Don't be afraid to try things on your own!

[mlbcruiser]

Hank, I read through about the first 8 pgs. of this thread agreeing with the ecouragement you and others have given to those who are hesitant about doing things on their own when in an unfamiliar place. My dh and I started the "old fashioned" way (as someone else mentioned) by taking a library book (yep, Europe on $5 a Day!). I encourage people to do things on their own any chance I get. We DO have to watch our money when we travel, and find it usually goes a lot farther when we do things on our own.

 

Now, I have some questions for you: We're doing a combination land trip to Lisbon, Catalonia and Santorini very soon. In between land portions we are doing a short, 5 day W. Med. cruise. We have been to every port before and also have driven quite a bit when vacationing in Italy and Spain. This time we have reserved cars in most of the ports to visit a couple of places we have not yet seen.

 

The first port is Cannes, where we plan to drive to St. Paul de Vence. Is there anything you can think of that we especially need to watch out for? Any tips worth sharing?

 

Next we've reserved a car in Livorno and this is where I really need an expert's opinion. We plan to visit San Gimignano. While we have driven in the area before ( on our way from Venice to Siena, and then on Civitaveccia), we have never driven from Livorno. An alternative would be to take the train to Lucca (and yes, go through Pisa). But I have the impression that we will like San Gimignano a lot more, and that the drive there will be more beautiful (Your input here, please!) I think the route from Livorno to S.G. should take about 2 hrs. one way, but wondered if this sounds about right to you? Do you have any suggestions for doing this? Should we expect very heavy traffic making it risky getting back to Livorno in mid-to-late afternoon? Are we crazy not to just go to Lucca by train? Please give me some feedback on this if you will.

 

As for Civitaveccia, we have stayed in Rome a couple of times but will probably go in again. We'll probably take the train in, not really knowing what we'll do there this time. And frankly, we just don't want to reserve ANOTHER car! We'll probably just hang out, walk around, etc. Are there any towns which are exceptionally interesting and/or beautiful near Rome that that would be worth a visit,and that we could easily visit by train or bus from Civitaveccia?

 

One more thing. I have to caution people to have a backup plan IF they are not able to catch the train or bus of their choice. That has happened to us a few times in re: to catching a train to a city. In Villefranche, it seemed there were far more people than there were tickets to Monaco on the first few trains and that presented somewhat of a problem, causing many to not be able to get tickets until hours later. Another time we were in Madrid and were told it was no problem to go to Atocha Station and catch a train to Toledo w/out a reservation. WRONG! We arrived about 10 a.m. and already all of the trains were booked until about 2 p.m. And this was only early June, and on a Monday, when several sights in Toledo were closed! (Luckily we went to the bus station and were able to get a bus quickly.)

 

Anyway, I hope you see this and can give me some tips or advice in regard to driving to the places I've mentioned. It's nice to know of someone else who prefers to drive. Everytime I mention driving in Europe, people start lecturing me on how great the trains are, etc. etc. (Been there/done that w/a Eurailpass yrs. ago. While fun, we'd rather be able to stop and explore whenever the urge strikes. Thanks for such an interesting thread!

[mlbcruiser]

Woops! Forgot to set my email notification so had to post something. Sorry!

[dbh62ark]

As for Civitaveccia, we have stayed in Rome a couple of times but will probably go in again. We'll probably take the train in, not really knowing what we'll do there this time. And frankly, we just don't want to reserve ANOTHER car! We'll probably just hang out, walk around, etc. Are there any towns which are exceptionally interesting and/or beautiful near Rome that that would be worth a visit,and that we could easily visit by train or bus from Civitaveccia?

Check out Tuscania. But if you really want treat and decide to rent a car, Civita de Bagnoregio is amazing, and we did this from the port of Civitavecchia.

 

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=bagnoregio

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

[Hlitner]

Hank, I read through about the first 8 pgs. of this thread agreeing with the ecouragement you and others have given to those who are hesitant about doing things on their own when in an unfamiliar place. My dh and I started the "old fashioned" way (as someone else mentioned) by taking a library book (yep, Europe on $5 a Day!). I encourage people to do things on their own any chance I get. We DO have to watch our money when we travel, and find it usually goes a lot farther when we do things on our own.

