We are considering taking a train from Geneva to the French Rivera the last part of August. (not sure where we will take the train to in the French Rivera) We plan to spend 5 days there and then fly out of Nice to Porto, Portugal. Do you have itinerary suggestions for this trip? Thanks in advance for your suggestions! Paul
Posted by
Washington DC
30564 posts
It takes essentially a full day of travel to get from Geneva to Nice by train; it will be over 7 hours, maybe over 8 hours. There will be two transfers, one of them in Lyon. The Lyon Part Dieu station is a very busy one. I haven't made that rail trip, but I imagine there's some good scenery along the way. Still, you might consider flying. Both Swiss and EasyJet have non-stop flights on that route. You can find schedules on skyscanner.com; buy tickets directly from the airline.
Nice works very well as a base for the Riviera. Regional trains run both east and west from there, and you can make spur-of-the-moment plans, because those are unreserved trains with fixed fares. There are also buses from Nice going to some of the hill towns. Smaller places along the rail line would work well as a base, too, if you prefer to stay in a smaller place. For art fans, I especially recommend Nice because it has so many art museums (at least six), though there a good art museums scattered around the are in places like Antibes, Biot and St-Paul-de-Vence.
Since you probably will be making multiple side trips from the city or town you stay in, I'd recommend giving some thought to lodgings within easy reach of the local train station. (Nice does have a tram line that can be useful.) If you let us know your particular sightseeing interests, we might have ideas for stops you would probably enjoy.
Rick's top sightseeing suggestions for Nice can be found here: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france/nice. Click on "At a Glance".
Posted by
Michigan, United States
710 posts
My daughter and I spent a week in the French Riveria in 2023. It was HOT. Unbelievably hot. But we swam in the Med every day to cool off and that was wonderful. Our base was Nice and we did a boat tour out of Nice, also went to the Chagall Museum, shopped, visited the market there and spent lots of time at the beach. We also visited Monaco, Villefranche sur Mer, Eze, Antibes and Cannes. All were super but my favorite was Eze, especially the views from the garden at the top of the mountain. Sublime. Enjoy your trip.