hello,
We are planning to travel to French Riviera in early October, flying in and out of Nice (10 nights) .
We are a very active couple, and love visiting museums, beautiful big and little towns, beaches. we were planning to see all by Train and Bus unless we have to rent a car.
Should we spend all 10 nights in Nice or spend a night or two in Avignon or Antibes?
We do not have the final plan yet, and Would love to hear any advise
thank you
Sveta
Posted by
Washington DC
27109 posts
Antibes is easily visited from Nice by train. Places like Avignon, Arles, Aix-en-Provence, etc. are better visited from a base in Provence. You really need to have a pretty solid idea of what towns you want to see in order to figure out where you should base yourself and how you should split your time. That same information is key to deciding whether you need a rental car at all. So I'd start with Rick's guide book to southern France.
I think it would be nice to have a second base rather than spending all of your nights in Nice, but you absolutely can stay there the entire time without running out of day-trips and things to see in the city.
Many of the charming Riviera and Provencal towns have art museums. Nice has many of them. Rick's guide book to southern France will mention most if not all of those museums, and presence of an art museum may be a useful tiebreaker when deciding which towns to visit. Believe me, there was will be more places on your list than you'll have time for. Also, keep your eyes open for posters and flyers announcing special exhibitions that might be of interest.
I especially liked the Maeght Foundation in St.-Paul-de-Vence (very pretty hill town but also extremely touristy) and the Asian art and naive art museums in Nice.
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
I'd say the opposite. Nice is easily visited from Antibes. Why not stay there and visit other places by train? Antibes is my favorite spot in the area. It has the best white sand beaches, a nice marina, medieval center, art gallery, ramparts and cafes in a very walkable package. Nice is a much bigger city. Antibes has a train station (Nice has two or three) so it's no less convenient than traveling up and down the coast from a location in Nice. I stayed in Juan les Pins (right next to Antibes) but Antibes is my favorite place in the area. I was able to get an Airbnb studio apartment in late September for under 50 euro a night. If I was going again, I'd look for something near the medieval center in Antibes.
Posted by
Washington DC
27109 posts
I think a lot depends on how many of Nice's art museums end up on the itinerary. I'd be happy to stay in Antibes, but not if I was going to make 3, 4 or 5 trips to Nice.
Posted by
Nice, France & San Francisco
678 posts
Given your love of Museums, stay in Nice and then another location like Avignon, especially if you do not have a car. Nice has better transit connections, more central and is more of a year-round city. Early October can be tricky with weather (many beach clubs have even closed for the season) and rainy days are possible, so it is good to have more options.
You can then use Avignon as a base to take trips into the countryside or neighboring towns. I'd do two nights minimum so you can make one of the other journeys.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
I want to thank everybody for their input,
We are thinking of dividing the vacation into 2 parts: 4 nights in Provence and 6 nights in French Rivera.
Choosing Nice as base and using public transportation to travel to Antibes, Cannes, St. Paul de Vence, Grasse, Monaco, Eze, Villefrance-sur-mer, Cap Feratt.
Then rent car in Nice and drive up to Provence, choosing Avignon, or Arles (as a second base) and visit Pont du Gard, Nimes, Orange, Cotes du Rhone, St. Remy .
If we will rent a car, I would love to include a day to visit a couple of wineries -any recommendations here? Is early October a reasonable time to visit wineries, or is it too late?
Also, what are the best sand beaches in the area.
thank you again
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10221 posts
Avignon is much larger than Arles. For Provence I would base in Arles or St. Remy. I've stayed in both. In Arles I stayed at Hotel Regence. They are located on the river just inside the wall. There is free parking available. In Arles we rented an apartment. We didn't have any trouble finding parking there either.