we are planning a trip, from Colorado to Menton France. We are planning on going December 2024 for one month. A couple questions I have. We want to travel around France, mostly day trips. It looks like the weather in December is not bad in December, remember we live in Colorado. We don't want to rent a car, so we need to know if Menton has easy access to buses and trains. Also if there are any other tips we could use, such as time to book flights and we may want to take a two day trip to england as well and wondering if train or plane is the way to go. Thank you
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10683 posts
Menton is in the extreme southeast corner of France on the border with Italy. It has a micro-climate, so in winter, it's the nicest place to be in France. Nice is an hour west, while Cannes is 1.5 hours west, both by local trains. You have some Italian towns over the border, the furthest you'd probably want to go on a day trip is San Remo. You have mountains behind you to the north and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. So anything from San Remo to Cannes I'd consider a day trip. You could check local bus schedules for trips to the villages above Menton in the mountains. I've been to many of them on both sides of the border, and they can be interesting.
You have the commuter trains between Menton and Nice every twenty minutes. In Nice, you can connect to the long-distance trains; the high-speed trains are called TGV. You have the airport in Nice with flights to England and elsewhere. It's an hour away if traffic is flowing, longer by train. A private car and driver is about 100 euros each way. A train to England would take about 10 hours: an hour to Nice, 6 from Nice to Paris, an hour to get off the train and across Paris to the Gare du North train station, check in an hour before the train to London, and however long it takes to get to London once the train leaves. A flight is about two hours.
Posted by
Washington DC
28275 posts
Menton is picturesque but very popular. It is poorly positioned for traveling "around France". Even Provence (Aix, Arles, etc.) is really too far away for a day trip. On the other hand, there are many nice side trips on and near the segment of the coast already identified. There are also buses up into the hills to places like Eze, St-Paul-de-Vence, Vence and Biot, though in most cases you'll need to hop on a train to Nice first. You won't run out of places to go on day trips, but you won't be able to go far from Nice without spending the night somewhere or flying.