Ventimilgia

I was in Ventimigllia over night in October 2009. We drove from Chamonix to Ventimglia and the next day headed to Nice. We stayed at Hotel Sole Mare which was very nice and the staff was very helpful. They also had a good breakfast. We had a great dinner at the restaurant beside the hotel but there were a few nice ones on that strip.

Susan,
You might also have a look at San Remo,it. A bit larger town with a beautiful beach.

Ugh, I hate San Remo. Worst beach I've ever seen (water is muddy, not clear like in Nice) and while my car was parked on the main street, someone smashed my window right in the middle of the day, stole my wife's bag and ran up 2k worth of credit card purchases before I could even cancel the card.

I really do think that Menton has a bit more to offer and is a better choice, IMO... it's just 10-15 minutes further than Ventimiglia.

Rik Sorry to hear of your loss in San Remo. So that we can learn from your experience, was the bag in the boot and the culprits broke in to see what they could find, or would it have been visible? Other than avoiding San Remo is there anything else we should learn?

Unfortunately my wife was brand new in Italy at the time and wasn't aware of the high petty crime rate here so she left it on the front seat. I'd been here a few years by that point and knew to lock everything in the trunk but didn't even think to look as I never expect anyone to leave stuff sitting in the seat. Thieves must've been walking by, saw it, smashed the window with something and ran off with it. I had to do a police report and then get it translated into English for my bank to reimburse me for the fraudulent charges, it was a nightmare. Lesson learned for her and she's much more careful now. Aside from that incident, we still were unimpressed with San Remo. The beach is like a breakwater so the water is muddy and everything was overpriced for what I considered sort of a ghetto area. They have a big casino there but it was overcrowded, dirty and smelly. Over ten years in Italy, that remains the only break in I've ever had here believe it or not.

bummer

We spent a couple of nights in Ventimiglia and enjoyed it. Stayed at the two-star Hotel Calypso, and it was just fine and very reasonable. Took a side trip to the small town of Dolceaqua. I know people who rave about the town of Villefranche on the French side of the border. Another town you might consider is Camogli, just east of Genoa. We liked it very much.