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Alternative to driving the Corniches & towns on Cote d'Azur

Posted by (lake forest park, washington, usa) on

Hi all: Well, everyone agrees that parking (especially in Nice) and driving in the area is a bad idea. I have rented a car and have found and reserved parking in Nice for 4 nights (early April). But, I am second guessing. I did that because 1) I hoped to see more villages and area than I could using public transportation and 2) I wanted to see views from the Grand and Moyenne Corniches (too many '50s and '60's movies?) and 3) we are driving from Marseille to the Gorges du Verdon and stay over in Moustieres. Then, on to Nice the next day. So we have to rent a car for 2 days anyway.
The down side is my husband will have the considerable stress of driving and parking. So he won't see that much while driving and I will be responsible for navigation (along with gps).

Has anyone done tours (at a reasonable cost - ha ha) ? or used public transport in that area somewhat recently? the only posts I saw on this forum were quite old. Thanks for any/all info and advice on any part of this query. Susan

Posted by
10623 posts

Who's everyone? I don't agree . LOL
There are scenic places to pull over on the haute corniche, and even a few on the moyen. I'm not sure where you are getting your impression about driving, but it's not that difficult. In fact, the haut corniche is quite easy. So if there are remote villages you want to see, you should do it As for parking, all the cities have garages. Just pull into a garage if you don't find street parking. You will find parking even in small towns, too. My in-laws live there, and we always take the car, and we always find a place to park, even in August. Well, once over the border in Ventimille we had to hike after parking, and it was difficult one day in Nice with a large Range Rover that couldn't clear the garage height. But both places we finally parked.

Posted by
121 posts

Hi Bets: You just made me very happy. I searched for info on the forum and found quite a few posts adamant that driving is a terrible idea. Not a single one with the info you provided. And, they were quite old.

I really want to do this now, while we are able (mid-70's and pretty good shape) .Prior to reading the posts from "everyone" (ha) I was congratulating myself on getting the car and reserved parking at Nicetoile (and at what I think are reasonable prices). Do you agree with my assumption that we will be able to see much more of the area by car than using public transportation? We have done that before. The public transport is good, but, I'm thinking we could see 1 or at most 2 places per day from our base in Nice.
Thank you !!! Susan

Posted by
7301 posts

I agree with Bets! A car can be a hassle in summer, but April is quieter, and you will definitely see more if you have a car: getting around will be faster, and you can be more spontaneous.
By the way, the Moyenne corniche is fast but has worse views than the Grande corniche. If you only have time for 1, make it Grande Corniche. Eze is lovely and is on the moyenne corniche, but it can be reached by a linking road from the grande Corniche toi.

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