Riviera -- driver/tour guide/places/advice

Nice is the area’s transportation hub and a wonderful small city to use as a base. We have been there several times and we spent two weeks there on our last visit. Using trains and buses from Nice you can access most of the Riviera’s other towns. It is so easy to do from Nice! Our favorite towns are Antibes and St-Jean Cap Ferat. There are so many others worth seeing too. Get a guide book for the area to start learning more. You do not need drivers for this area of France. It is probably the easiest vacation we have ever done.

We spent two very nice touring days with Ingrid of French Riviera Tours. She had a Mercedes van that she drove us around in. It was 540 Euros a day - so pretty expensive, but we were a party of 4 adults so it was 135 Euros per person for a full day of touring - we saw Menton, Eze, Dolceaqua, and more.

https://bestfrenchriviera.tours/

The local train hits almost all the coastal towns. The exception is St-Tropez way to the west, which has no train station. It can be reached (not particularly fast I would guess) by bus or ferry. All the other places on the water are easiest to reach by train, and fares are inexpensive, with no advance purchase required. For the hill towns (Eze Village, St-Paul-de-Vence, etc.) you can take a bus.

Rick has a guidebook dedicated to this area and Provence (which is a different animal entirely). I recommend getting a copy of it to help you narrow down the possibilities. Many if not all the towns have picturesque historic areas. If you like art, there are at least six art museums in Nice alone; others are in Antibes (Picasso), Biot (Leger), Cagnes-sur-Mer (Renoir) and St-Paul-de-Vence (modern). Menton has two largish gardens, as does the interesting Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild on Cap Ferrat. Antibes and Nice have notable markets. I'm sure there are other nice markets, but some run just once a week, so advance research is necessary; the info is probably in Rick's book. Monaco draws mixed responses; some folks go and really like it (there's a car collection, an aquarium, the casino (check dress code) and I think two gardens); others comment negatively on the plethora of international boutiques.

That is by no means an exhaustive list of interesting towns on and near the Riviera; that's where the guidebook would be really handy.

The Riviera is touristy, so you need to be prepared for possibly being one of very many visitors in the most attractive neighborhoods. The most densely packed areas I encountered in May 2017 were St-Paul-de-Vence and the historic core of Menton, but there were many places I did not go (including Monaco, Cannes and Eze Village). I found Antibes less overrun, and Vence (farther from Nice than St-Paul-de-Vence) was practically deserted. I've been told that Tourrettes-sur-Loup is a nice, atmospheric spot that gets few tourists. I believe you can get there by bus, but it's possible the service is infrequent.

A place that's a bit farther from Nice (accessible via the somewhat expensive Train des Pignes) is Entrevaux. Its medieval center is walled. The train goes on to the spa town of Digne les Bains, which didn't particularly grab me. The train schedule is such that you really can't manage a relaxed visit to both those places on the same day, so I'd settle for Entrevaux (for which the ticket should be less expensive). I don't know how touristy it usually is, because the horrible weather definitely scared off everyone else the day I visited.

You can take a look at rail schedules and fares on the SNCF Connect website.

Nice is close enough to the Italian border that you could pop over to Italy one day. I haven't been to that part of the Italian Riviera, so I don't know whether the towns near the French/Italian border are as worthwhile as those on the French side of the border.

Rick's guide book dedicated to Provence and the French Riviera is a good place to start, along with the forum.

It is possible to get to most places either by train, bus or ferry. Only when you go into the countryside does it become more efficient to use a driver/car or minibus tour. Another recommendation is Friend in France. They will fully customize a tour for you of harder to reach places. Or you can join a small group tour -- there are a number of firms available but I don't have a recommendation.

Places to go (and their transport from Nice) include Villefranche-sur-Mer (train), Cap Ferret, Eze le village (the upper town, by bus -- and while you are at it, see La Turbie and the Trophee des Alpes), Menton (train), Antibes (train), St. Paul de Vence/Vence (tram then bus). Tourettes sur Loup and Gourdon are best feasible by car -- there is a regional bus but these are infrequent. Some like to go to Monaco (bus or train) and Cannes (train is best).

Two special trains take you into the mountains. The Train des Pignes (to Entreveaux, as mentioned, Gare du Sud) and the Train des Merveilles (to the Italian/French hill towns and Mercantour National Park). There are also boat tours and Ferries, include Cannes to St Honorat (monastery, winery) and even Nice/Cannes to St. Tropez as well as more simple coastal tours.

Into Italy, some like the Ventimiglia Friday market. But for towns, San Remo or Bordighera are nicer (or further south). Close to the border, the towns above Ventimiglia are beautiful, like Dolceacqua and Ventimiglia.

This has been awesome, so helpful. It looks like I will plan on most or all nights in Nice, so hotel recommendations welcome.