 

Now, I have some questions for you: We're doing a combination land trip to Lisbon, Catalonia and Santorini very soon. In between land portions we are doing a short, 5 day W. Med. cruise. We have been to every port before and also have driven quite a bit when vacationing in Italy and Spain. This time we have reserved cars in most of the ports to visit a couple of places we have not yet seen.

 

The first port is Cannes, where we plan to drive to St. Paul de Vence. Is there anything you can think of that we especially need to watch out for? Any tips worth sharing?

 

Next we've reserved a car in Livorno and this is where I really need an expert's opinion. We plan to visit San Gimignano. While we have driven in the area before ( on our way from Venice to Siena, and then on Civitaveccia), we have never driven from Livorno. An alternative would be to take the train to Lucca (and yes, go through Pisa). But I have the impression that we will like San Gimignano a lot more, and that the drive there will be more beautiful (Your input here, please!) I think the route from Livorno to S.G. should take about 2 hrs. one way, but wondered if this sounds about right to you? Do you have any suggestions for doing this? Should we expect very heavy traffic making it risky getting back to Livorno in mid-to-late afternoon? Are we crazy not to just go to Lucca by train? Please give me some feedback on this if you will.

 

As for Civitaveccia, we have stayed in Rome a couple of times but will probably go in again. We'll probably take the train in, not really knowing what we'll do there this time. And frankly, we just don't want to reserve ANOTHER car! We'll probably just hang out, walk around, etc. Are there any towns which are exceptionally interesting and/or beautiful near Rome that that would be worth a visit,and that we could easily visit by train or bus from Civitaveccia?

 

One more thing. I have to caution people to have a backup plan IF they are not able to catch the train or bus of their choice. That has happened to us a few times in re: to catching a train to a city. In Villefranche, it seemed there were far more people than there were tickets to Monaco on the first few trains and that presented somewhat of a problem, causing many to not be able to get tickets until hours later. Another time we were in Madrid and were told it was no problem to go to Atocha Station and catch a train to Toledo w/out a reservation. WRONG! We arrived about 10 a.m. and already all of the trains were booked until about 2 p.m. And this was only early June, and on a Monday, when several sights in Toledo were closed! (Luckily we went to the bus station and were able to get a bus quickly.)

 

Anyway, I hope you see this and can give me some tips or advice in regard to driving to the places I've mentioned. It's nice to know of someone else who prefers to drive. Everytime I mention driving in Europe, people start lecturing me on how great the trains are, etc. etc. (Been there/done that w/a Eurailpass yrs. ago. While fun, we'd rather be able to stop and explore whenever the urge strikes. Thanks for such an interesting thread!

 

We are still in Europe (in an apartment in St Remy de Provence) so a lot of my maps are at home. These days, we use our GPS in Europe...which by the way is a great idea for anyone renting a car (most of the rental companies will rent you a GPS). We often rent cars in Cannes to go to St Paul de Vence since public transit (train-bus combination) is not very efficient in terms of time. Try to be one of the first off the ship (you will be tendered) and make sure you reserve a car with one of the companies that have a location in town (such as Budget or Europcar). Carefully check the opening times of your rental car company. The fastest way to St Paul de Vence (one of our favorite places) is to use the Autostrade) and I believe the exit is labeled "Cagnes"....but double check me on this. There is a large indoor parking garage just past the St Paul main entrance if you do not want to park on the road. If you leave St Paul early, you might want to drive down to Antibes and than work your way back to Cannes along the coast road....but leave yourself at least 1 1/2 hours extra on your return to Cannes...for a safe margin.

 

You should be able to make it to San G in less than 2 hours, but much depends on your route. If you are driving on a weekday, you might want to use some of the secondary roads and avoid the road that runs near Florence (traffic can sometimes be bad). We have done the same drive from ships, and have even managed to spend some time in Siena. Another place we like in the region in Volterra, which could also be coupled with a visit to San G.

 

Regarding the Rome question, it is hard to beat the 9 Euro BIRG ticket which gets you round trip to Rome plus all-day use of the metro and buses. We do not generally recommend going outside of Rome via public transit, and there is usually enough in Rome for even frequent visitors. We recently visited the Villa Borghese for lack of anything else to do and loved the park and villa (check-out their web site for info). Tivoli would probably be high on my list for towns to visit near Rome, but it's not convenient for a port day since it's on the far side (east) of Rome. We also love the ruins at Ostia Antica which are located a short way from the FCO airport...but again, it does not work well with public transit. Those ruins rival anything at Pompeii...but seem to be skipped on most tours and itineraries.

