviera, and both of these visits were easy walks.
There's also a path around Cap Ferrat where you can walk around the peninsula. This would be a pretty walk, if the locals did not use it as their local dog toilet; watch your step.
I really do not think you would need a private guide for Cap Ferrat, or Monaco, but if you do want one, ask your hotel.
I would definitely make dinner reservations for anywhere you would really like to go for dinner in July. The Royal Riviera has a good restaurant, with a nice terrace.

To answer your other question; I would want a car if I were staying in Cap Ferrat for a week. Get a small car; easier to navigate the narrow roads, but driving there is really not that difficult.
I usually rent from Easy Rentacar at Nice Airport; I've regularly checked prices at rental companies at the airport, and have found them cheapest.

You'd have a better view--and better food--at the Chèvre d'Or in Eze-village than at Château Eza.

Thank you for the replies. We are staying at the Royal Riviera. I think I was looking into a tour in order to see the grande corniche, and similar sites.
I will look into the renting a car. I just didn't want to if I could avoid it but I also don't want to spend all my time trying to figure out how to get somewhere.
I appreciate the advice on the restaurant. We will be celebrating our anniversary and I wanted something really spectacular.

Lenox; if you want something really spectacular, go for the Chevre d'Or; book well in advance (the hotel will do that for you).
We loved the Royal Riviera; very friendly staff, beautiful hotel. Have a good time!

I just noticed I never responded to this last suggestion.

We did try the Chevre d'Or and it was spectacular. We actually went there for lunch and I took some beautiful pictures.

I was a little surprised at the dinner prices. That is why we just ate lunch there.

For our anniversary dinner we hoped on the public bus (yes in full evening garb) and headed to Monaco. We had a fab dinner, watched another couple get engaged and then went and lost some money at the Casino.

What a great memory!

For a special dinner, book a table at the Hôtel Negresco's restaurant Chantecler.

Some of those public buses don't run too late at night. Better check the timetables. We were staying at the Novotel near Nice airport and wanted to dine in Nice but the bus didn't run much past 10 p.m. as I recall, but I could be wrong on this. We've had bad experiences with Nice taxi drivers so we had to have dinner by the airport.

We took the bus into Monaco, but grabbed a taxi back. It was not bad at all, except you have to know where to grab the taxi, after midnight they are very hard to come by. But there is a stand behind the Casino.