southern france

Nimes.

Nice is a great stop-off location. I think it's somewhat do-able for a night/day too. The train station is convenient to everything so you won't have to deal with alternate transport. Monaco is also great, but I've never stayed the night there, just day tripped from Nice. Antibes, Cannes, and Cassis are also great stops, but if you are into Barcelona, Nice makes a perfect follower.

Kelly, Nice would make a great place to stop for a day or so! It's unfortunate that you don't have more time, as there's lots to see. There are some good possibilities for day trips in that area, but with such a short time frame you'll only have time for sightseeing in Nice. Happy travels!

Listen to Ed. Nimes is a good 3 hours closer to Barcelona and has fabulous Roman antiquities. (No beach, though.) Even better if you can fit another day there from your itinerary.

Kelly: I think it depends very much on your plans for the remainder of your trip. Are you headed to Italy? Are you going to fly back home from Nice? Then aim for Nice. Are you headed back to Paris to fly home from there? Then Nimes, Arles, or Avignon is your best bet.

We are headed to Rome after nice. I wish we had more time but my husband and son need to get home after about 10 days. They fly out of Rome. At that point I will have 2 more weeks with my other 2 kids and we can take it slower.

Yep, if you are headed to Rome, then Nimes isn't necessary. I liked Antibes the best, however the train station will be more convenient in Nice. It really is a shame that you don't have about 3 days to spend on the cote d'azur. It deserves it. Not that Rome doesn't deserve your time too, though.

Kelly: Keep in mind that the train ride will be long. Looking at a random date on the DB site, it appeared to me that at least two changes of train will be needed, and even the fastest daytime schedule runs about 9 1/2 hours. Even so, I would urge you to do the day trains. You'll get into Nice about dinnertime. Have dinner on one of the beaches. Take the next day to swim and sun and stroll. Then you'll be ready for the long trip from Nice to Rome. And it will be long, unless you break it somewhere like Milan or Florence.

We are planning on the day train from barcelona to nice but we were considering the night train from nice to rome any thoughts????

Also, any ideas of places to stay in nice for 5 people??? Also, in Rome??? Thanks by the way for all your help. this is such a great source of help!!! Love it.

Kelly: I cannot see any direct night train between Nice and Rome on the DB website. The best option appears to be Lv Nice at 18:24, arr Ventimiglia 19:12, 39 min layover, Lv Ventimiglia 19:51, arr Genoa 23:02. 51 minute layover in Genoa. Board in Genoa just before midnight, arr Rome 5:51 am. Or, to summarize, your poor family drags itself from train to train until midnight, gets less than 6 hours of sleep (and many people like me cant sleep on trains...have you ever done it?) and arrives in Rome about sunrise, hours before anything opens. My advice is to either do day trains, Nice to Milan, overnight Milan, Milan to Rome next day OR investigate discount airlines like Easyjet, Vueling, etc for direct flights Barcelona to Rome.

Oops yes if you are going on to Rome my comments about Nimes do not apply. I still prefer Provence (Nimes, or Arles, for a quick stop) to the Cote D'Azure, though.

There's an overnight ferry from Barcelona to Rome's port (Civitavecchia). For your purposes, it would be nice if it were from Nice to Rome!