I was thinking of stopping in the south of France this coming year on one of our trips.

I'm clueless where the best place would be. We are not beach type people (not looking to just lounge around), but the pictures I've seen are beautiful. Maybe someplace with nice museums and such. I think I'm doing two trips this year - possibly May with friends, and September or so with my husband.

Thanks!

I like the western side of the South of France. Less people. If you are a big city type of person, then I would go to Nice. Consider flying into Barcelona and taking the train up to Beziers, Sete, or Montpelier. Otherwise, fly into Nice or take the TGV train from Paris.

I'd hone in on the Avignon-Arles area that offers some of Europe's neatest most old-worldish towns and lots of other great sights in a very compact area. (Pont du Gard, perhaps the finest Roman relic outside of Italy; Les Baux, St Remy, Nimes, Uzes and a zillion other towns - this is called Europe's most popular vacation area for europeans for good reason - great weather as well.

Nice has excellent museums--Chagall, Matisse, Picasso as well as the Beaux Arts Museum. Right outside Nice, on Cap Ferrat, is the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, a gorgeous art-filled palace with a garden overlooking the sea. Just inland a bit from Nice is St. Paul de Vence, a picture-perfect little hill-town.

To the west are the Luberon hilltowns, very picturesque and the towns of Aix, Arles, and Avignon, all worth a visit. Les Baux is a perched village in the starkly beautiful Alpilles mountains. St. Remy is centrally located to all of the places mentioned in this paragraph, so if you are renting a car, it would be a convenient place for you to stay. I especially enjoyed the Monastery St. Paul just outside of St. Remy, where Van Gogh convalesced. I love the beautiful cloister there. Just a short walk away are Roman ruins.

I am in the process of planning a stay in Uzes, a town that comes highly recommended, in the Gard, just to the west of the border of Provence. You might consider this as well...

Nice seemed built-up, overpriced and overrun by tourists when we were there in late September this year. I think you could visit Nice (to see its museums and stroll along its boardwalk) but stay outside Nice, possibly in the mountains to the north. For example, we flew from Paris to Nice (faster and cheaper than taking the TGV train), rented a car, drove along the coast to Monaco and then drove north into the mountains to Saint Martin Vesubie. This is a charming, well-preserved tiny village - a real town, albeit one that serves the visitors who come to hike and ski in the area. It was about 2 hours' drive from the coast (which might be a little too far for you).

Oops. I forgot to mention that May is chock-full of French holidays: May 1, May 8, May 17 (and for some, May 27-28). This will affect train, flight and hotel availability and prices. Try to avoid travelling at the start or end of the resulting long weekends and book far enough ahead so that the prices are reasonable.

We had a great experience staying in Nice three nights in mid-May 2006. Didn't think it had a 'big city' feeling at all. Really liked its location on the sea, its old Nice area, the pedestrian area, etc. From Nice there are great side-trips, too. We especially liked visiting Antibes for a day.

Here's my trip report:
"Nice, three nights in May, 2006

We arrived in Nice in the early afternoon on Friday, via train from Santa Margherita Ligure. Our Hotel le Grimaldi (http://www.le-grimaldi.com/) was a short cab ride from the train station, 10 EUR 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 street side is much prettier to enter, as it faces a nice church. The other side is fine, too, but a bit boring. I think rue Grimaldi is the plain one, and the other side on rue Maccarani is a prettier street.

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 wi-fi in the lobby, I think for a fee.)

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

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.

It's an easy walk to the train station (w/o luggage) from Le Grimaldi, and a slightly longer walk to the bus station. Easy walk of a few blocks to the grand promenade at seaside, just past the pedestrian zone. Also not far walking to Vieux Nice. The neighborhood felt perfectly safe, and we walked back to the hotel late each night.

