I will be meeting my college aged daughter that has been studying in London for a semester. We would like to spend April 24 to May 2 in France. Our plan is to spend 2 or 3 days on the Mediteranean and then take the train to Paris for the rest of the time. We are travel novices and could really use some advice.
From reading a quide book my feeling is is would be good the stay in the Old Nice area as a home base and take maybe one Day trip excurtion to a smaller village. We are two women alone so safety is a concern and we also need to stay in a budget. I was hoping to find a hotel just under 100.00 usd per night so we will be able to afford to see some attractions. Does anyone have any ideas for us? I may not get another chance to have a trip like this with my daughter and I would reaaly like it to be remorable for her. we both like history and art and scenery. Thank you for any help. Sincerely
TLC37
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Don%26#39;t stay in the old town, the few hotels there are expensive. Have a look at the Brice, or Les Cigales, both within your price range, close to the Prom with lots of cafes and restuarants nearby. Nice is no more dangerous than any other big city, you just have to be street-wise, and I would not wander aourn the Port right noe as vagrants tend to congregate there. I%26#39;ve been in Nice as a woman on my own many times, and have never felt insecure. There%26#39;s so much to do in Nice that you could spend all the time in the city, but if you really want to go to one of the hill villages, I recommend St Paul de Vence, or Eze. Both are accessible by public transport from the cnetral bus station.
A half day spent wandering the Old otwn, and a trip to the Matisse Museumare the two %26#39;musts%26#39; in my book, as well as a walk on th eprom. Enjoy!
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Here are some suggestions.Of course you will have to help yourself with a guidebook. Since you will be there for a week, I suggest you get one that gives info info mostly on Nice and not Provence and Côte d’Azur. I have one by Hachette Books titled “A weekend in Nice”, it includes also a city map.
Websites like the Nice city’s Tourist Bureau website http://www.nicetourisme.com/GB/somtxt.html and one for the Old Town http://www.oldnice.com/ may be helpful.
There are musts like walking on the Promenade des Anglais , both looking at the sea, the beach and the hotels.
The Old Town and the Cours Saléya: Start from Place Masséna and walk towards the Promenade on Rue de l’Opéra. Make a left on Rue St-Francois-de-Paule, check the boutiques but don’t buy there (touristy prices way too high). Walk straight ahead to the Marché aux Fleurs (Cours Saléya). There is a market every day except Mondays. Walk to the end of the market and you get to the Chapelle du St-Suaire. Make a left on J” Gilly street . It ends on Rue de la Préfecture. Make a left there and walk until you reach Rue Ste-Réparate. Make a right and you will see the Cathedral Ste-Réparate and get on Place Rossetti. Very typical (look at the warmth of colours if you are there 1hr or 2 before sunset). A left on Rue Rossetti until you reach Rue Droite. Make a left on Rue Droite and walk to its end. Stop by Palais Lascaris (free visit) and some nice artist shops (check Christian Dury’s gallerie =%26gt; he puts typical Nice things in Plexiglas frames). Rue Droite falls into Rue St-François the in Rue Pairolière. Both typical Old Nice streets with locals shops, food store, fish and meat stores, etc. Open your eyesand your ears and take a deep breath. Now you see the real thing. You get to the Place Garibaldi. Time for lunch. Help yourself, there are plenty nice spots at cheap prices.
From Place Garibaldi keep your right and stay on Rue Catherine Ségurane from where you will get a road that brings you up the Castle Hill (Colline du Chateau). Walk up to its top and have a look at the whole area (the Port, the beaches, the town). Stop by the Cemetery on your way down and wak to the Port. Look at the small fishermen boats on Quai des Deux Emmanuel. And walk back to town circling the Castle Hill by walking on the sea side to reach back Promenade des Anglais.
