marissa4896

Hello!

My boyfriend and I are traveling in and out of Nice, France and would like suggestions as to how to coordinate the trip. We are going May 26 for 9-10 days. I've spent a lot of time in France but never the South. We would prefer not to rent a car, and from my research there are trains that allow travel quickly between many of the towns and cities. We like wine, quiet dinners, beaches, cultural activities and outdoor activities. We are in the 30-year-old range but definitely don't want to do any sort of clubbing or things of that nature.

I'd prefer not to move to a new city every night--and rather have a few "hubs" where we can leave our stuff and go for day trips.

Has anyone done the South of France well? Any recommendations? Favorite restaurants? Must see sights?

Thanks so much!

-M

suec1

Well Nice certainly has pluses and minuses. We are going there for a week in Oct. and have chosen to rent an apartment thru Nice Pebbles. We have visited Nice previously and while it is a big city, it is a good location to day trip from. There is an excellent and very cheap bus system - along the coast and up to some of the hill towns.

Of course many restaurant choices in Nice. A favorite day trip that we did was to Villa Euphrisi - lovely home and gardens, well done audio-guide. We went to Antibes one day - the beach is much nicer there, we opted to pay for a beach club with umbrella and chairs.

Other towns may be more scenic but Old Town Nice is pleasant and the convenience factor makes it a good base IMO.

isabel

Nice is an obvious hub and as stated above, you can get to other towns on the coast (Eze, Villefrance, Antibe, etc.) by bus or train easily. There are great hilltowns inland that can be reached by bus but you need to figure out the schedules, just a bit of coordination, not difficult, but it's not like you can catch a bus every hour. Haute-Cagnes, Vence, St Paul de Vence, etc.

You could actually stay busy (at a leisurely pace)just basing in Nice the whole time and doing day trips.

Or - a second base could be Marseilles or Aix-en-Provence. Other places in Provence are a bit more difficult without a car but still possible. But with only 9-10 days you have to do some picking and choosing.

Here are my photos from those areas.
http://andiamo.zenfolio.com/f667172952

StuDudley

My wife & I have vacationed for 40 weeks in Provence & the Cote d'Azur - and are going back for 3 more weeks this June.

You can visit many sites by public transportation - especially if you are staying in Nice for a good part of your time. However, what keeps us returning to this section of France is the "cute little villages" in the Nice Hinterland, the red-rock canyons 1 1/4 hrs from Nice, the gorgeous Alps, the canyons, rushing rivers, mountain ridges - and other spots you can only reach by car.

I developed a 32 page itinerary for Provence & the Cote d'Azur that I've sent to over 3,000 people on Fodors. It describes our favorite villages, scenic drives, markets, sites, restaurants, and has a section on Provence fabric. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail. Specify that you want the Provence & Cote d'Azur itinerary because I have others. too.

Stu Dudley

Edward2005

You should rent a car. The real magic of that region is exploring the small towns and villages. It will also let you select a home base outside the cities.

Stu Dudley has a great car-friendly itinerary for that region (and the rest of France). Hopefully, he will chime in soon.