South Of France Break - Recomendations
 

Hi All,

Thinking of taking a 7 day break in the SoF in September.
Maybe fly to Nice, hire a car, then go either up or down the coast.

What are peoples tips on ...
a) where to go / what to see & do
b) how to book - probably would like 2 nights at each place.

Thx.

go stay in antibes.... you wont need a car... the train goes along the coast and stop everywhere you want to go...

make sure you see MC on friday night and go eat drink at Stars and Bars....

Menton is very nice, go any further and you are in Italy.

A train ride from nice to Menton and back is good, as is the motorway along the coast.

Cap D'Antibes is pretty, but very very swanky

We stayed at a friends villa there a few year ago, I can't imagine what it cost to stay

It is the playground of billionaires

The provence region is very pretty

We stayed in a lovely little villa in Nice whilst the World Cup final was played against Italy in 2006. We too didn't bother with a car and visited Antibes, Monte Carlo, Cannes etc all via train. A bit warm on the trains, but cheap and reliable enough.

We found Nice to be a good central hub to visit everywhere, provided you're in a nice area.

If you like train travel, find the gare de Nice on Rue Alfred Binet, it's about a ten minute walk from Nice Ville station, (SNCF).

Gare de Nice is the southern terminus of the metre gauge "Chemins de Fer de la Provence" From there a rickety old railbus will take you up into the hills behind Nice and along the valley of the Var. It travels through, and across streets to start with and is controlled by traffic lights just like the cars around you. If you sit near the front, you can get great views through the front windscreen.
Then you go into a tunnel, and when you pop out again, you are high up above the rooftops in Nice.

Nice is a good base and easy to get around on the new tram system. Marche De fleurs is a must as well as the Acropolis area. Take a day trip to Monaco, have a meal in Virage on tabac corner and watch the world go by or a coffee at the Cafe de Paris in Casino Square. I wouldnt bother now with Stars N Bars as since its refurb it seems a bit sterile in there.

Antibes is nice as well.

Coastal railway is great and very cheap to get around on.

Visit both Eze and Villefranche and lunch in Villefranche is great.

All good tips - I had forgotten about the railway.

What about accommodation, what is the best way to do that.
I would like to pre book, for piece of mind. Or at least the first few nights.

Monaco, Nice, Antibes all lovely. Rent a car and drive up into the mountains (Col de Turini etc) - its stunning. Went out there in August nearly 2 years ago, was silly hot and a bit too much to want to walk round seeing stuff for long (35c). Bit cooler up in the mountains though.

Stayed in Juan Les Pins, bit cheaper than Antibes i expect but still very nice. If you like beaches, make sure you find a hotel with their own private beach as the public ones get rammed. Worth every penny to have guaranteed sunbeds and a waiter bringing you drinks from the bar :D

We once got the "ferry" from Sainte-Maxime to Saint-Tropez. Great way to see all the stunning boats in the habour and avoids the terrible traffic going into St Tropez.

Cant wait for the trip, last time I was near St Tropez was 30 years ago !
Traffic was very bad, even then.

Would be nice to get into the hills, either around Monte Carlo or other parts.
Guess a car is more flexible then the train. Maybe a bit of both.