For our first dinner, I had brought the name of a restaurant I’d found on Travel Talk, and the front desk agreed it was a good one, a local favorite in old Nice. It’s called Acchiardo, at 38 rue Droite in Vieux Nice. We headed over for their opening at 7 p.m., and were very happy with it. Really friendly and attentive service, very quaint and casual atmosphere, with a good menu. I had a steak dinner, which actually included vegetables on the side. My daughter had two different salads. We had bottled water and a half-liter of house red wine. When the bill arrived for 28.50EUR, I thought they’d made a mistake because it was so much less than I’d been accustomed to paying in Venice, Florence and Rome. But, no, it was correct. (We would have maybe eaten there another night, but found out it closes on weekend nights, believe it or not.)

We walked all over old Nice, then through the pedestian area to the promenade and took that way back to the hotel. It’s such a beautiful walk at night. The Chateau hillside is all lit up, the palm trees are lit, and the waves look so pleasant. It was how we ended each of our Nice nights, with that walk back to the hotel.

The next day we decided to take the short bus ride on the #81, to visit the Villa and Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild, near Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. (The bus is just 1.30EUR each direction, which you pay in exact change on the bus.) We didn't stop to see the Greek Villa, but it's also on that same bus route, near the Ephrussi. You can easily catch the #81 for your return trip to Nice, at any stop along the road.

It was a nice visit, especially to see the views of the sea down below on both sides of the hillside. I thought the price was a bit steep, at 9.50EUR for an adult, because the Villa isn’t really all that interesting (sorry!), but the gardens are pretty. There’s also a nice little café there, for a light snack or drink or meal, which was a welcome break from all our walking.

While we were there, a very strong wind came up, which caused quite a bit of white caps in the water below, and chased everyone in from the patio tables. The wind stayed with us for the rest of the day, but wasn’t terribly annoying.

From the Villa, we did the easy walk down to the port of St. Jean to walk around and check it out. There are nice boats in the little harbor, with cute restaurants and shops. It’s very tiny, so doesn’t take long to walk from end to end of St. Jean. We spent just about an hour and a half there, then caught the #81 back to Nice.

That evening, we returned to old Nice for dinner. We loved that neighborhood’s little streets, overall atmosphere, and cute shops. We found the Restaurant la Tapenada, 6 rue St. Reparate and had a very nice dinner. It was probably about 60EUR for the two of us, on their fixed price menu, with a bottle of house wine. Very nice little place, with friendly and attentive service. They even let my daughter trade her dessert for a salad. So she had two salads to start, one after the other, and they timed the arrival of our main courses perfectly. We were completely happy with our meal there.

The next day we decided we’d stick to the coast and see Antibes, which is a short 20-minute train ride from Nice. We were glad we’d chosen Antibes, as it’s beautiful. The sea wall makes a nice walk, and the Centre Ville is very charming.

We wandered its streets, shopped in a tiny clothing boutique, found a little place for omelettes (nothing special, but nice enough), then headed back to Nice by train after about four hours total. It was a good choice for a quick day-trip.

That evening we weren’t very hungry, so opted for the simple Pasta Basta, once again in old Nice. It was a nice meal, although not extraordinary. Good prices and decent service.

All in all, we were very impressed with Nice and the surrounding area. It’s a very pretty city, with a friendly attitude, sitting on a lovely shore. There are many options for things to do near Nice. We’d considered St. Paul de Vence and Digne, but with the beautiful clear weather, we were drawn to stay at the seaside, and were glad we did."
>-

To add to Cimbrone's post about Nice and environs, there's the Fondation Maeght museum, just outside St. Paul de Vence. One of my favorite museums ever, great art in a great modern building on a great site. Closer to the coast, in Cagnes-sur-Mer, is the Renoir Museum.

I too liked Nice and its lazy Belle-Epoque ambiance. And I too loved the cloister at the Monastry St. Paul. In fact, I've become a cloister fan.

