Day trip with car to experience Provence from Villefranche-Sur-Mer

When will you be there? The lavender fields should bloom this summer (probably mid -June to mid-August, from what I've read), and they are in Provence.

https://www.beyond.fr/map/lav_map.html

https://www.beyond.fr/themes/lavender-fields-provence.html

I realized after I posted that I forgot to give dates which are September 2 - 6 ... so we will miss the lavender....but also hopefully some of the crowds.

I'm not sure what Provencal towns you're considering, but Villefranche-sur-Mer is rather far to the east, so do take a look at estimated driving times on ViaMichelin.com, remembering that they don't allow time for getting lost, searching for parking, or stops of any kind.

I mention this because some of us think of the area around Roussillon and Les-Baux-de-Provence when we hear the term "Provence", and either of those towns would be a 6-hour round trip from Villefranche-sur-Mer. I think you'll do better to plan to visit a few of the hill towns just north of the Riviera. I didn't have a car when I visited that part of France, so I'm not the best person to offer suggestions, but I was told the town of Tourrettes-sur-Loup is a good, comparatively non-touristy destination. I liked Vence for that reason myself.

Adding to what acraven said - St Paul de Vence was a fav stop, and you could certainly loop around to Tourettes and there's another little interesting village called Gourdon perched high up in the hills (not to be confused with Gordes, which is further west).

as noted above, it will take 2:45 to 3 hours to drive, each way, to the places like St. Remy, the Luberon, or the the Valensole plateau. That is six hours in the car. Much of it will be on the not too scenic A8 motorway or similar major A roads. You could do a trip to Lourmarin, Bonnieux, Gordes, and Roussilon in the Luberon. Or you could do St. Remy and Les Baux.

As suggested above, a loop that contains St. Paul de Vence, Vence, Tourettes sur Loup, Gourdon and perhaps Grasse and Mougins can give you a taste of village/town life in the hills.

Another alternative are the less tourist driven downs of Var, like Tourtour, about 90 minutes away in each direction. There are also Cotes de Provence wineries in the area as well.

And Peillon, a hilltop town in the back country behind Nice. Here's a blog post about hilltop villages near Nice, which will save you a lot of travel over to the Rhone Valley/Provence area.
https://loumessugo.com/13-of-the-best-hill-villages-near-nice-france/

Hi, I feel you could drive to Aix and then north to the eastern end of the Luberon region in a day trip. Ansouis, Cucuron ,and Lourmarin are very cute villages about 45 mins north. I spent a week near Cucuron in July 2014. The local markets are fun and the village water trough under the London Plane trees in Cucuron makes a wonderful lunch spot. Don't be swayed by the stay near Nice crowd. :)

Where are you going to get the car? Best would be at Nice airport, where there is 24/7 service and lots of options. You could take the bus/train there very early in the morning, have a full day, drop the car in the evening and bus/train back to Ville-Franche. The rental companies in Nice city close at 7 pm. Figure you're going to need 30-60 minutes to pick up the car. If you drop it at the airport, it'll take 10 minutes, at a city location could be more like 30.

I had a car for 3 days and stayed in St-Paul-de-Vence. I drove around the Gorge du Loup, Vence, Gourdon, and Tourette-sur-Loup. Driving was rather slow because the roads are narrow, up/down and winding. That was in March when there was little tourist traffic. Early September is probably going to be much busier.

I'd stay on the coast and day trip by train . . . unless you will already have explored the Riviera from another base. BTW Ville-Franche was my favorite out of 10 days of visiting both coastal and inland towns and villages.

Unless you have to leave Villefranche Sur mer I'd suggest visiting the hillside villages as previously suggested We spent a month in Cote d'azure and there is an abundance off places to visit easier by train or bus which run so efficiently. Every stop east and west of Villefranche is worth spending time in.

Thank you all for your comments.

After posting back at the end of March I have looked into may of your suggestions and have done much more reading about the area around Villefranche-Sur-Mer

I think we will take time to really see the lovely towns/cities to the left and right of where we are staying by train/bus.

QUESTION #1 I have read about the Train de Merveilles to Tende and wanted to hear thoughts on this trip. I think the scenery on the way up and back sounds spectacular and we would like to get off and explore Tende but I wonder if there are return trains that run somewhat frequently??

QUESTION # 2 If we want to do a day to the east of Villefranche and another day to the west, what would be your favorite spots/itinerary? We are big walkers and would also like to experience beach/swimming at some point.

Thank you!!

A1: The Train des Merveilles does leave in the AM from Nice Ville. There are a three return trips in the afternoon, the last around 5:20 pm. It's also a regular train service for people in that region, but it's not as frequent as your coastal line.

A2: To the East, you may try to go to Eze via bus or Uber. Some people have tried the walk down to Eze-sur-Mer. Be sure to also go to Cap Ferrat and take the walk around the peninsula. It's a great walk. Some people have Monaco as a checklist item. If you go back to having a car, you can explore some of the hill villages on both sides of the border. West: Besides Nice, you may want to try to go to Antibes (or nearby Juan-les-Pins) for the beaches. There is another coastal walk (Sentier du Littoral) around Cap d'Antibes. Note the distance from the Antibe Gare/train station to the better beaches and the walk is a little further, so a bus connection might be necessary.

I drove from Arles to Juan les Pins with a brief stop at Aix and an even briefer stop at La Turbie. The drive took a full day (at least I wouldn't have wanted to double it as a day trip). I had considered stopping at some towns above Provence before turning in my car. It became obvious that I really didn't have time for those.

I'd suggest either staying on the coastal train to explore a Riviera town or two or renting a car just to go up to the towns above the Riviera. Either is much more doable than trying to see anything in Provence and back in one day.

To the west, definitely visit Antibes. To the east, Cap Ferrat is a must see with the Villa Ephrussi, town of St-Jean Cap Ferrat and the nearby Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu, all walkable. I would choose both of these over Eze.
In the hills, St-Paul de Vence with Fondation Maeght and Vence, with the beautiful Matisse Chapel. I assume you will spend time in beautiful Nice too.
You can also take a bus to these from Nice.
Are you aware that Villefranche is the cruise ship terminal for Nice? The ships anchor off shore and passengers are tendered to Villefranche.