We end our RS tour in Nice. His book describes a day excursion—Narrow-Gauge train into the Alps This appeals to me, but we only have a day extra. Has anyone done this? And is it worth it?
Thanks
Posted by
Washington DC
28082 posts
I took that trip in 2017. I enjoyed it, though I had to suffer through day-long heavy rain and chilly temperatures. I knew that when I bought the ticket; I figured I might as well spend a lot of time that day inside a train.
The scenery is nice if not spectacular. The train stops at the very atmospheric, medieval Entrevaux. I bet it's quite touristy at times, but only insane people were out and about the day I was there. It would be a nice place to have a meal, I think (no comment on quality of restaurants because I didn't eat there). If not doing that, maybe 1-1/2 to hours for walking around? Take a look at Google Maps to see what you think. There's just a short walk from the train station to the town.
The end of the line is at Digne-les-Bains, which is a spa town. It's attractive but not overwhelmingly so. There's a considerable walk from the train station to the center of town, so maybe a couple of hours here as well. Thee wasn't much happening at Digne, either. Except a great deal of rain.
Photos of Annot look interesting, but there's really not time to see more than one place plus Digne.
Unless the schedule has changed, I think you'll need to get an early start to have an adequate amount of time in both Entrevaux and Digne. I'm not an early starter, so I failed at that.
It's not a particularly cheap trip--about 48 euros round-trip, I think. Is this your first trip to southern France? There are other attractive options that will be a lot less expensive, such as a public-bus trip to St-Paul-de-Vence and Vence, a train trip to Antibes, etc. Lots and lots of nice places in that area. I was in Nice for over 2 weeks without a car, so I was very happy to have a day up in the hills, albeit a very wet one.
Posted by
OP
Pleasant Hill, Ca
255 posts
Thank you for your reply and suggestions. Our tour ends in Nice (the Loire Valley tour) and we will stay one extra day.
Posted by
Paris
7304 posts
If you want 'nature' I'd rather go to the Îles de Lerins just off the coast from Cannes. An easy train+boat trip (you'd have to walk a little from the station to the harbor in Cannes, seeing a bit of Cannes on the way!).
Otherwise the train trip is long and the first hour nearest Nice is not scenic.