Thank you everyone for your replies so far and the trip report! I won't be online as much for a few days (driving to Pigeon Forge for the weekend). The current thought is fly to London (that will be my round trip base, Virgin is here and I have FF miles that can be used on it). Then fly to Rome - probably BA, since they are at Gatwick. Stay in Rome a few days, take a train to the South of France, then on to Paris for 4 or so nights and then a night or two in London.

I am not sure if the train will be the best bet, but I really don't love flying! I don't know that my friends want to see the South of France, but I'd like to see it even just for a couple of nights.

If May doesn't work out, my husband and I hopefully will go in September, and maybe hit the Loire Valley from Paris, followed by the South of France area (again, a couple of nights). More time in London too.

Thanks also for the info on holidays! I have been in May once, and late April once, no holidays I remember then - I know August is the time not to go (since August is like one long holiday!)

nbodyhome--you win a prize for managing to work "Pigeon Forge" into the same post as "Loire Valley", "London", and "Rome"!

Oops, the Picasso museum I was thinking of in my initial post is in Antibes which is an easy train, bus, or cab ride from Nice. It also has a great old town.

Count me among those who love Nice. No, it's not ALL quaint. And there is traffic. To me, though, it has just enough modernity to make it a real place...but it's also very beautiful with its old town, the Belle Epoque architecture and, of course, the sea.

Alas, the Picasso Museum is still closed for renovation. I didn't find any information on when it might be reopening, but I think the plan was for the museum to be closed for a year.

Nice is an excellent place to stay, but don't plan on having a car there--parking is difficult and expensive, and the traffic is madness.

>>The current thought is fly to London (that will be my round trip base, Virgin is here and I have FF miles that can be used on it). Then fly to Rome - probably BA, since they are at Gatwick. Stay in Rome a few days, take a train to the South of France, then on to Paris for 4 or so nights and then a night or two in London.<<

With this planned itinerary, you're going to spend a lot of time getting from A to B. The train from Rome to Nice, for example, will consume almost an entire day (10 hrs).

If this was my trip, I'de just fly RT from London to Nice & spend the entire time in the Cote d'Azur & Provence. I would also try to go in late June when the lavender & sunflowers are in bloom & the days are long.

Stu Dudley

FYI, the Matisse Museum in Nice is also closed for a year or so.

Both museums closed! I knew the Picasso Museum was closed and will be for quite some time. Too bad - we are staying steps away from it! I did not know the Matisse Museum was also closed, so thanks for sharing that here. I wonder when that will be open. We go in July.

For my trip to the south of France next Spring I found a connection through Madrid via Iberia. They fly to Marseille on their low cost airline, Air Nostrum. It gets me to MRS by 11:30 AM. I have an open jaw through AA and am flying out of CDG. Works for me.

In my last visit to the Cote d'Azur I stayed in Juan les Pins, a nice town outside of Nice, and a lot less expensive. Watch out for the gypsies in Nice! I've been 'attcked' there more times than in the rest of Europe combined.

I second the Nice idea (and also am fond of Le Grimaldi hotel). That's interesting about the gypsies. I was in Nice recently and also last year and never even saw any gypsies.

Underhill, where did you see that the Matisse museum was closed? I looked on their web site and didn't see anything about it.

The Chagall museum in Nice was closed last year, but I believe it is open again now.

Marianna, where are you staying that is near the Picasso Museum?

Hello Sea Urchin,

Our trip begins in Italy at Lake Como and moves to SML - each place for just a few days. Then we go to the French Riviera for a liottle over a week.

We rented this townhouse in Antibes: www.azuremaison.com

I found it mentioned here on Fodors just as we were about to rent an apartment in Villefranche-sur-mer for a week in July. It has just about everything we wanted except for a pool, but it is a short walk to the beach. We wanted a place with at least 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and fully air-conditoned. Many apartments we looked at in Villefranche -sur- mer had no AC or just bedrooms with AC. We thought the location seemed great so we booked it! I think our son and his girlfriend will enjoy staying there with us.

Check it out.