That one should take not far from a day long, especially if you stop often at boutiques or for an ice cream cone…
Another nice day is going to Villa Éphrussi Rotschild by Bus 81 (starts from Gare Routière). It accepts regular bus tickets (4 euro fro a day, around 15 euro for a week pass with unlimited travel). Ask the driver for the name of the bus stop right at the doorsteps of the Villa. A superb mansion with 7 fantastic gardens. 2hours of pure delight. Wanna have fun and see the real thing once again. When you get out of the Villa walk to your left. The road goes up a bit, walk on the road to your left. It goes down towards St-Jean-Cap Ferrat where you can stop for lunch and get back to Nice with Bus 81 once again. Or you could even walk on the seaside towards Bealieu-sur-Mer using the trail called Sentier des Douaniers. It is about an hour walk and you could then visit Beaulieu, its Villa Kerylos and get back to Nice by train.
You are there on a Friday. Take the train to Vintimille (Ventimiglia in Italian), a small Italian town where you have a well-known market. You can’t get lost. When you get out of the train station walk straight ahead. 200 ft and it’s crowded, you just found the market! Before getting in it, look on your right for the food market. You wanna see Italians wheeling and dealing? Get in there and have fun? Back to the real market, you can get good deals on leather, cashmere wool, etc. Beware the Africans dealers. It’s no good deal!. The morning is enough for the market. There are some nice rItalian restaurants at cheap prices if you don’t mind walking a block or 2 on your right (eastbound), getting away from the market. Back on the train to Nice, get down at Monaco (not the Ste-Dévote Chapel exit at the back of the train butr the on at the head of the train). Have fun for the afternoon in Monte-Carlo.
Already 3 days gone. Like art? Get a car or take the bus to Vence and St-Paul-de-Vence. It’s about ¾ hour from Nice and take the day for both villages. If you rented a car and feel like shopping with the locals crowd, stop by St-Laurent-du-Var Cap 2000 shopping centre. A huge one.
Museums? Like Modern Art? The Mamac Museum of Modern Art is a must. Then you have both Chagall and Matisse Museum on bus route 15 from the City centre.
Wanna shop? Rue Jean Médecin, rue de l’Hotel des POstes. Rue Gioffredi are all street you should not miss and you have the Centre de l’Étoile shopping Centre on Rue Jean Médecin along with the Galeries Lafayette, the Monoprix for food and clothes and the FNAC for records and books (along with Virgin Megastore across the street). There are walking only streets close to that area and they are fuil of shops and restaurants.
You could take the bus to Eze-Village, a medieval village that must be seen. Menton along the coast is also quite nice to see and has its own Old Town.
Westbound towards Cannes, you have Antibes and Juan les Pins that can be reached easily by bus.
If you rent a car, Mougins and Biot are quite nice to see.
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THANK YOU SO MUCH! For the tips and recommendations. It is so helpful to have someone give you a little insight. I hope you don%26#39;t mind if I ask a few questions as I think of them. One thing is, what kind of clothes would be appropriate for Nice the last week in April? I was planning on black pants and jacket for Paris but would that be out of place in the south?
Would Capris and sandals be recommended? I have been told not to wear athletic sneaker type shoes but I know we will be on our feet so much and I hate to have sore feet slowing us down. Thank you TLC37
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I Thought Les Cigalis sounded perfect for us but they are all booked on the day we will need. Do you have any other suggestions?
Thank you TLC37
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End of April should be warm enough for capris and sandals during the day. And BTW you dress like you feel you should dress and that%26#39;s it! You will see all types of dress and just dress so you feel at ease. At night if you go out for dinner, you will feel more accepted if nicely dressed. But during the day I would put away shirt and tie unless you go for business.
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Re Hotels: try the Dante, the Windsor the the Grimaldi.
Re Weather and clothes: in my experience Nice will be warm in April, but you can get quite heavy rain - don%26#39;t go without a brolly and some kind of waterproof! And you%26#39;re dead right - you%26#39;ll spend a lot of time on your feet, so sneakers/trainers/comfortable walking shoes are a must! The hell with fashion, who cares if you look like a tourist - you are one! you may be disappointed to find that dressing up is not part of the picture for dining out in Nice. Smartish jeans/trousers or a skirt are perfectly acceptable for restaurants in the evening. - I%26#39;ve been in one of its only Michelin starred restaurants and felt over dressed, and my husband removed his tie, as he was the only person there wearing one%26quot;
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