jenniferstanley731

My husband and I are looking to travel from Cannes to Portofino, stopping at Nice, Menton, Genoa, Monte Carlo, some other places and ending in Portofino for my 30th birthday.
Neither of us has been anywhere is Europe and since this will be our first time, we are looking for some advice/help on the best way to plan this all out and how to book the travel between each place, et cetera.
Any advice/help is greatly appreciated!

aliced

Ahh, while it was a long time ago, the memories are fresh. We did South of France on our first trip to France (five more since), taking the train from Paris, and flying back out of Nice. Covered St. Tropez, Fragonard, Cannes, Juan-les-Pins, Nice, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Villefranche, Eze, Monaco. Great birthday trip!

Driving was easy. Be sure and take the upper corniche to/fro Monte Carlo and do not miss Eze. When we were there it was not crowded, but posts now seem to say otherwise. It is worth it. In Nice, we stayed at La Perouse, which I see is still going strong and provided stunning views on the Med. We walked all over Nice from there.

Somehow we missed, and I regret it, the Picasso Musee. While he was prolific and have seen 100s of his works here, there and everywhere since, wish we had gotten to Antibes. The rest of Provence can be done in another trip (we just got there in September!)

You will get lots of great advice on the Italian Riviera in this forum. It is my first and foremost trip-planning tool.

jenniferstanley731

After researching a little more, we are looking at starting possible in St. Tropez and ending in Portofino, hitting a bunch of spots in between.
I'm thinking we want to hit at least 5 spots total.
Thanks!!!

jenniferstanley731

Thank you so much for all the information!
We are so overwhelmed with all the different amazing places to go and see and trying to narrow it down!
I think once I narrow down the exact places, we will be able to start purchasing tickets and booking places to stay...

where else have you gone on your other trips to South of France?

This forum is very helpful, happy I stumbled across this website.
Thanks again!

StuDudley

Welcome to Fodors.

Your question requires "pages & pages" to answer properly. Best bet is to get the Michelin Green Guide for the Riviera and also the Green Guide for Italy. Also, send me an e-mail at [email protected] requesting my 30+ itinerary for the Cote d'Azur & Provence. I've sent it to over 3,000 people on Fodors. I'll attach a copy to the reply e-mail. We've spent 40 weeks in this region, and the itinerary describes our favorite cities, villages, scenic drives, markets, restaurants, etc.

Stu Dudley

zoecat

Can you share some information to help us guide you?

When is your trip?
How many nights on the ground?
Do you want to use public transportation and/or rent a car? What is your hotel budget in Euro per night?
Any particular interests?
Why did you choose this area to visit on your first trip to Europe?

isabel

Do you think you would prefer to drive or take the train? Even if you prefer to drive, you'll need to check to make sure that picking up in one country and dropping off in the other won't incur high drop off fees. Another down side to driving is apparently a lot of the road goes through mountainous tunnels so the views are limited (not the cornich road in France, that one has spectacular views, I'm talking about the part past that into Italy). However, driving would give you the most flexibility for places to stop.

It is very doable by train though. You can check schedules at the Italian train site (trenitalia.com/). You can try to fly into Nice and home from Italy (Milan would have the most flights if you are from the US).

nytraveler

Agree it woud help a lot if we know what month you will go and how long the trip is.

Tulips

Hi Jennifer, as others have said, the time of year is important. If it's July or August, there is a lot of traffic, and I wouldn't advise including St Tropez in a road trip during those months.

Whathello

St Trop is definetly super crowded from mid july to mid august and crowded the rest of the summer. I guess it is because the 3000 fodorites are reading the Stu'30+ pages on the road.

Empty in january though - last time I was there in jan there were 3 restaurants open...

Something worth doing is going to one of the small golden islands for a day (îles d'or : Porquerolles, Port Cros and Le levant).

Have a nice trip.

jenniferstanley731

Hi all! Thank you so much for all the advice so far. Sorry for not providing more information about our trip. I am new to all of this! We are looking at going for two weeks (June 13-27, or thereabouts) we have a budget in the sense we don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money but we aren't limiting ourself with what we wanna do when it comes to budgeting.

I am having trouble deciding where would be best to fly in and out of. We are definitely up for taking the train! My husband thinks I should narrow it down to five places I for sure want to go to but I am having a rough time! I love so many little places between Cannes and Capri! We are looking to stay along that coast and hit the most beautiful spots possible with reasonable time to stay in each place and really experience it.

Stu, I will be emailing you later today!

StuDudley

You had better make reservations ASAP. Late June is a very popular time. I suspect many/most of the "better" hotels will be booked up by now. We booked a hotel in Nice (Windsor) for early June, about 4 months ago.

I would book only 2 places on the Cote d'Azur. Nice for 4-5 nights and St Tropez for 3-4 nights. You can visit Cannes, Antibes, Mpnaco, Menton, etc easily by train from Nice. You could fly into Nice or Marseille, rent a car for the St Tropez portion, then drive to Nice and visit the wonderful Nice Hinterland for 1-2 days by car. Then return the car, visit the coastal towns & Nice. Then take a train into Italy & do the Italy portion then. Personally, I'm not sure I would want to be on the Cinque Terre in late June - because of the crowds.

Also - I would never try to "see" the highlights between St Tropez and Amalfi Coast/Capri in just 2 weeks. I would do either France only, Italy only, or French & Italian Riverias only.

Stu Dudley

jenniferstanley731

We are trying to make them asap for sure. We know we need to get on it.

The only reason I am trying/want to see so much is because I will most likely be pregnant next year, thus halting our traveling for a while...