 

By the way, we are "walking the walk" since we have been driving through Italy and France since leaving our ship in Civitavecchia last Sunday. For those planning longer term rentals in Europe, try to get a small diesel-powered car since the fuel is about 15 - 20% cheaper than gasoline and the cars get great mileage.

 

Hank

[dbh62ark]

We also love the ruins at Ostia Antica which are located a short way from the FCO airport...but again, it does not work well with public transit.Hank

Hank, we went to Ostia Antica via a local train that we called the "graffiti express." At the Ostia stop, we walked over a pedestrian bridge and hired a guide, and it was less than 100 yards.

 

Donna

[Hlitner]

Hank, we went to Ostia Antica via a local train that we called the "graffiti express." At the Ostia stop, we walked over a pedestrian bridge and hired a guide, and it was less than 100 yards.

 

Donna

 

That is great info. Did that train leave from Rome's Termini or could you access it directly from Civitavecchia? If from Rome it would mean a cruise passenger would need to take the train into Rome (about 1:15 each way) and than take the train back out to the Ostia Antica. I should have added that we went to Ostia Antica when we happened to spend a night at the FCO Airport Hilton. Since we still had our rental car, it was about a 10 min drive from our hotel to the ruins. We spent nearly 3 hours at those ruins and still did not see it all!

 

Hank

[dbh62ark]

That is great info. Did that train leave from Rome's Termini or could you access it directly from Civitavecchia? If from Rome it would mean a cruise passenger would need to take the train into Rome (about 1:15 each way) and than take the train back out to the Ostia Antica.

Hank

Yes, we went from Rome. I checked it out from Civitavecchia last year and noted the same thing you did (that cruise passengers coming from Civitavecchia would have to go through Rome using public transportation to get to Ostia Antica).

 

But I think Tuscania is a short and easy train ride from Civitavecchia for those who have "done" Rome, and Tuscania is great. My favorite excursion from Civitavecchia was a private tour to Tuscania, Civita de Banoregio (magical!!!!), and Bagnaia.

 

Donna

[mlbcruiser]

Hank, thanks for the info! I have copied it onto my notepage.

Re: the GPS systems, I am finding that many agencies do not have them available for rent. We made a reservation almost 2 wks. ago for Cannes, and I contacted Budget to see if we could get a GPS. I was told they do not have any. We were able to get one for Livorno (different co.), but that same co. does not have them avail. for Lisbon (where we REALLY need one as we are going to try and find my husband's home when he was a baby in Estoril!). I checke a few other agencies in Lisbon only to find the same thing. Having said that, I have not checked w/Hertz, but their cars in EVERY case I have tried anywhere are always more expensive. I have been sticking mostly to the agencies known to be a bit more budget friendly, many of which incl. CDW (although we can get it free through our credit card as long as we definitely decline it ON the contract). We have a Garmin of our own, but never downloaded European maps due to the cost, uncertain chance to use it, and not wanting to lug it w/us. O guess we will probably take the train into Rome. As you said, it's such a great place just hanging out is good enough.

 

Donna, I just did a search using the places you said you did a private tour to outside of Civitaveccia and turned up almost NOTHING on Tripadvisor! A few hotels, and a photo of a fort or castle-like structure on one hotel review. Nothing under "things to do" for those places. How/where did you get the private tour?

[CathyCruises]

Can someone tell me more about this: Civita de Banoregio (magical!!!!) This is the third reference in the last two days, before which I had never heard of it! We MAY decide to drive from Civ. to Venice and if this(whatever it is) is so great we better plan to stop there!!

 

Thx for any info

Cathy

[mlbcruiser]

Cathy, this is what comes up when I do a search on Tripadvisor:

 

Sorry, but nothing matches your search for Civita de Banoregio

 

In post by Donna (before my last one) it is mentioned as though it is somewhere around Civitaveccia. Those photos you posted the links to are beautiful, however! Please post if you find out more!

