French Riviera Itinerary Help Please

Stephanie - It's up to you but I don't see a benefit in staying one night in Nice if the other nights will be in Villefranche. Nice is an easy and cheap bus ride from Villefranche and I'd spend a day or couple of half days in Nice. You can walk to Cap Ferrat from Villefranche, it's really beautiful to walk by the mansions, or take a bus. Cap Ferrat is worth a half to full day, depending on your interests. You can rent a beach chair or just walk around the peninsula. I'll let someone else address the other places you want to go. You can get a car if you want but most places are easy to get to by bus or train.

I found that nothing was as short of a trip as I thought it would be. I was there in early June and it was so crowded in the entire Riviera I wished I had stayed in Arles.

The Riviera has many facets (quiet luxury, jet set, family outing.)  Do you want private beaches with young men in white trousers bringing you strawberries and champagne or public beaches with you on a towel under a tourist shop beach umbrella?  
Nice has both, Villefranche has only the latter.

There is a seasonal day cruise from Nice to St. Tropez.

The best walk on the Riviera is the path from the tip of Cap Martin to the Corbusier cabin. There is a hard to reach not crowded public beach near there.

I would base in Nice. Nice is the focal point for trains and buses in the region, and if you stay in Villefranche you'll probably end up backtracking to Nice anyway. Plus--and others disagree with this--I love Nice and its pebbly beaches. From Nice you can easily train to Villefranche, Antibes, Cannes, and Monoco. Going to Eze, you have 2 options: train to Eze by the sea and take a shuttle bus up to Eze le Village (your destination), or bus straight from the bus station in Nice which is right off the new tram line that runs through the city. Given the traffic in the area, you really don't want to drive and there isn't any need to. If you haven't gotten it already, buy a copy of RS' book on Provence and the Riviera.

It is very interesting that people are saying to stay in Nice as my home base. I thought Nice was more touristy so that's why I was led to stay in Villefranche or Antibes. I posted this question last month. Then last night we watched RS show on French Riviera. I thought Nice looked like a town I would want to visit. Now I'm confused! We will def take trains and buses as you all suggest and maybe the boat trip to St. Tropez. I just need to male a decision on staying in Nice or VF now. Thanks!

Stephanie - I don't think you can go wrong either way. If you love a city, stay in Nice. If you want more of a small town, stay in Villefranche. You'll have a great time in either place but I'd pick one, rather than split your nights between the two, and make day trips. You won't be sorry whatever you choose.

Eze was wonderful...St. Tropez, beautiful but touristy. If you do have a car, the drive along the coast from Nice to St. Tropez is easy and lots of great places to stop along the way. St. Maxime, on the Mediterranean has everything the bigger cities do without all the congestion. You could then head up a little north of the coast and see some of the french countryside. Whatever you do it is all wonderful. I love the freedon the of car and picked up and returned to Nice airport.

We stayed in Villefranche for 3 nights at the end of June. Villefranche is nice, and our hotel was great (although it was high up on the middle corniche). We day tripped to Nice, Cannes, and Monaco by train and/or bus. It all worked fine. Just be sure to allow yourself plenty of time for travel so that you can visit all the places that interest you. We wished we'd had one more day just to sit on the beach!

villefrance or antibes. nice isn't that nice. i thought it was dirty and somewhat industrial almost. train connectivity along the riviera is excellent. be sure to see the gardens, and cap ferrat outside of villefrance. have fun, be safe.

Ok thanks so much for your advice. We prefer a small town so we will stay four nights at the Welcome Hotel in VF. Im still not sure if we are going to rent a car or take trains to visit eze, cap ferrat or st tropez. I would like to have the freedom of a car. I will do some more research this week to make a decision. Thanks so much for your help!!!

Stephanie - I found Nice very confusing to drive in and highly recommend a GPS if you do rent a car. Enjoy your trip!

From the Welcome you can walk past the beach and up teh hill past many large mansions to the Rothschild Mansion - grounds are well worth the trek.