odie1

My husband and I will be in Monaco for 6 nights for a business trip. We have 10 days we want to tack on to the end of this trip to explore. This will be the first two weeks of April. We will be flying in and out of Nice. We thought we would explore around Provence, however I didn't know if it would be worth going over into Italy. I realize we would have to rent a car in Italy and then one in France and somehow get between the two of them again via Monaco. Any thoughts?

Michael

You might be able to rent a car in France and take to Italy as long as you bring it back to France. Check with Autoeurope to see if it's feasible and if it is advantageous in terms of cost.

Underhill

You could even take the car from France into Italy and drop it there, but it would cost you an extra $300 or so for the privilege. When you rent and return within France there's no drop charge.

odie1

underhill-
since we are flying in and out of Nice I would not want to drop it off in Italy.

Michael- Thanks, I will check with Autoeurope.

Any thoughts about sticking just to France or trying to do both?

Underhill

With the luxury of 10 days you could certainly go into Italy for a few.

Michael

As a change you could do a small tour of Alpine areas, going to the Italian or Swiss lake region and coming back via the upper Rhone valley. Back in 1967 we did the roads closest to the Italian border from Chamonix to Vence in two days, but three would be less stressful.

Joliefleur

I went to the Riviera with two girl friends a few years ago. We drove from Paris to Nice and then took the train to Florence (Firenze). We really didn't need a car to get around in Florence. I even took the train to Pisa as a side trip. Florence is a beautiful city. I hope you decide to go.

odie1

Michael-
That sounds wonderful but I think it would involve more driving than we would want to do.

Joliefleur-
I would love to go to Florence but I think we want to save that for another trip dedicated to Florence, Tuscany.

I guess I was looking for info about the towns along the Ligurian Sea to Genoa and up through the Piedmont to Torino. Maybe I should re-post that as a separate question. But then again the more I think about it maybe we will spend that just in France.

_jinx_

Suggestion: do both! Rent a car and drive to Santa Margherita Ligure. Base there for three nights and explore Portofino and Cinque Terre. Ride the train to the Cingue Terre villages and back (will save you some tortuous mountainous driving).

Then drive back and explore Provence for your remaining days. Arles is a good base. Be sure to see Pont du Gard and Les Baux as well as the small villages of the Luberon.

Have a great trip.

Jinx Hoover

Anne57

Joliefleur:

We are travelling from Paris to Nice and from there, Nice to Florence. Would you be able to give me some suggestions on the best way to travel from one place to the other. How long did your train ride from Nice to Florence take and how often does the train leave from Nice to Florence.

TuckH

I would certainly recommend that you NOT go over to Italy - the drive is not that pleasant (many tunnels, Genoa heavy traffic, etc). And you'd have to come back that way too.

Why not devote those 10 days to Provence? There is SO MUCH to see and do - and you are right there!

odie1

TuckH- I think that is what we might do. I guess it turns out I have the possibility of flying out of a different airport but I don't know how that would work with the car. I could always take adavantage of that opportunity and fly out of Marseille if that would work with a loop of Provence better. I have to really start looking at locations and best places to base myself out of for the ten days. I think staying in three different places is feasible.