[luvmy3girls]

I have not been to Europe yet, and had never heard of these places, either, but when I googled the above city, I found much info. The spelling was just off by one "g".

Apparently this area of tuscania is about 60 miles north of rome. The city of Civia is now connected to the city of Bagnoregio by a narrow footbridge. The appeal, from what I read, is that this dying city once inhabited by the Etruscans transports you back to another time.

You can read all about it if you search for Civita di Bagnoregio. Rick Steves also comments on it, and has stayed at the B & B there.

 

Also, I searched for Civitavecchia to Civita di Bagnoregio, and you will find more info from traveling there from port.

 

 

 

Hope this helps and you find what you're looking for:)! Since it will be my first time, I'll be checking out Rome.

[cruisemom42]

I have not been to Europe yet, and had never heard of these places, either, but when I googled the above city, I found much info. The spelling was just off by one "g".

Apparently this area of tuscania is about 60 miles north of rome. The city of Civia is now connected to the city of Bagnoregio by a narrow footbridge. The appeal, from what I read, is that this dying city once inhabited by the Etruscans transports you back to another time.

You can read all about it if you search for Civita di Bagnoregio. Rick Steves also comments on it, and has stayed at the B & B there.

 

Also, I searched for Civitavecchia to Civita di Bagnoregio, and you will find more info from traveling there from port.

 

 

 

Hope this helps and you find what you're looking for:)! Since it will be my first time, I'll be checking out Rome.

 

 

I just noticed from your signature that you are on the sailing we are strongly considering (Ruby Princess Grand Mediterranean) for next May/June. It's the itinerary I want, but I'm worried it may be a little too early for DS to get off. His last day of school is May 26 but I don't know yet when his graduation is....!!! If not that one, we'll be on the 6/10 sailing (Greek Isles).

[HMSDingy]

We are still in Europe (in an apartment in St Remy de Provence) so a lot of my maps are at home. These days, we use our GPS in Europe...which by the way is a great idea for anyone renting a car (most of the rental companies will rent you a GPS). We often rent cars in Cannes to go to St Paul de Vence since public transit (train-bus combination) is not very efficient in terms of time. Try to be one of the first off the ship (you will be tendered) and make sure you reserve a car with one of the companies that have a location in town (such as Budget or Europcar). Carefully check the opening times of your rental car company. The fastest way to St Paul de Vence (one of our favorite places) is to use the Autostrade) and I believe the exit is labeled "Cagnes"....but double check me on this. There is a large indoor parking garage just past the St Paul main entrance if you do not want to park on the road. If you leave St Paul early, you might want to drive down to Antibes and than work your way back to Cannes along the coast road....but leave yourself at least 1 1/2 hours extra on your return to Cannes...for a safe margin.

 

You should be able to make it to San G in less than 2 hours, but much depends on your route. If you are driving on a weekday, you might want to use some of the secondary roads and avoid the road that runs near Florence (traffic can sometimes be bad). We have done the same drive from ships, and have even managed to spend some time in Siena. Another place we like in the region in Volterra, which could also be coupled with a visit to San G.

 

Regarding the Rome question, it is hard to beat the 9 Euro BIRG ticket which gets you round trip to Rome plus all-day use of the metro and buses. We do not generally recommend going outside of Rome via public transit, and there is usually enough in Rome for even frequent visitors. We recently visited the Villa Borghese for lack of anything else to do and loved the park and villa (check-out their web site for info). Tivoli would probably be high on my list for towns to visit near Rome, but it's not convenient for a port day since it's on the far side (east) of Rome. We also love the ruins at Ostia Antica which are located a short way from the FCO airport...but again, it does not work well with public transit. Those ruins rival anything at Pompeii...but seem to be skipped on most tours and itineraries.

 

By the way, we are "walking the walk" since we have been driving through Italy and France since leaving our ship in Civitavecchia last Sunday. For those planning longer term rentals in Europe, try to get a small diesel-powered car since the fuel is about 15 - 20% cheaper than gasoline and the cars get great mileage.

