Nice, France - places to stay & things to do?

I

IrishGunner

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Ok since the search is 'gone' for searching an individual forum & not in key posts

Don't want to scroll through the previous posts well not while at work

Going to Nice soon and looking for recommended accommodation

Checked out the below websites

[broken link removed]
www.tripadvisor.com
www.virtualtourist.com
http://travel.roughguides.com/

Saw a few decent ones but looking for any recommendations or things to do
while there

Looking for something reasonable and cheerful with Air Con as hope to travel
sometime in July / Aug and it will be hot & sticky

Any help much appreciated
 
Re: Nice France Places to Stay & Things to Do

I wd recommend mercure hotel at notre dame. V. central (www.accorhotels.com). Decor etc a bit bland but there's a pool on the roof - great in hot weather and cuts down on expenses since private beaches are pricey at around 10 euro each entrance. We have stayed there several times and staff are v.friendly.
Nice things to do:
Get the train that runs up the coast and take your pick from the following for a day out:
Monaco/Monte Carlo (Grimaldi Palace, Casino, Jacques Cousteau museum)
Antibes
Cannes
Juan le Pins

Cheap and cheerful way to get around.
Also, there's a market every Friday at Ventimille - just over the border in Italy. Well worth a look but go early!
 
Re: Nice France Places to Stay & Things to Do

Menton on the French side of the Italian border is a lovely place. I thought Ventimiglia was a bit run down.

Monaco is a tacky kip full of poorly-educated gawking tourists.. Avoid at all costs.
 
Re: Nice France Places to Stay & Things to Do

Personally I would not stay in Nice but in one of the villages along the coast such as Villefranche sur Mer - nice town with outstanding views , the cruise ships dock here. Its only 4 miles from Nice on the way towards Monaco. Tourist orientated. Otherwise Eze Village - where Bono has his pad - a medieval village high up on the mountains overlooking the coast. Any of the towns between Nice and Monaco/Italy are served by the same train that comes from Nice. Regular trains and regular bus service.

http://www.riviera.fr/vsmhome.htm

Agree with Europhile - Menton is also nice. Monaco is grand if you want a coffee at the harbour but you wouldnt want to stay there - just a day visit.
 
Re: Nice France Places to Stay & Things to Do

Cheers

Not looking for somewhere to lye on the beach all day as it may cost us a few Euros for that and it would bore us to death. Certainly dont want to bump in Boner.......

Will stay maybe in Nice and do the day trips

Still looking at Hotels etc Just looking for R&R with time for some decent meals and a few glasses of Vino
 
I've added some punctuation to your title, IrishGunner — the first time I read it, I thought 'Nice' was an adjective!
 
Here's another vote for Villefranche-Sur-Mer. Beautiful little town with great restaurants. Very easy to get around from here. There's a train station toward the end of the town. Have a look on for great hotel reviews.
 
There's a great train trip from Nice heading towards Turin - the old 'salt route', you can get on and off it when you like - you can drive it also. The 'Time Out' to Nice is a great reference book.
 
Can anyone recommend a hotel in Villefranche Sur Mer? I emailed a couple but no availability on dates I want. There are so many hotels in Nice I'm getting confused so maybe one of those smaller towns would be better. Any tips and advise would be great. Thanks!
 

Hi Noelle,

That depends on your budget. The hotel Welcome right on the water's edge gets rave reviews but is slightly more expensive. Hotel De La Darse is a 5-10 minute walk to the main harbour. A lovely walk along the water at The Citadel. It's a basic 2 star hotel but clean and friendly with breakfast served on your balcony. It's around E80 per room per night with million dollar views of the harbour and St Jean Cap Ferrat. I stayed there earlier this year and found it fine. I didn't spend much time in the hotel so it suited us. If you want luxury stay elsewhere. I'd rather spend the money on really good food and wine. Villefranche-Sur-Mer is a beautiful place but would be very different to Nice. Stay in Nice if you want more shopping/nightclubs etc. Here's a link with some hotels and reviews.



http://www.boomercafe.com/villefranche.htm
 
Hi Jake,

Thanks for the hotel info and the links, the reviews do seem very good. It's for my parents so somewhere quite with nice restaurants would suit them. They are flying into Nice on thursaday and leave on tuesday. They have been before but stayed in Cannes. I know they'll go to Monaco on a day trip again but I was trying to find them other places to go and maybe stay. Would you recommend Villefranch Sur Mer? And also how did you book the hotel there?

Thanks again - I really appreciate the advise.
 
Hi Noelle,

If your folks are looking for somewhere relaxing with some good restaurants and they're looking to go back to the Riviera then I can't recommend VSM enough. (If they like partying, Irish bars etc it wouldn't be for them). There are some really good restaurants in the town and along the harbour. I was there in late April and it was fairly quiet (but not dead). I think their tourist season starts late May and ends mid September so I'd say around now would be a lovely time to go. Some nice places to go around the area too including Beaulieu-Sur-Mer, St Jean Cap Ferrat and Eze. Public transport is very good. There are buses to most towns along the coast and also a train station in the town. I e-mailed the hotel to book and everything went fine. Although keep in mind what I said about the hotel. If your parents like their home comforts when they'e away they should probably go for Hotel Welcome. In saying that I'm going back for a week next May and I'm happy enough with my 2 star with the amazing views! Hope this helps. Let me know if there's anything thing else I can do to help. Like carrying their cases....
 
Hey Jake,

Thanks again, thats great, sounds ideal place for them. I'll check out the Welcome too but at this stage I'm worried about availability. Do you have the hotel's email address by any chance? They are not really into fancy hotels, they won't spend much time there and I know they'd prefer to spend monsy on nice restaurants and things like that. As for carrying the cases, VSM sounds so lovely I'd amost offer my services!
 
Hi Noelle,

The email address is info@hoteldeladarse.com
When are they going? Hopefully they'll get somewhere as it shouldn't be all booked up if they're going soon. From the reviews on tripadvisor The Riviera in VSM sounds quite nice also. It's at the back of the harbour, seems to be a bit of a walk up though. Let me know how it goes!
 
Thanks a million Jake,

I emailed the hotel so hopefully will get a reply. They are flying on thurday morning so it's all a bit last minute!
 
Noelle, a few restaurants that I can remember are: Au Clair Obscure in Rue Obscure (they'll find Rue Obscure no problem) really good restaurant, excellent mediterranean prawns! La Caravelle, Michel's (didn't actually eat in it, just had a few glasses of champagne but it come highly recommnded) and Calypso right on the water, great moules et frites for lunch! They won't go far wrong. The standard of food was quite high. Tell them to enjoy!
 
Thanks Jake,

I've made note of them! My mother loves seafood so all sound good. Unfortunatly no availability in hotel de la darse so I've emailed a few others.
 
Hi Noelle,

There's a new place you could have a look at [broken link removed] It's only opened recently but looks really nice on their website. Might be worth checking out.
 
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