Seeing more vs. staying put

Of course, I do think you see more if you stay put. Our first trip, same as many first timers, was a blur of big cities and old buildings. Had to look at the photos to remember where we had been. Now we see a lot more by seeing less.

This is simple, tight budget=more staying put,, each time you move you spent money on the actual travel..money you could spend on wine,,what a waste ha ha. Seriously, a week is one or two destinations tops to me. Have you priced out hostels? For French Riviera look at staying at Nice and doing daytrips to other cities,,Cannes, Monte Carlo, Eze, Antibes etc etc.. I have been looking at train fares for Paris -Nice if you buy well in advance they can be as cheap as 35-40 euros..not bad city center to city center.

TC, a great way to get a clear answer to your question is read the posts where people ask to have their itinerary scrutinized.

The French Riveria can get pretty expensive, not just with lodging but with food. I think the best way to save money would be to rent an apartment in an area you'd like to explore. On the western -ish side of things, you could rent an apartment in Cassis and that means you're convenient to day trips in Marsielle and Aix-En-Provence. Or you could rent an apartment in Nice and go all the places people listed above. But a week apartment rental will certainly be cheaper than a hotel, and you can cook your own breakfasts and dinners and it's easier to do the picnic thing when you have your own fridge and a place to store food from the supermarket.

You say you will probably couch surf, so that takes care of housing. You can find inexpensive food anywhere you go, even on the Riviera. There are a tiny family run restaurants, sandwich shops or little supermarkets. Look for kabobs, falafels, etc. My sons would say you haven't lived until you've survived on merguez sandwiches in a baguette, topped with overflowing french fries. The food stands are very popular.

Staying put will usaully save you money, because you get to know where to eat on the cheap, and regardless of strategy used to travel, it will always cost you something more than staying in the same place. Just a friendly hint: as a person with many Couchsurf contacts (from meetings, not hosting/surfing), and having had an ex-girlfriend who's very involved in the project, just beware Couchsurfing might be more expensive than your average hostel if you don't want to be a freeloader. Google the terms freeloader + Couchsurfing and you will understand what I am talking about..

I get railed all the time for my itineraries - but I like to be on the move. Last year we did a 4 day trip to Belgium and stayed in three cities. I have done the same with weekend trips to The Netherlands. I don't mind waking up, grabbing my bag and jumping on a train to my next destination - I like the adventure of it and we try to pack three bags with our first two days in the first bag, second two days in second bag - that kind of thing. Me - personally, I'd spend the week hitting a few cities, staying in B&Bs or a hostels.