 

Hank

 

Great read here. As DW and I are both fluent in Italian as well as Spanish & French, we plan to purchase BIRG tickets and take the train from Civitavecchia to Termini station in Rome and do our own sightseeing. I haven't been back to Italy since my college days and we are definitely looking forward to this trip. We also planned a big family reunion in Naples. BTW It will be for our 30th wedding anniversary!:D

[dbh62ark]

Can someone tell me more about this: Civita de Banoregio (magical!!!!) This is the third reference in the last two days, before which I had never heard of it! We MAY decide to drive from Civ. to Venice and if this(whatever it is) is so great we better plan to stop there!!

 

Thx for any info

Cathy

 

Donna, I just did a search using the places you said you did a private tour to outside of Civitaveccia and turned up almost NOTHING on Tripadvisor! A few hotels, and a photo of a fort or castle-like structure on one hotel review. Nothing under "things to do" for those places. How/where did you get the private tour?

 

Civita de Bagnoregio is a wonderful place to visit. It's a small village that is only accessed by a footbridge. Our friend Walt said that he felt like he was walking up to see God! :) The scenery in that area is really nice too, and you have great views from the village of the surrounding mountains. This is called a dying village because only a few residents live in the village now.

 

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/italy/civitabd.htm

 

http://www.romeartlover.it/Bagnoregio.html

 

http://www.romeartlover.it/Bagnaia.html

 

http://www.romeartlover.it/Tuscania.html

 

We used Monti Tours, which was recommended in Rick Steves' book, but I think any of the Civitavecchia private drivers will take you into Umbria instead of Rome. We were not at all interested in the Etruscan tombs that are a big attraction in this area, so we just based our day on the wonderful villages.

 

I don't have my photos online (sorry--I sell some of my travel photos professionally), but you can preview more on http://www.flickr.com.

 

Happy travels,

Donna

[mlbcruiser]

luvmy3girls and Donna, like the lady on 40 Rock says, "I want to go there!"

I'm didn't even think about doing a search on Google. (I am one of the stupid few people in the world who almost never use that site!) THANK you both so much for this info! Now, how do I figure out how we can get there? We are already renting in cars in 3 of our 4 ports, plus in Portugal, Spain, (can't take one over their borders or it costs $700!), and Greece for land portions of our trip. And most of the low cost agencies do not have GPS systems, which means LOTS of "thinking" and getting lost! Maybe a train to Rome and then??? But will we have time? (Gotta definitely research this!) Thanks again, ladies!

[dbh62ark]

luvmy3girls and Donna, like the lady on 40 Rock says, "I want to go there!"

I'm didn't even think about doing a search on Google. (I am one of the stupid few people in the world who almost never use that site!) THANK you both so much for this info! Now, how do I figure out how we can get there? We are already renting in cars in 3 of our 4 ports, plus in Portugal, Spain, (can't take one over their borders or it costs $700!), and Greece for land portions of our trip. And most of the low cost agencies do not have GPS systems, which means LOTS of "thinking" and getting lost! Maybe a train to Rome and then??? But will we have time? (Gotta definitely research this!) Thanks again, ladies!

You're welcome, and I hope you have a great trip.

 

:) Donna

[luvmy3girls]

I just noticed from your signature that you are on the sailing we are strongly considering (Ruby Princess Grand Mediterranean) for next May/June. It's the itinerary I want, but I'm worried it may be a little too early for DS to get off. His last day of school is May 26 but I don't know yet when his graduation is....!!! If not that one, we'll be on the 6/10 sailing (Greek Isles).

 

Since this is my first time to Europe, I had to pick a region, then find an itinerary that included all my "must-sees" with as many "I hope I get to go there alsos" as I could find. This one seemed almost perfect (I would prefer Santorini over Mykonos, but I'll be very happy anyway). We wanted to go on the September 2nd sailing as that is our actual 15 year anniv. date, but realized we would be in Rome on Sunday, and I wasn't willing to miss the Sistine Chapel, so we opted for May. We'll miss the end of school for our 4 kids, but hopefully the grandparents will make up for our absence.:)

If you end up on the May/June dates, I look forward to seeing you on the roll calls!:D

 

 

luvmy3girls and Donna, like the lady on 40 Rock says, "I want to go there!"

I'm didn't even think about doing a search on Google. (I am one of the stupid few people in the world who almost never use that site!) THANK you both so much for this info! Now, how do I figure out how we can get there? We are already renting in cars in 3 of our 4 ports, plus in Portugal, Spain, (can't take one over their borders or it costs $700!), and Greece for land portions of our trip. And most of the low cost agencies do not have GPS systems, which means LOTS of "thinking" and getting lost! Maybe a train to Rome and then??? But will we have time? (Gotta definitely research this!) Thanks again, ladies!

