This July I'll be going to Italy and France with my boyfriend. We're planning on driving from Arezzo, Italy to somewhere in the South of France, where we'll be staying for four days. But we can't decide which city/hotel should be our base! <BR>Here are our choices at the moment: <BR>Nice - Palais Maeterlinck <BR>Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (outside of Menton) - The Vista Palace <BR>Eze - La Chèvre d'Or <BR> <BR>We were also looking at the Voile d'Or in Cap-Ferrat, but it seems to be booked. <BR> <BR>Any suggestions? We will have a car, so getting around shouldn't be too much of a problem. <BR> <BR>Thank you for your help! We appreciate it!

Hi Rachel. I would suggest Nice, since it is well located and a lovely town with lots to do. I did not stay in the specific hotel you mentioned so sorry, can't help with that. But we stayed in Nice and used it as a base for exploring the Cote d'Azure and found it ideal. <BR>

Rachel: If you like bigger and more crowded, then Nice is the choice for you of the 3 you mention. The other two are smaller towns. I have a preference, which my wife does not always share, of staying in smaller places as a base. After a day of sightseeing in France, I always preferred coming 'home' to a quieter hotel and community. <BR>With Nice as your base, you will certainly have to contend with July tourist hoards as well as rush hour traffic at times. That said, you may have lots of things you want to see in Nice that make staying there desirable. Do a web search on Eze and Menton, for example. We found sites with lots of pictures of both places that gave us a good idea of what they were like, although we ended up in other towns.

Rachel <BR> <BR>Personally, I love Nice, and as a base for exploring the South of France it would be great. <BR> <BR>For information on Nice go to: <BR> <BR>http://www.nice-coteazur.org/americain/index.html <BR> <BR>For a list of all Hotels, go to Hotels and search using the "criteria section" as it will bring up all classes of Hotels and a small page with photo. <BR> <BR>Have a great time in the South of France. <BR> <BR>David

Last summer we were in the south of France area and one of the places we stayed at was a small b&b called Le Hameau at St. Paul de Vence. This b&b is a Karen Brown's recommended placeand was very inexpensive given the location and quality, about US$ 100 per night. They had parking and you could walk to the main old town.

Thank you all for such wonderful advice! We are still trying to decide, but I think we're leaning more towards the smaller towns. (Though I have a feeling we won't be disappointed anywhere we stay!) <BR> <BR>Thanks again!! <BR>

Of all the places on the Riv. we liked Nice the least!!! St. Tropez was by far our favorite-only an hour drive, with Eze, Cannes, Beauleau Ser Mer, etc. right behind. The beaches and scenery are much better in Cannes than Nice and its only about 20 mins away.

If you prefer smaller towns, i can recommend, saint rapheal, or frejus or st maxime. They are only a short drive away from all the other famous cities, like st tropez, cannes, nice, antibes, monaco. A nice town to visit is Port Grimaud, that looks a little bit like venice because the houdes are along the water. <BR> <BR>Good luck!

last time I was in the Cote D'Azur we visited St tropez and were rather underwhelmed. It is too far from the other places and is a rather pretentious place which charges high prices based on its'reutation as an "in "place. We particularly enjoy Antibes which had a relaxed atmoshere and Cannes because we love sitting on the Croisette ans watching the world go by. we love the afternoon when all the exquisitely dressed ladies of uncertain age take a walk with their pooches. All endlessy fascinating.

thank you, thank you, thank you! <BR> <BR>this is so very helpful!

We simply loved St. Tropez. The old town is very quaint and it is a great scene at the beaches - hard to decide which one to spend the day at. It may be further from the main cities of the Riviera =- but you can do day trips to Provence or the Porquiolles which was great. We had some terrific food and hit some michelin restaurants down there. Prefer it much to Nice. I did enjoy Cannes as well. Four days isn't enough time anywhere.

I have stayed four times at the Cagnard Hotel in the villiage of Haute d Cagne sur mer. This is a lovely mid evil village right next to Nice. At the base of the village is Renoirs home displaying his art work. The hotel is well known for its great food. In fact I think the hotel grew because of its great food. You are centrally located for day trips to the must see villiages of Eze and St Paul de Vence. If you are looking for a more reasonable hotel<BR>I would recommend staying behind Nice near St Paul de Vence(Maybe in the town of Vence) Rates drop dramatically once you leave the Cote d Azure highway. The countryside behind Nice is much more relaxed as Nice is kind of busy and crazy. If you want to stay in Eze the Eze Chateaux looks outstanding. I have not stayed there but have had lunch on the veranda(The most memorable lunch I have ever had). I believe the Eze Chateaux is part of the Relais &amp; Chateaux Association. Good luck

&quot;mid evil village&quot; LOL!!!!

If money is not an object, then stay in Eze at Chateau Chevre D'or. You will be in paradise! My husband and I just returned after having a room in Nice. We canceled and stayed at Chevre D'or. I kept thinking I would wake up and it would all be a dream.