South of France

Lindsay,

In order to be of real help, we need more information from you about your interests. Cities, towns or villages? Beaches or hilltops? Vineyards or Roman ruins? Museums? Hikes? Night life for young adults? The list goes on.

I suggest that you go to the library and/or a bookstore and take a look at the Rick Steves Provence & the French Riviera guidebook and the Lonely Planet Provence & the Cote d'Azur guidebook. Both books are good, but the LP book is more thorough and may have more things in it that would appeal to someone your age. Buy whichever one seems to best fit your interests, do some reading, and then come back here with more specific questions.

I'm interested in all of the above, but mainly beaches, cities and/or villages, and nightlife for youth.
Thanks!

IF you're on a budget, then consider the Languedoc region, instead of the French Riviera. Same weather and beaches, but about 30% less. You may like Montpellier. It is a lovely city, great transportation, 60,000 college kids at 3 universities, so there is always plenty of nightlife and fun things to do. The beach is just a short bus ride. They are building a tramline that will go from the heart of Montpellier directly to the beach, but that wont be finished for several years. From Montpellier you could do day trips to Carcassone, Uzes (great Saturday market) and Nimes. Nimes is lovely too and, Pont du Gard is amazing. But of course Nice is wonderful too, and there is a train that goes from Monaco to Cannes. I love Provence, but it's hard to get into the smaller villages without at car. If you do Provence, I would base yourself in either Avignon or Arles, as they have the best train and bus services. Enjoy! Check out my France blog for some entries on the Languedoc region and Provence http://www.enchanted-traveler.com

You will love France!

Thank you for the great advice!

I love Nice and always return to it. Check Rick's book for affordable hotels or perhaps consider hostels to save some money. Nice has rocky beaches, so buy a mat and a thick towel. No sand makes the water clear and beautiful. If you want to splurge you can buy beach service at Beaurivage for 15 Euro which includes a towel, lounge chair, umbrella, and a server if you desire some wine or food. You do not need to be a guest of the 250 euro a night hotel to enjoy this. I pretty much live at this place when I'm here. It's a completely different beach experience with service, say hello to Vincent if you go. There are beautiful people sights sounds and tastes here. Old nice around the market is full of restaurants and nightclubs. Cannes is a little Ritzy for my taste although they have a very nice sand beach.

More info as requested The Beaurivage beach access is avavailable to the public. You don't have to go to the hotel lobby at all. You cannot miss the very large Beaurivage arch shaped sign over the entry. It is on the eastern side of the of the beach. You should make a reservation even in may by either getting there as soon as you arrive in Nice and asking to reserve for the following day. In may you might be able to arrive early in the morning and have breakfast on the beach.... I'm going again in September and having this conversation has got me itching to get on a plane really bad. Here is a link to my personal pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/jefndi/France2006#
The 4th - 10th are photos of Nice. All the beach pics are at the Beaurivage Beach.
Heres a google map I made for you showing Beaurivage and the market area with all the restaurants and clubs. This is Vielle Ville (old town) you want to be in this area:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=
105807709949075596347.0004687de7dc3cf31b1b9
If you arrive by train you can take the new tram way down to place Massena and hoof it the rest of the way to the old town. I used to get hotels farther to west in the musician quarter (closer to the airport) but I always found myself walking to old town... Next time I am renting an apartment just outside of oldtown. Have a great trip.
Jeff

I love Villefranche, near Nice, on the coast. Small ancient town, great base for both the Riviera and the hill towns.