Is this do-able from Cannes?

[llarsen]

Hello,

 

I am trying to put together port plans for our first Med cruise this October.

We are in Cannes from 8am-10pm on a Saturday

 

Originally planned to walk around Le Suguet and the Coisette areas, and take bus to Antibes.

 

But now we (4 of us) are considering renting a car to see some other areas. While I'm aware of the bus/train system and it is very economical, it would not be easy to see St Paul de Vence by bus and timing schedules for these places.

 

I googled the distance between these, but not being familiar with France, would this really work?

 

Pick up car rental near pier from Mistral

About 25 minute drive to Antibes

About 30 minute drive to St Paul (from Antibes)

About 40 minute drive to Eze Villages (from St Paul)

 

We originally planned to see Eze Villages from Monte Carlo, but we are there on a Sunday and the bus directly there does not run on Sunday, so would require going to Villafranche or Nice and catching bus from there. With so many other places to see near Monte Carlo (like Nice and Villafranche and St Jean Cap Ferrat, I'm thinking it would be better to see Eze Villages from Cannes?

 

Any input or thoughts are appreciated!

 

Other ports in France are:

Marseille (only there til 6:00pm) taking train to Aix

St Tropez 8am-midnight) Still looking for options as to what to do there.

 

Btw, one other area I would love to see is Luberon Villages, but not sure how easy it would be from any of these ports? Anyone been there?

[Loonbeam]

We used a private guide so I can only speak to some generalities...

 

Add about 15 minutes to each location to find parking, minimum, more if peak season.

 

Our guide did not recommend doing Eze from Cannes, she said the drive is usually closer to an hour.

 

We spent an entire day just doing Cap D'Antibes, St. Paul de Vence, Le Haute du Cannes a little bit of Cannes itself and that was at a decent pace.

(but we did re-board earlier, 7 PM)

Hello,

 

I am trying to put together port plans for our first Med cruise this October.

We are in Cannes from 8am-10pm on a Saturday

 

Originally planned to walk around Le Suguet and the Coisette areas, and take bus to Antibes.

 

But now we (4 of us) are considering renting a car to see some other areas. While I'm aware of the bus/train system and it is very economical, it would not be easy to see St Paul de Vence by bus and timing schedules for these places.

 

I googled the distance between these, but not being familiar with France, would this really work?

 

Pick up car rental near pier from Mistral

About 25 minute drive to Antibes

About 30 minute drive to St Paul (from Antibes)

About 40 minute drive to Eze Villages (from St Paul)

 

We originally planned to see Eze Villages from Monte Carlo, but we are there on a Sunday and the bus directly there does not run on Sunday, so would require going to Villafranche or Nice and catching bus from there. With so many other places to see near Monte Carlo (like Nice and Villafranche and St Jean Cap Ferrat, I'm thinking it would be better to see Eze Villages from Cannes?

 

Any input or thoughts are appreciated!

 

Other ports in France are:

Marseille (only there til 6:00pm) taking train to Aix

St Tropez 8am-midnight) Still looking for options as to what to do there.

 

Btw, one other area I would love to see is Luberon Villages, but not sure how easy it would be from any of these ports? Anyone been there?

[calvin81]

We are hoping to go to St Paul du Vence from Cannes using public transportation. My roll call is very quiet and I don't want to rent a car alone. You mentioned it was hard to do with the schedules for the bus/train. May I ask where you found this information? We also have a long day in port, so I thought even if the times weren't great it would be possible. Should I rehtink this?

[llarsen]

calvin81- I bought Rick Steves Book "Mediterranean Cruise Ports" It has a lot of port information and has helped out a lot!

It gives some basic public transportation info as well. I ordered mine on Amazon, but also you can search these boards for info using the Search options. You kind of have to sift through for the info you're looking for.

Or...as I am doing, post a specific question asking for help.

I was advised by a well traveled cruiser on this board, that St Paul de Vence is not as easy using public transportation, but not imposible. I believe it may be bus #400 that gets you there.

There is also a link found on these boards http://www.lignesdazur.com

Haven't figured out exactly how to use it, but seems you put in the line number (like 400) and it gives you a pdf with schedule.

When are you leaving for your cruise? I have been copy and pasting info from these boards as I find it. Haven't put it all together yet, but maybe you can check back with me if you don't find the info you are looking for.

 

Loonbeam- Thanks! I was wondering if Eze was stretching it, lol. I think we will just try and see it from Monaco. Possibly taking a taking there from Monte Carlo, then the bus to the other areas we are interested in seeing.

 

Thank you!

[calvin81]

I bought the Rick Steves Cruise book as well -- on Amazon for a good price. He was pretty negative on St. Paul, and I checked with the rental car company in Cannes and they only have manual transmissions -- I haven't driven manual in many years and don't want to try it on unfamiliar, possibly hilly roads:eek:. After reading the Rick Steves advice on ports I think we will take a train to Nice instead of trying to get to St. Paul. Yes, these boards are so helpful! Between the advice here and the Rick Steves book I know we'll have a great trip.

[Hlitner]

Your driving plan is about right although the traffic along the coastal roads can be very unpredictable. As to parking, at St Paul de Vence there is a large pay parking garage just past the entrance (well marked with the "P" signs) and Eze Village has a parking lot right in front of the entrance (although its possible that the lot can be full and you have to wait for a spot). As to Antibes we never have any problem parking since there is both on the street parking and a few nice paid parking lots near the most popular tourist area (close to the marina).

 

 

Hank

[llarsen]

One of our friends going with us will be doing the driving. He would like to head to Eze Villages first, since it is the farthest. Not sure if that effects traffic one way or another.

 

Looking at the car rentals, they all seem to be manual trans, and he is a little nervous about driving and stopping on hills.

 

Has anyone had a problem with the hills or driving manual?

[Hlitner]

Driving a manual is simply a matter of practice. There are several techniques for handling stopping/starting on hills. For the novice that is not too comfortable with a heel/toe kind of thing you can simply pull on the hand break (keep the button depressed) and once you start adding some gas you gradually take off the hand break as you start to accelerate. Its an old trick and works well.

 

Hank

[llarsen]

Thanks Hank!

[Hlitner]

Thanks Hank!

 

DW is sending me back to "spelling class" because "break" is brake :)

 

Hank

[willysgrandma]

We did a private excursion that went to most of the places you want to go plus Monte Carlo and Monaco. It was all day and we loved it.

 

This is the company we used and Michel was our driver:

 

http://frenchrivierasightseeing-tourguide.com/