 

You're welcome, and I hope you find a way to get there; it seems like a fascinating place to visit.

 

-Misty

[SunDapple]

KWK1955, The downside to buses is that you lose a lot of time just waiting for buses. And, to get to St Paul de Vence by bus you need to catch-it in either Nice or Cagnes sur Mer (its actually the same bus line). If you were just going to Eze and Nice, I would recommend using the buses (you can take a bus direct from Monte Carlo to Eze and than another bus from Eze to Nice and either use the train or buses to get back to Monte Carlo (or do the whole thing in reverse). But, since you brought St Paul de Vence into the equation (our favorite place in the region) and since you have experience driving in Europe, I would strongly suggest you spend the money and rent a car in Monte Carlo.

 

The problem for you is that it just takes a lot of time to get to St Paul de Vence using public buses and or trains. If we were doing this itinerary we would probably head straight to St Paul de Vence (your furthest point), come back through Nice, and than finish at Eze. The road to St Paul de Vence is just past the Nice Cote d'Azur airport and can be accessed by the motorway or local coastal road. I can give you exact directions, but it really is a good idea to rent a GPS with rental cars these days.

 

Hank

Since we have never driven in Europe and so do not want to rent a car, I'm wondering if it is reasonable and feasible to hire a taxi at the pier (Monte Carlo) to go directly to St Paul de Vence, then taking the bus to Nice for a short visit, and then bussing it to Eze before returning to the ship (also by bus). How long a drive is it to SPdV, and how long is the bus ride there?

 

I have no problem using bus service to St Paul de Vence, our primary destination, my concern is more with the time wasted element in what will, no doubt, be a very long day. Too long? We could easily delete Eze and take the train back to the ship, from Nice, if we get too tired.

[peabody99]

We always venture on our own in Europe, Mexico and Caribbean. It does take a ton of research though, as I like to take public transportation-that is part of the fun. I especially love hitting the food markets. Nevertheless we met our match in Tunis, it was exhausting dealing with getting ripped off , or attempts to rip us off, everywhere in city. We are taking a tour to Carthage this next visit.

Edited May 9, 2009 by peabody99

[mlbcruiser]

Sun Dapple, I understand your hesitancy about not wanting to drive in a place you have never been before, but it really isn't as bad as you think. And if you drive in the San Francisco area, you are 3 steps ahead already due to the hills, sea views, winding roads and so forth. For one thing, they (UK excluded) drive on the same side of the road as us. Many more of their signs use int'l. symbols, too, so they are easy to understand. If you can get a GPS, it would help a lot. Even so, get maps from Google or Mapquest (you have to click on the right - "international" on that site) for routes, print them out, and bring them w/you. I don't know how old you are or what your driving experience has been, but it will cost you somewhere in the vicinity of $100 USD a day to rent a car in the vicinity of the places you are speaking of visiting. (I know because I just checked out a bunch of rental agencies and we have a rental car for Cannes in 2 wks.) If you use buses, of course those aren't expensive. But cabs over long distances are. I checked w/several drivers for Cannes to St. Paul de Vence and the most reasonable guy was about $125 one way, not incl. any of the other places you mention. (We would actually use him if we had 2 more people to share the cost with!)

 

BTW, we have toured Nice before, and it was nice, but we absolutely LOVED Eze!!! The view and location, w/the teeny lanes, etc! It's a little fairytale-like village. But it all depends upon what you like most. We were in Nice in the late morning/early evening on a tour, and it was rather dull at that time of day. But from what my own dd told me after she stayed there, it is much more lively late in the afternoon through the night time hours.

