Toulon-Nice, LOS Tour, Private Tour, or On Our Own???

[Born4Travlin]

Have read many reviews, but am really looking for an opinion on these two ports. Should we do a LOS tour, Private Tour, or On Our Own. Your Opinion matters to us. Don't know much about these ports. Have been in Nice on business, but other couple traveling with us have never been to France. I would love for them to see the BEST. Any suggestions are very much appreciated. Thank you.

[Pearl64]

I just bought Rick Steves's Mediterranean Cruise Ports. This book just came out last week and has a wealth of information. He tells you which ports are DIY and which ones an excursion would be best. Both Toulon and Nice are included in this book. He even has a chart of the French Rivera and tells you how long and how often trains and busses are along the riviera. Try to find a copy and read what RS has to say. I think you will be given several options with time frames. Hope this helps.

 

Pearl

[taxatty]

Nice is very easy to do on your own. Because we're crazy, we just walked everywhere (from the train station to the Chagall museum to the waterfront), but the HOHO or other buses or taxis would be more efficient, especially if you want to see stuff on the outskirts (like the Matisse museum).

 

From Toulon, unless you're comfortable renting a car, I'd take a ship or private tour, as it's not that easy or quick by public transportation to get to many of the best places to see in the area (like Aix).

 

Les

[Habenero]

Nice is very easy to do on your own. Because we're crazy, we just walked everywhere (from the train station to the Chagall museum to the waterfront), but the HOHO or other buses or taxis would be more efficient, especially if you want to see stuff on the outskirts (like the Matisse museum).

 

From Toulon, unless you're comfortable renting a car, I'd take a ship or private tour, as it's not that easy or quick by public transportation to get to many of the best places to see in the area (like Aix).

 

Les

 

 

What places are open on Sunday in Toulon? I know from previous experience that in Catholic dominated cities, Sunday seems to shut down most of the places that I enjoy visiting. That said, a walking tour to photograph architecture wouldn't be bad.

[taxatty]

What places are open on Sunday in Toulon? I know from previous experience that in Catholic dominated cities, Sunday seems to shut down most of the places that I enjoy visiting. That said, a walking tour to photograph architecture wouldn't be bad.

When we walked through the town there was very little open. RCI said there was a Sunday market somewhere, but the town looked very dead. I wouldn't bother staying in the La Seyne/Toulon area on a Sunday unless you're going to a nearby beach.

 

There was a boat into Toulon that was much cheaper than the shuttle bus offered by the ship. The dock for it was a 15 minute walk from the ship--when you get off, go to the tourist information kiosk next to the ship for a schedule, and they will show you the easy path around the harbour to where the shuttle boat comes and goes. It drops you off right at the main Toulon port where the center of town is a couple of minutes stroll away.

 

Les

[French_Al]

toulon to nice is a trek... i would to to aix-en-provence... which it really french and in provence....

[French_Al]

oops just relaised you are stopping in both toulon and nice... note that often the boats do not stop in Nice but in villefranche or even cannes sometimes...

 

you can visit nice by yourself it has a compact centre. the old town is where most people visit. you could also try some local tours in nice.

[daliflor]

You can take local Bus # 8 from La Seyne-sur-Mer to Toulon and the bus ticket is 1.40 €/pax (dropped us off very close to Toulon Train Station SNCF... we reached it within 5 minutes walking distance up the street). Or you can take to local boat across to Toulon for about 2.00 €/pp.

 

 

The bus ride was about 45 minutes (due to traffic on Friday morning, June 4th 2010).

 

From The Train Station in Toulon you can go to Cannes or Nice (the train comes from Marseilles and it reaches Cannes in less than 1.5 hrs)...

or Cassis, Avignon or even back to Marseille... some many destinations to chose from!

 

 

Note that most of the local SNCF trains offer 20% discount for senior citizens'tickets (60+ years old).

 

 

SNCF Train Station in Toulon (June 4, 2010)

 

 

 

For the price of the bus ticket (1.40 €), you can enjoy a fresh coffee across the street, at Cafe de la Gare.

 

We took the train from Toulon to Cannes (left Toulon at 10:12am and arrived in Cannes at 11:32am...

the earlier train left Toulon at 8:10am that day). Full price ticket: 18.90 €/one way.

 

 

Inside the SNCF Train Station in Toulon (June 4, 2010)

 

 

Inside the SNCF Train Station in Toulon (June 4, 2010)

 

 

Inside the SNCF Train Station in Toulon (June 4, 2010)

 

 

 

The train to Cannes came to Toulon from Marseille at gate 3 and the "ter" train's final destination was Nice.

There were only 3 short stops before we reached Cannes that Friday (80 minutes later).

 

We visited Nice a while back, so this time around we opted for Cannes.

 

Happy sailing!