rangingsolo

Hello. In early April, I will be traveling to Tuscany with my family. Afterwards, I will be going alone to visit a friend who lives near Aix en Provence. My family leaves Florence on a Sunday and my friend has business travel Monday through Thursday, so my plan is to arrive in Aix on Friday. This leaves me M-F to travel on my own. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

details about me
- I will be on a budget (more $ than a backpacker, but I won't be staying in big hotels or renting a car)
- I've been to the Cinque Terre twice, and Rome, Venice, San Gimignano, the Lake Region once.
- Only part of France I've been to is Paris
- Also been to Barcelona
- I like big cities and small towns
- My friend grew up in Provence so I will have an expert showing me around Aix and/or Forcalquier and/or Dauphin.

I'd simply make my way along the Italian and French rivieras (maybe picking two or three towns), but I don't know if that makes sense given the time of year. Any input?

Thanks so much

FrenchMystiqueTours

There are loads of options but I'll mention one possible itinerary. Head to Genoa early Sunday morning and drop your bags at your hotel. Spend the day exploring Genoa. The next day you could take a train east and spend the days exploring some of the charming coastal towns. Camogli, Portofino, Santa Margherita, Chiavari and Sestri Levante would be good. You could visit two or three of these towns and head back to Genoa. On Tuesday you could go to Nice and then spend the rest of your time visiting Nice and some pretty nearby villages that are easily accessible by public transport.

rangingsolo

Thanks! This is really helpful.

PalenQ

If talking trains those trains on the Florence to Nice route are generally slow - the fastest route goes on high-speed trains to Milan then Milan to Genoa and Nice - very slow on this part.

I have ridden a bike all along the Italian Riviera and to me though it is nice it seemed all pretty much the same - Santa Margherita was however sweet and unique - good base from which to hop to nearby Portofino (if you like real tourist mob scenes that you often fine there - negating any of its inherent charms to me, but...) and then take the train to Nice - will take most of the day - again a slow train route.

You have to change at Ventimiglia, border station now on all Italy to French Riviera trains - base in Nice or Cannes or Antibes - all with good train service and direct trains back to Aix. Use buses to get to the dreamy hill towns like St Paul and St-Paul-de-Vence.

For lots of great info on French and Italian trains check out these IMO fantastic sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com.

Except for the Florence to Milan high-speed train which can cost a lot but which has a limited number of discounted tickets on sale if you want to lock yourself into a specific train weeks in advance (www.trenitalia.com) - the other trains, either along the coast from Pisa to Genoa and Genoa to Nice are mainly iC and regional trains with fairly cheap flat fares so buy those tickets as you go along.

rangingsolo

Thanks PalenQ. Sounds like Santa Margherita and Nice will be my destinations for sightseeing. Appreciate the links -- I was only familiar with RickSteves previously.

PalenQ

At Ventimiglia you'll have the choice of TGV trains or TEOZ Corail trains or regional trains - the regional trains are cheapest and do not require seat reservations as do the other trains - but those other trains are much faster, not stopping all the time like the dumpy regional or commuter trains do.

but you just buy a ticket and hop on them - the next one and they go fairly frequently - look at www.voyages-sncf.com to see what the various Ventimiglia-Nice-Ville trains cost and see which one will be leaving to fit your time coming from Italy, etc.

the Ventimiglia-Nice train line is one of the very most scenic in Europe IMO as it tracks often along an unspoilt rocky coast line - keep eyes peeled and you may also see folks skinny-dipping along the way.

PalenQ

You may want to book your Nice-Ville to Aix TGV train ticket well in advance to get a discounted rate - at www.voyages-sncf.com - and this line is also very popular and trains do fill up - controlled seating means no standing and if you do not have the requisite seat reservation you cannot board.