 

Whatever you decide, have fun and good luck! (And don't stress if you miss something. Trips never go exactly as planned and you will just have to go again! ;))

[SunDapple]

Sun Dapple, I understand your hesitancy about not wanting to drive in a place you have never been before, but it really isn't as bad as you think. And if you drive in the San Francisco area, you are 3 steps ahead already due to the hills, sea views, winding roads and so forth. For one thing, they (UK excluded) drive on the same side of the road as us. Many more of their signs use int'l. symbols, too, so they are easy to understand. If you can get a GPS, it would help a lot. Even so, get maps from Google or Mapquest (you have to click on the right - "international" on that site) for routes, print them out, and bring them w/you. I don't know how old you are or what your driving experience has been, but it will cost you somewhere in the vicinity of $100 USD a day to rent a car in the vicinity of the places you are speaking of visiting. (I know because I just checked out a bunch of rental agencies and we have a rental car for Cannes in 2 wks.) If you use buses, of course those aren't expensive. But cabs over long distances are. I checked w/several drivers for Cannes to St. Paul de Vence and the most reasonable guy was about $125 one way, not incl. any of the other places you mention. (We would actually use him if we had 2 more people to share the cost with!)

 

BTW, we have toured Nice before, and it was nice, but we absolutely LOVED Eze!!! The view and location, w/the teeny lanes, etc! It's a little fairytale-like village. But it all depends upon what you like most. We were in Nice in the late morning/early evening on a tour, and it was rather dull at that time of day. But from what my own dd told me after she stayed there, it is much more lively late in the afternoon through the night time hours.

 

Whatever you decide, have fun and good luck! (And don't stress if you miss something. Trips never go exactly as planned and you will just have to go again! ;))

Thank you so much for your encouragement. I forwarded your recommendation to my husband, and surprisingly he is willing to rent a car. (I had forgotten that he rented a car in Spain 25 years ago. You wonder why I forgot? :D) So now I must ask, how does one go about looking for a rental car over there? Would you mind sharing the names of the car rental companies you've investigated? Thanks so much.

Jacquie

[SunDapple]

Duh! I googled it and got many answers. :) Thanks anyway!

[mlbcruiser]

Sundapple, I've gotten different prices from different agencies and have rentals reserved in 4 countries for our upcoming trip. For sure EVERYTIME the highest rates were from the larger, well known agencies, of which Hertz, Avis, Sixt and even (surprisingly to me since we've gotten good deals from them before), Europcar and AutoEurope. The best rates have usually been offered by: Economycar.com; Fastcarhire.uk (I can't get that one straight up by just using.com);Budget and National have come in SOME places, surprisingly - something straight from their website and sometimes through a booking agency. You can do Priceline and BID on a car; run it through Yeego.com (I've gotten different agency options each time) and there is one called something like Spaincarhire or Spain-something, which sounded great but they were a bit higher priced than the lowest; just not as high as the highest.

 

Now, here are some things you should know, but don't let them discourage you. They will make renting sound way more complicated than it is: I've had issues trying to find out WHERE a particular office is located in places where I've wanted to get the car somewhere inside the city (Barcelona, for instance) and not right from the airport. (Can require a lot of legwork - putting address onto Mapquest or Google first, etc.), but when it's an airport, no problem. Watch for opening and closing hours and days. Some of these places close mid-day (siesta) for a few hrs. and while you might be able to access them, it could be of extra cost. Some you save money on if you pay in full ahead of time, or else pay a deposit at the time of booking. But mostly you get all the money back if you cancel by a determined date. Some right up to rental time. (In one case it was a 2 euro fee to cancel.) There was one called Holidayrentals.com or something out of the UK (I THINK?) that was inexpensive and the background seemed good, but I cannot seem to access online myself!? It came up through Yeego.com (a discount booking site) once. Just be SURE to read the terms of each contract THOROUGHLY! One more thing - in the past we have never obtained an int'l. driver's license. Never needed one, either. Often they are required in the country but the rental agency never makes you have one. This time I talked my dh into getting one because IF you get into an accident, THEN you need one. There is translation into even Arabic inside the one he got from AAA and that is the main reason. Plus, in the fine print of the automatic cdw insurance that often comes with a rental (though not usually from Hertz, Avis, etc.) the ins. is invalidated if you wreck and do not have an int'l. license! If you have a credit card and want to waive cdw (we have coverage through our credit card IF we initial/decline it on a contract, but SOME of agencies will not let you have a car if you decline the insurance - Hertz, etc., will, usually). We never knew any of this stuff until we rented in the UK in Oct., when I carefully researched the insurance stuff. Never ever had the int'l. license before this time. So it will be a bit of a risk when I drive, which won't be much - but as long as I don't wreck . . . ! LOL (We did have a side mirror torn off once by a young parking valet at our inn in Positano several yrs. ago. AutoEurope contract included ins. So they never charged us a dime and didn't give us one bit of trouble on the return!)

