Nice, St Paul de Vence or Antibes?

[Hlitner]

Well, glad you had good weather :). Your taxi experience is so darn typical of France and probably says a lot as to why their economic "productivity" is low when compared to many other western countries. We actually spoke with a taxi driver (a few years ago in Cannes) who told us that he preferred to only drive his "regular customers" and had no interest in dealing with cruise passengers (perhaps he has a point). And yes, that discussion happened at a cafe while we were both enjoying our morning cafe au lait :)

 

We could fill a book with our taxi experiences over a lifetime of travel. Suffice it to say that when we happen to get a good honest taxi driver it is normally something worthy of a celebration. The most fun we had with a taxi was in Istanbul when we were there overnight on a cruise. We have been to Istanbul several times (both cruises and land) and are somewhat familiar with the city and its layout. We got a taxi at the port and asked him to take us to a restaurant that was located on the other side of the bridge along the Bosphurus. The driver, at first, refused to use the meter (he wanted to overcharge us about triple the normal fare) and we had to threaten to get out of his cab until he finally turned on the meter. He then took us for a real "ride" going in wrong direction, driving all over Istanbul, before finally heading to our restaurant. As we neared the restaurant I quietly asked the driver to take us to the nearest Police Station. At first he ignored me...but I kept insisting that we go to the Police Station and finally pulled out my cell phone (as if to make a call). At this point the driver seemed to get a little pale and finally pulled-up are our destination. I explained to him that I knew the route and understood what he had done. I then gave him half what was on the meter (which was still too much) and he quickly thanked us. We have also run into taxi scams in Barcelona (several times), several places in France and Italy, Athens, and even in Ft Lauderdale! We actually do not use taxis as much as most travelers (we often use public transit or have a rental car) but our experience makes us wonder why so many on CC like taxis.

 

Hank

[bonnieg]

Just came back. Things didn't go as planned. When we got to the train station, there was an unusually large crowd. It turned out there was sort of accident and the trains were delayed 1+ hr. We debated whether to go ahead with our plan or just stay in Cannes, and decided to take a taxi to Antibes. Plenty of taxi available outside the station. However as Hank pointed out, the drivers were all much more interested in their morning cafe au lait than business. We finally located a driver who was talking on this cell. He noticed us but continued to talk away as we waited patiently. After a few minutes he finally turned his attention to us. We got him to take us to the old town of Antibes. The fare was about 32 euros.

 

On the way way, we decided to take the taxi again. We found 4 drivers at the taxi stand yapping away and enjoying life. They seemed kind of annoyed that we dared to interrupt them. When they heard Cannes as the destination 3 of them shook their heads and one with some reluctance, indicated he would take us, as if he was doing us a favor. We had him drop us off at the festival hall where the opening of Cannes Film Festival was held. The cost of this ride was 48 euros. Not sure why the big difference as we didn't noticed the driver taking longer routes or wasting time to run up the fare. We didn't have time to argue. So we just paid and got out.

 

And to answer my own question, the weather was fabulous! :-)

 

Sorry it didn't turn out as planned. We had a similar experience taking a taxi between Nice and Villefranche. It cost 40E to go a few miles. For the trip we took last month, it worked out very well renting a car in Cannes and going to Saint Paul de Vence then Antibes. We rented a fiat 500 and had a great day. Thank you Hank for your help in planning. The signs to Saint Paul de Vence were great until you were close by, then the signs only said Vence(the other town). We then saw Saint Paul de Vence to the left on the other side of a valley, high up on a hill. We thought we went too far and turned around. This mistake cost us around 1/2 hr. The turn off for the town was only about a mile further from where we turned around.

 

One more taxi story.. In Barcelona we took a taxi from the ship to Parc Guell. I realized we were in trouble when we were stuck in traffic driving by the Sagrada Familia. I looked at the map and realized the taxi driver went out of her way to show us the sights:eek: therefore hiking up the price considerably. When I questioned the driver she gave some excuse that there was construction on the other road. Lesson learned, when you take a taxi ask them to take the fastest route possible and take a map to make sure they are going the right way.

