Shore Excursions from Cannes France

Nice and St Raphael are in opposite directions: are you sure they are in the same excursion?
Without further info, I would say Grasse (for the perfume workshop) + St Paul de Vence sounds the most fun!
Monaco is an impressive landscape marred by rather ugly skyscrapers, and feels a bit sterile. Nice is a great city but exploring is best done on foot. Never been to Antibes.

hi balso,

Nice is a different excursion than Golden Corniche & St Raphael. I have commas between the excursions but they were not standing out so I also added a space.

Thank you for your feedback.

I haven't actually gone to Monaco/Monte Carlo despite spending 2 weeks in Nice, but I believe Monaco is extremely hilly. There are escalators or elevators to assist, but I don't know that that would be a safe choice for you.

St.-Paul-de-Vence is a small town with a very cute, usually-mobbed shopping street. It's on the side of a hill, so walking far without encountering either steps or steep streets might not be possible. Grasse is also up in the hills, but I haven't been there. It's my understanding (from guidebooks) that Grasse doesn't really have much going for it unless you're really interested in the perfume bit.

There are regional trains running along the coast, giving access to Antibes, Nice, Monaco, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Menton and other towns.

acraven

so you spent two weeks in Nice. I assume you must have liked it. Is it beautiful and interesting?

I might post descriptions of the excursions offered me.

So far in total, there are only seven and a couple would not work at at all.

I liked Nice a lot, but the reason I was there for two weeks, rather than a more-reasonable five days or so, was that I took some language lessons at a local school. I am, in general, a big fan of planting myself in the big city and taking side trips to smaller nearby towns. Some folks prefer to do the reverse, but I love art museums, and the bulk of those are concentrated in large cities (Nice has at least six)--though plenty of smaller towns in the Riviera area have a single, worthwhile museum. That includes St-Paul-de-Vence, Antibes, and Biot, among others.

There's a lot of beauty along the Riviera, but you need to think about what will be practical for you. It's easier to get around a small, flattish town than a large, flattish city. Nice definitely slopes downhill from the train station to the beach, but there's a tram (not right at the train station) that helps with moving around.

I haven't been to Cannes myself, but I recall reading a few positive comments on this forum from one or more people who thought Rick was unduly negative about that town. I don't know anything about the terrain there, but I'd encourage you to do a bit of research on it, because staying in Cannes might be a good option for you. Or you could perhaps combine Cannes and Antibes by simply hopping on the train.

It doesn't really matter how fabulous a place is if you can't move around it well enough to see it. A full-size tour bus used for a cruise excursion won't be able to drive through medieval streets anywhere.

I have been watching youtube videos of the different excursions. There seems to be a lot of similarities but every place is beautiful. I do not think that I will be disappointed.

There are only seven excursions offered thus far and two or three won't work at all. There is only one for Cannes and it is a three hour walking tour that is Level 3, most definitely not for someone who has an arthritic knee.

There are two going to Nice which are both Level 1, the easiest.

I think it is the Monte Carlo one which requires walking up 80 stairs. No, I don't think that is the one for me.

I will wait to see if Norwegian drops more excursions.

I've been to Cannes on a cruise. It's a tender port, but a really nice boat ride in. From memory (and I can't find my voyage log) it was a 10 to 15 minute ride in. You land at the ferry pier for the off shore isles of St Marguerite and St Honorat.
You could always take one of those ferries.
I was there at Yachting Festival time, in September, so there was a lot to see down at the harbour, and places to eat and drink down at shore level.
There was also one of those road trains you saw in Santiago. My memory was that it went up to the Castle, but looking at the website now either I am mistaken or they have changed the route as it doesn't seem to do so now. I'm wondering if there was a bus up there- maybe for the festival. Wish I could find my log book.
From the dock it is about a 10 to 15 minute walk to the Railway station for the frequent train along the coast.

If you were going to explore the town properly- the old Church, the town walls and the Castle then it does involve walking due to the nature of the old town. Whether it classifies as Level 2 or Level 3 I might contend- but certainly isn't Level 1 and is a good Level 2. The market is certainly worth looking in. I felt I had covered the town adequately in the day, and enjoyed it but I am fitter than you. I was pleased I had been, but don't think I could justify more than a day there. If I was to go back I would do either of the islands, but don't know how suitable, terrain wise they are for you.

Anyway time for me to go back to bed now, having been up for a streamed Church service in the US.

@ isn31c. Your post brought me back in time. My Grandfather immigrated to the US from Britain between the world wars. He would carefully tune his long range radio so he could listen to church services back in England. There were some things he just always missed. How he would have loved being able to stream services.

isn31c

There is a shore excursion in Nice which includes what they call a "little train" That is the same as a road train in Santiago. At least I think so.

NCL is not offering many shore excursions for Cannes right now but I realize that it is still very early. More should be added over the next few months. At least I hope so.

But I have begun to get an idea of what the area is like and what might be offered.

bostonphil- Yes this is the Le Petit Train in Nice

Carol NR- The BBC are closing the Long Wave service next year as part of a programme of cuts. Although the Daily Service will continue beyond Spring 2024 it will be on a specialist channel. It is one of the longest running programmes on BBC Radio and has quite an interesting history- https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/daily-service/history/ , now being broadcast mainly from a Church in Manchester.
One of the good things to have come out of Covid is the streaming of Church services. It is so rewarding to be able to join liturgies as powerful and special as last nights O' Antiphonal procession at St Mark's Cathedral, Seattle (and indeed, encourage a city resident to go along to the service, who wasn't aware of it). Equally to join the world famous Compline Choir every week.
In 2024 I am hoping to be at at least one of the Compline Choir services when they are on their UK pilgrimage.

We have done Cannes, Monaco/Monte Carlo, Nice, Grasse and St. Paul de Venice.

They are all great places to visit. Nice would be my least favorite city of those mentioned. St. Paul de Venice is special. It is a medieval walled city made of stone. It is not large, but worth a visit. You can see Cannes in a short time and then do other places, such as those mentioned. Monaco is interesting, but not large. Went into the fancy casino and stayed a few minutes to watch the gambling. It was worth a short visit.