If we were to do just the Italian and French rivierias (we're beach people) what do you suggest going that route?

StuDudley

Others on Fodors are more experienced than I am with the Itilian Riviera. We've spent most of our "beach time" on the Amalfi Coast & Capri (4 trips for about 15-17 days total). Only 4 days on the CT and 2 visits to Portofino plus 2 days in Sestri Levante.

All my Cote d'Azur ideas are in the Itinerary I just sent to you.

Stu Dudley

traveller1959

Firstly, we are talking about a pretty long stretch of coastline.

The first distinction is between the Italian Riviera and the French Côte d'Azur. While I have been 25+ times at the Côte d'Azur, my experience of the Riviera is limited to a few quick visits. That says it all. (The French part is IMO much better while the Italian part is somewhat run-down albeit there are a few quite charming fishing towns.) So, like Stu, I will limit my comments to the French side:

There is a large stretch of coastline between Cassis and St. Raphael, called Côte des Maures, with St. Tropez in the middle. This stretch of coast is a main destination for classic beach vacations. There you find beautiful beaches with white sand surrounded by rocky cliffs - perfect for swimming and snorkeling. One of the best beaches is in Cavalaire-sur-Mer.

St. Tropez used to be a picturesque fishing village, but has become somewhat corrupted by mass tourism and a large yaught harbour. But at least you can sit in a café in a port and watch Russian oligarchs on their boats. St. Tropez also has a wide sandy beach called "Pampelonne" which has starred in quite a few movies from the 1960ies. In the hinterland, you find quite a few picturesque mountain villages (e.g. Ramatuelle).

Between St. Raphael and Cannes, there is the Côte de l'Esterel, the most scenic section of the Côte d'Azur. There dramatic red cliffs meet the azur-blue sea. The coastal road (Corniche de l'Esterel or Corniche d'Or) is the one of the most scenic drives of the world - with many pull-outs for taking photos and climbing down to the coves with their beautiful yet pebbly beaches and the crystal-clear water.

To be continued.

traveller1959

The section between Cannes and Nice is rather diverse, but travelwise the best area to stay because it is central, has excellent traffic connections and you can do daytrips from there in every direction.

Cannes has a wide beach and several rows of hotels behind, including the famours Grand Hotels, among them the Carlton which has served as a backdrop for many movies. High chances to see celebrities on the streets.Be

Juan-les-Pins is a typical seaside resort with a wide, sandy beach and a row of middle-class hotels behind. A typical place for families to spend a two-week beach vacation there.

Antibes is a charming old town with a Picasso museum and several pretty beaches. Perhaps the best place to stay.

Between Antibes and Nice, around Villeneuve-Loubet, you find the ugliest stretch of the Côte: ugly gray pebble beach, squeezed by railways and motorways and high-rise hotel buildings. Avoid it.

However, the hinterland has much to offer. There are several dozens of picturesque hilltop villages, the world's highest density of modern art museums and beautiful mountain scenery.

Further eastwards, you reach Nice. Nice is a big city with everything that a big city has: Traffic, shopping streets, hotels, museums (the Chagall Museum is breathtaking), a harbour, an old town and the world's ugliest beach.

Between Nice and the Italian border, there is another dramatic stretch of coastline. There you find the famous three Corniches (coastal roads) with many scenic lookouts and steep interconnecting roads with lots of hairpin curves.

In this region you find also many attractions: The beautiful peninsula Cap Ferrat, a kitschy Rothschild villa, a Roman monument (La Turbie), a cozy village, overrun with tourist buses (Èze - there are better villages in the hinterland) - and Monaco with the Palace, the Oceanographic Museum, Grace Kelly's grave, the Casino and a cactus garden.

That's the French part. If you choose places to stay it depends on your interests:

- For a beach experience, stay at the Côte des Maures. My rec would be Cavalaire-sur-Mer.

- For hiking in breathtakingly beautiful scenery along the coast, Agay, Antheor or Le Trayas are great places.

- For sightseeing, Antibes or the hinterland of Cannes are excellent bases.

- Would I stay in Nice? - I never did. That says enough.

Keren

Some nice places to see along Western Liguria, on your way from France to Portofino:

The town of Imperia, which has two parts: Porto Maurizio, with a small, lovely, crumbling old town (plus beach), and Oneglia, which has the interesting Villa Grock (and a museum on olive oil, which I did not visit).

Cervo, a tiny village right up from the coast (involves steep climing).

Laigueglia, a small beach town with another lovely crumbling old quarter. I would think about staying there, I loved my short visit. I understand that in season you could take a boat to the nature reserve of Isola Gallinara, nearby. Boats leave from Alassio, the next beach town north from Laigueglia.

Albenga, with no beach but an interesting medieval quarter.

The small town of Finale Ligure, with long streches of beach (but you have to pay in order to swim), a nice promenade and a fantastic old village just behind, called Finalborgo.

Noli is a beautiful old town, with beach as well. No train access - a short bus ride from Finale Ligure.

I visited all of them by train or bus, but some of the smaller places have infrequent train connections so visiting them needs careful planning. I stayed in Finale Ligure and was very happy that I did.

Whathello

Hi Traveller

Familiar with Cavalaire ?
We're spendig a lot of vacation there. Next time you come, tell me, we might go for a drink !

I'm a regular of 'Mon Village' on boulevard des Alliés. Good wines there, good atmosphere and good beers (belgian ones...).

Mvg.

jtpj777

Nice is a great city and well worth the stop. Visit Villefranche sur Mer and St Jean Cap Ferrat when in Nice, if you have the time.

Josh

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