 

Well, I think that is enough to get you going. Hope this helps! Go have fun and I think you will be glad you got a car. (Just be prepared for a few "discussions" over directions. ;) Good luck!

[SunDapple]

Sundapple, I've gotten different prices from different agencies and have rentals reserved in 4 countries for our upcoming trip. For sure EVERYTIME the highest rates were from the larger, well known agencies, of which Hertz, Avis, Sixt and even (surprisingly to me since we've gotten good deals from them before), Europcar and AutoEurope. The best rates have usually been offered by: Economycar.com; Fastcarhire.uk (I can't get that one straight up by just using.com);Budget and National have come in SOME places, surprisingly - something straight from their website and sometimes through a booking agency. You can do Priceline and BID on a car; run it through Yeego.com (I've gotten different agency options each time) and there is one called something like Spaincarhire or Spain-something, which sounded great but they were a bit higher priced than the lowest; just not as high as the highest.

 

Now, here are some things you should know, but don't let them discourage you. They will make renting sound way more complicated than it is: I've had issues trying to find out WHERE a particular office is located in places where I've wanted to get the car somewhere inside the city (Barcelona, for instance) and not right from the airport. (Can require a lot of legwork - putting address onto Mapquest or Google first, etc.), but when it's an airport, no problem. Watch for opening and closing hours and days. Some of these places close mid-day (siesta) for a few hrs. and while you might be able to access them, it could be of extra cost. Some you save money on if you pay in full ahead of time, or else pay a deposit at the time of booking. But mostly you get all the money back if you cancel by a determined date. Some right up to rental time. (In one case it was a 2 euro fee to cancel.) There was one called Holidayrentals.com or something out of the UK (I THINK?) that was inexpensive and the background seemed good, but I cannot seem to access online myself!? It came up through Yeego.com (a discount booking site) once. Just be SURE to read the terms of each contract THOROUGHLY! One more thing - in the past we have never obtained an int'l. driver's license. Never needed one, either. Often they are required in the country but the rental agency never makes you have one. This time I talked my dh into getting one because IF you get into an accident, THEN you need one. There is translation into even Arabic inside the one he got from AAA and that is the main reason. Plus, in the fine print of the automatic cdw insurance that often comes with a rental (though not usually from Hertz, Avis, etc.) the ins. is invalidated if you wreck and do not have an int'l. license! If you have a credit card and want to waive cdw (we have coverage through our credit card IF we initial/decline it on a contract, but SOME of agencies will not let you have a car if you decline the insurance - Hertz, etc., will, usually). We never knew any of this stuff until we rented in the UK in Oct., when I carefully researched the insurance stuff. Never ever had the int'l. license before this time. So it will be a bit of a risk when I drive, which won't be much - but as long as I don't wreck . . . ! LOL (We did have a side mirror torn off once by a young parking valet at our inn in Positano several yrs. ago. AutoEurope contract included ins. So they never charged us a dime and didn't give us one bit of trouble on the return!)

 

Well, I think that is enough to get you going. Hope this helps! Go have fun and I think you will be glad you got a car. (Just be prepared for a few "discussions" over directions. ;) Good luck!

Oh my goodness, so much to think about! :eek: I started with the search yesterday evening and ran into the problem of where to pick up in Monte Carlo. That took more time than I thought it would.

 

Thank you for the volumes of information and guidance. I think DH and I will be having more "discussions" about this rental before we even get there. :) Seriously, I cannot thank you enough for your help. I shall persevere.

Jacquie

[CathyCruises]

Just to let you know--we rented a car in Nice and drove all over the Riviera--along the Grand, Lower and Middle Corniches, which are extremely scenic (remember that Princess Grace was killed in an accident on the Grand Corniche). We went all the way to the Italian border one way, then back a different way, stopped in Monaco, etc etc. It was very easy to do, not a lot of traffic, and we had a great time.

 

The next trip (from Villefranche) we just took a bus to St. Paul de Vence and that was great too--can't really go wrong!

 

Cathy