Hi all, we are planning our trip (8 nights, 7 full days) to the French Riviera the last few days of August and first week of September.
We are interested in some beach time, beautiful villages, scenic views/routes, nature, etc. We fly into and out of Nice and wondering where is best to base ourselves; we have only been looking at Nice but maybe it's better to stay half in Nice and half elsewhere? I'm not sure we have the time to see both Provence and the Riviera.
After some research, we found many places we're interested in seeing but definitely can't get to all of them on one trip. Looking for thoughts/suggestions on our current itinerary below? We would be staying in Nice for all 8 nights.
- Day 0: Arrive in Nice around 12pm, beach/relax, walk on promenade, dinner
- Day 1: Nice
- Day 2: Menton and Italy town (Dolceacqua, Bordighera or Sanremo. Ventimiglia doesn't look too interesting to us.)
- Day 3: Eze, Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Villefranche-sur-Mer
- Day 4: Antibes, Juan Les Pins and Cannes
- Day 5: Monaco (Not too interested but probably will want to see it for a few hours), Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
- Day 6-7: Interested in picking two day trips from Grasse/Verdon Gorge, Cassis/Calenques, St. Tropez/Grimaud
- Day 8: Depart from Nice
Would we need a car for Cassis/Calenques or St. Tropez/Grimaud day trips? Definitely need one for Grasse/Verdon Gorge but I am a little scared about the mountain driving lol. How easy is the driving and are there at least road barriers? All these day trips seem to require 2.5 hours each way of travel, are they worth it or should we see them on a future trip to Provence? If so, what other places would you recommend for those two days?