My husband and I are planning to visit the French Riviera in April.
We are considering a stay in Nice and then plan to do some day trips to other places - perhaps Monaco, St. Tropez and Cannes.
We would like to spend some time in Provence and are looking for recommendations for where to stay.
Thank you
What do you Ike to do? How much time do you have? Will you have a car? Any mobility issues? Provence is big, there is a lot to see and do. Your question as it’s stated is just too broad.
We love the beach, quaint villages with markets, great restaurants, shopping.
We were picturing three or four days along the coast and three or four days in Provence.
We could rent a car; but, haven't decided yet.
Check if the mistral is still likely in April in Provence. The mistral is why I skipped Provence in late March this year. I got a taste of it in Marseille (2N, loved it) which confirmed the wisdom of my choice. I then spent 5N in Nice and day tripped by train to the other coastal towns and villages as well as time in Nice itself. It was easy, convenient and even in March parking would not have been easy to find. After that I rented a car and stayed 3N in Saint-Paul-de-Vence and explored the surrounding towns and villages. I also drove the Upper Corniche road - a disappointment, nowhere to pull over to admire the view - and most of the time there wasn't a view because of trees or construction.
Friends came back a week ago from 5N based in Nice with a rental car. They were disappointed with Cannes and regretted having the car instead of relying on the trains and buses.
It was warm and sunny while I was there. There were people on the beaches, basking and/or playing. Even in April the water will be too cold for more than a brief dip. Most of the beaches are pebbly, a few are sandy.
The Mistral is always a possibility in Provence, but by April the weather gets more pleasant. I would definitely not skip Provence in April for that reason. And if it worries you, Uzès near the Pont du Gard is less windy that the usually recommended St Rémy and Avignon
St. Tropez is tough to get to except by car -- keep that in mind. I generally recommend people rent a car when they are ready to head west or into the hills/hinterland. It's not beach weather, although you will find northern Europeans taking a dip on a sunny day. It can be stormy and cold, particularly with the Mistral which picks up from points west of St. Tropez. It can also be pleasant/warm and dry.
Just a note on western Provence and the Luberon -- some places only open up for the season after Easter or mid April-ish. However, it can be wonderful, with normal traffic in the markets and none of the tourist hordes.
I’m in Paris now, but was just in Nice for five nights. Loved my time at The Riviera! I just used quick trains and cheap buses to get everywhere - very handy. I stayed at the Hotel Regence on Rue Masséna which was a perfect location for me, and a quick tram ride back up the hill to the train station.
One town I liked immensely for photos, for relaxing at their beach, and for the Italian food was Menton. If you go, be sure to walk to the Italian section for fantastic hues of building colors! I stopped in briefly at Monaco on the way back to Nice, mainly to get my passport officially stamped. : )
I’ll be posting a Trip Report in a few weeks of this trip.
If there are indoor sights you wish to see (there are many art museums scattered about, for example), check their websites for hours of operation. I noticed during my May 2018 trip to southern France that some places have an extra day of closure outside the summer months. A few were even closed 3 days a week during part of the year.
Thank you for all of the suggestions and information.
Jean - I'd love to see your photos. Thanks
We stayed in Antibes Mas Djoliba Hotel it was my favorite hotel of our trip to Provence/Cote d Azur! I can't recommend our place in Provence, although nice with a great host, it was too far from everything.
Thank you for the hotel recommendation.
We used St. Remy and Gordes as our bases for the 7 nights we were in Provence in May a year ago. They were perfect as we enjoyed driving from market to market, small town to small town.....there are many quaint and charming towns in that area that are fun to visit and grab a meal......Loumarin, Roussillon, Menerbes, Isle de la Sourge.......you will enjoy seeing them all.
I think Jane has good ideas here. If you have only 4 days start researching and pick one town as a base. Don’t waste time checking in and checking out. Stay in one place, do day trips. St. Rémy is a good choice. We found it a bit busy, but we like some quiet time. We stayed in Lourmarin for a week. Loved it.
Our favorite places near Nice are Hotel Welcome in Villefranche sur Mer which is a charming village on the Mediterranean, as well as walks on St. Jean Cap Ferrat and the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, the hilltop village of Eze, and Monaco. We have not been to Provence.
We just stayed 3 nights at the Welcome in Villefranche sur Mer as well and we loved it. There is a train station a ten minute walk from the hotel where you can catch the train to Monaco or Nice as well as all the other points. We also were taking the TGV train from the Nice main station to Avignon after our stay and one of the concierges at Welcome helped us make sure to get a ticket for 6:13 am the morning we were catching our train from Nice to Avignon at 6:57. She even took care of buying the tickets for us since an agent at the Villefranche station said he could only sell us a ticket for that day. I figured out how to use the machine better and did it all by myself yesterday at the Avignon Centre station so we would have our ticket this morning for the shuttle train from Avignon Centre to the Avignon TGV, yea for me. Choose English first thing on the screen! I will post another reply about where we stayed, etc. we are on train to Paris right now
We stayed in St. Remy at Maison de Line for 3 nights. We had taken train to Avignon and rented a car from Hertz through Autoeurope. It was a very positive experience. We got exactly the car we asked for, automatic Eenault and we paid an extra $20 a day for the in car navigation system which we added when we were at the Hertz facility. I don’t know what we would have done without it, probably gotten lost all the time. It’s only a 30 min. Drive to St Remy from Avignon TGV. We booked a cottage so we had a washing machine and there was a fan and drying rack so we could do all our laundry while there. We drove to Les Baux, Carrieres de Lumiere, Pont du Gard, Arles, Roussillon, Abbeye De Senanque(church is currently closed and no lavender now so kind of a meh), And Gordes. We had time to enjoy St. Remy in the evenings and got to go to the Wednesday market which is amazing. We left after the market, drove to Avignon, returned rental, took shuttle train from TGV station to Avignon Centre, (6 min. Ride but only every 30-40 min. ) and we stayed one night at a Accor Novotel hotel a 5 min. Walk from city walls & station so we could catch our train to Paris this morning. If you have other specific questions about anything I’m happy to answer. We have negotiated everything well as we went along for mid 60’s couple who planned all travel without aid but it’s been a little stressful at times, then empowering when we figure it out!