[lstewart123]

Sorry to highjack this thread, but I have a related question. Our ship is in port in Antibes from 8-6. The ship's tour to St. Paul de Vence is close to 5 hours long (I believe it stops at the Maeght Foundation as well). We'd really like to see St. Paul de Vence, but would love to work in a lunch at Hotel de Cap Eden Roc as well, so we're hesitant to do the ship's tour. It drops you off back at the pier. Would it be better, or even possible, to take the ship's tour (which is at 8:45 a.m.), then NOT join them when they go on to the Maeght Foundation, but rather have a taxi take us from St. Paul to the Cap for lunch instead of going back to the pier? Is that even do-able? Or should we just look for our own private tour/transportation to St. Paul de Vence & the hotel? Or lastly, would doing the whole tour still give us plenty of time (& practial accesibility) to have lunch at the hotel as well?

[Hlitner]

Sorry to highjack this thread, but I have a related question. Our ship is in port in Antibes from 8-6. The ship's tour to St. Paul de Vence is close to 5 hours long (I believe it stops at the Maeght Foundation as well). We'd really like to see St. Paul de Vence, but would love to work in a lunch at Hotel de Cap Eden Roc as well, so we're hesitant to do the ship's tour. It drops you off back at the pier. Would it be better, or even possible, to take the ship's tour (which is at 8:45 a.m.), then NOT join them when they go on to the Maeght Foundation, but rather have a taxi take us from St. Paul to the Cap for lunch instead of going back to the pier? Is that even do-able? Or should we just look for our own private tour/transportation to St. Paul de Vence & the hotel? Or lastly, would doing the whole tour still give us plenty of time (& practial accesibility) to have lunch at the hotel as well?

 

We would assume that you are one of the ultra-luxury ships (such as Seabourn) since we do not think any mass-market ships port at Antibes. So this would mean you are not on a tight budget :) But, there is a problem with your idea in that you would not normally find any taxis sitting around St Paul de Vence looking for fares. In fact, in the south of France it can often be difficult to find a taxi anywhere. If you really had your heart set on a taxi you would most likely need to telephone for a taxi...but be prepared to pay about 40 Euros (maybe more) one way from St Paul de Vence to Cap d'Antibes. Personally, we would just rent a car for the day and drive ourselves (there is a nice indoor parking garage at St Paul de Vence and the Maeght Fondation has a parking lot).

 

Hank

[lstewart123]

Hank- yes it is Seabourn. Is renting a car easy in Antibes? Last time we rented a car in Europe we were in the middle of nowhere in Germany when it broke down. So I'm a little gun shy. But it does seem dumb to pay for a private driver just to take us from Antibes to St. Paul de Vence to lunch in Cap d'Antibes. My impression is that all those things are very close geographically, so would it be safe to say that renting a car for the day should be hassle-free? There isn't weird traffic or scary roads or anything in that area, is there? Is there a car rental place close to the port?

[Elcruzer]

CruisingEh:

 

Are you totally opposed to taking a ship sponsored tour to St Paul de Vence? This medieval hill town would be my number one choice of the places you’ve named. I would suggest a tour of St. Paul de Vence and then a hop on, hop off bus tour of Cannes later in the day.

 

Click on

to see my youtube video of St. Paul de Vence and Cannes.

 

Ron

 

It is possible to get to St Paul de Vence on the local bus for a fraction of the cost of one tour...much less two tours. If you are tendering into Villefranche you can just take the local bus (#100) into Nice to the bus station (the last stop). At that same bus station you can then get the #400 bus to St Paul de Vence. The total cost of the two buses will be only a couple of Euros (each way). For your return you just reverse the process. Keep in mind that the #400 bus does take about an hour (each way) between Nice and St Paul de Vence.

 

Hank

Ron, beautiful video and have decided I'd like to visit on our cruise which stops in Villefranche. I prefer not taking ship's tours and while the above description for taking local buses seems easy enough, I'm concerned with the time it takes. I don't know how often the bus runs?

Would prefer taking an independent tour if anyone can recommend a guide or company that goes to St. Paul de Vence?

[robinlynn]

One of our favorite days ever spent travelling!!

 

Robin

[Elcruzer]

One of our favorite days ever spent travelling!!

 

Robin

Were you on a tour? If so can you recommend them?