Villa franche sur mur cruise crowds

We chose to stay three nights in Beaulieu-sur-Mer last April, on the rec of forum member Dawn. It was our first stop on our trip exploring the French Riviera and Provence, and we really enjoyed it. It’s a quiet and beautiful village, just a little farther down the train line from Villefranche-sur-Mer. Easy to get to with the train from the airport. We chose it as a good launching place for exploring and knew we’d like to be in one place for the first few nights to get over jet lag. I had also heard about the cruise ships stopping, so that was the reason I did not choose Villefranche. There were easy bus and train connections in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, and it was just a much quieter place to stay. Good restaurants, bakeries nearby… We stayed in the Hotel Sélect which had a little square in front of it with a market every day. It was fun to see all the locals gathering in the after school pre-dinner hours with kids playing and adults talking.

So with our two full days, we spent one taking an early bus to Èze and enjoying exploring that town before it got too jammed with people. We went to the Chateau Èze and had a light lunch and drinks with an amazing view, earlier than the lunch crowd so we could get a table. Then we toured the Jardin Exotique, which was fantastic and had spectacular views. We wandered along the lanes and browsed some cool shops. Then we headed back to Beaulieu as the crowds were increasing. That was a perfect first day for two tired travelers.

The next day we hopped on a bus and went to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, planning to spend a lot of time at the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild. The gardens were beautiful, and the Villa was interesting. Tip: Make a lunch reservation as you enter the Villa, before exploring the gardens. That was a great and relaxing lunch on the patio near the gardens. Then we walked down to the port area and enjoyed being along the shore for a while. There’s a nice walking trail around the cape, but we didn’t have the energy!

As an aside, we saw a proposal happen at each of these places!

Those two special days were great ways to get acclimated to being in France, and I would do it the same way another time.

Then we left the Riviera and took the train to Arles for the Provence part of our trip. At the end of that time, we came back and stayed in Nice for the rest of our vacation. (We flew round trip to and from Nice, and traveled by train around to our cities.) We did have one day to go to Villefranche-sur-Mer, but it was rainy and we certainly didn’t do it justice. I would try again if we ever return to Nice. We really enjoyed Menton as well, taking the train almost to Italy.

So, maybe our experience would be helpful for your planning if you’re concerned about cruise crowds.

Laurie

Villefranche-sur-Mer (note the spelling) almost never has more than one cruise ship per day. They do not dock, but moor, and tender boats take passengers to and from the waterfront. You can check the port schedules for arrival and departure times. Cruisetimetables is one good source. Usually the ships arrive in early morning and depart around 6-7 pm. Some leave later. Keep in mind that most passengers will use the train or ship excursions to spend the day in Monaco or Nice. And because the ships need to use tenders, the "all aboard" time for pax is usually an hour before ship departure time. Unless you encounter a ship with a 10 pm sailing, it is doubtful that cruise pax will be filling the restaurants at dinner time.

From various cruises I’ve taken, I would say that most cruise passengers choose to eat dinner on board ship as it’s part of their package so it’s already paid for, plus they often want to catch the entertainment on board.

We watched the cruise ships in action the end of May while we were taking the bus from Nice to Villa Ephrussi. I was impressed (not favorably) by how late the tenders were departing the ship, and how few there seemed to be. We saw one departing the ship around 10 a.m. and another didn’t leave til around noon. It was on a Saturday. I agree that most people seemed to be heading to either Nice or Monaco.

Patty, when a ship needs to use tenders, they will run constantly all day. Not everyone wants to leave the ship first thing or return late in the day. I'm not sure which tenders are used in this port. In some ports the ship uses their own. In others, the ship is required to use the port's tenders. This can also affect the frequency of transfers and the number of pax that can be carried at a time.

When we stayed in Villefrance sur Mer there were cruise ships a couple of the days, but they did not really affect us. Most people from the cruise ship left Villefrance sur Mer to go to Nice or Monaco and missed out on this charming lovely town. There are nice craft booths near the port on the days that the cruise ships are there, so those are fun to browse. We liked the shale beach in Villefranche sur Mer. It is good to make a dinner reservation while you are in Villefranche sur Mer even if there are no cruise ships. We liked Hotel Welcome, and it was fun to sit on the balcony and watch the cruise ship passengers race to get to the tenders before the ship sailed in the evening.

All your comments have been so helpful, thank you!!

were most of cruise passengers off the tenders met by tour buses at the dock, or did they make their way up to the station for the train or public bus?

When we were there many of the cruise ship passengers were in line for the public buses. When they returned many were dropped off near the tenders by taxis. We did not notice tour bus pickups.