What to do in Villefranche ?

[seal498]

After what seems will be exciting and exhausting tours in Italy, my family and I (two teenagers 12 and 13), are not sure what to do at this port. The excursions offered are not tempting, so thought we could find a beach near by and just relax, instead of staying on the ship to relax. Does anyone know what there is to do at this port ?

[uk1]

Have you tried searching under "Villefranche"?

[seal498]

yes thank you, did a search, just came up with hotels, restaurants and shopping nothing really to interesting, but thanks for the reply

[vikielynne]

I'm not sure about Villefrance but Nice is about 7 - 10 min away by train & there's a beach there...not what we're used to in the States but pebbles & ocean. You can go to the nicer bit & rent chairs & umbrellas - not sure of the cost but it's an option.

[hylasgirl]

There is a beach right where you get off the tenders and it is a much softer beach than the one in Nice and there are also quite a few of really nice sidewalk cafes. It is also a VERY charming town to just wander through. One of the coolest things to do is take the bus to EZE. It is a very cute little town up on the cliffs... it is also VERY easy to catch the train into Monaco. That is what we did last time... This stop is actually very nice and picturesque.

 

Hope that helps:)

[GramaFran]

I saw this show on PBS today from Rick Steves about Villefranche and area.

quote -

"Villefranche was protected by an immense citadel. Today — because most of its 8,000 people call this their primary residence — Villefranche feels more like a real community than neighboring Riviera towns.

 

Only a few families still fish for a living. But huge yachts call this bay home. This stretch of coast is studded with the floating toys of multi-millionaires. Locals keep track of the world’s biggest yachts and talk about them like they’re part of the neighborhood. You never know whose stern line you may be catching. Here’s the Lady Moura — Moura is an ex-wife of Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd.

 

Some of the Riviera's priciest real estate stretches from Villefranche to Monaco. Cap Ferrat, an extremely exclusive, largely residential community, fills a park-like peninsula. While you’ll never get past any of these gates, you can spend a delightful day here just strolling — and this ain’t your average jogging trail. Following its well-groomed path you can stumble upon a hidden little beach… get a glimpse of David Niven’s home, wander the ritzy port of St. Jean-Cap-Ferrat, and tour the ultimate Riviera mansion and gardens — the Rothschild Ephrussi Villa.

 

The extravagance of Venice, Versailles and the Côte d'Azur all come together in this villa. Its lavish belle époque interior offers a peek into the life of the rich and eccentric Baroness de Rothschild. Building this place, the Baroness went through ten architects. Her furnishings were fit for a queen. Imagine the correspondence composed at her personal letter writing desk.

 

Lady Rothschild’s sense of style spilled into her back yard — a many-facetted garden. She drew inspiration from her travels abroad: a fragrant English rose garden, an exotic fantasy of cactus, a mysterious gothic stone garden, and a tranquil Japanese garden. Over-looking everything — the "Temple of Love."

 

I was impressed with the hidden little beach he found on his walk around St. Jean Cap-Ferrat. Your boys might want to swim there.

 

Hope this helps,

Francine

[Live4cruises]

We were in Villefranche in 2004. We caught the train to Cannes and enjoyed seeing the prep work for the film festival that was going to start in a day or two. We had a fun lunch at an outdoor cafe - since you have youngsters you might want to be aware than the beaches seem to be tops-optional! After a couple of hours in Cannes we got back on the train and went to Monte Carlo and walked around there for awhile. The trains are easy to deal with and inexpensive. We had a terrific day, and the ship was in port late enough that we didn't feel rushed to get back at all.

[uk1]

To correct any potential misunderstandings.

 

1. The beach area is not where you disembark. Obvious really. Tenders don't do well over sand. It's around the bay - and if you look inland you'll see it. It's a narrow strip of sand and rock by a road and car park.

 

2. Rick Steve's is clueless with respect to this area. Villefranche doesn't feel like a real community and is very few people's primary home. Even in summer - when the ships go - the lower part of the village in the evenenings is a ghost village with only a few bars open and restaurants struggling. The bars struggling aren't all locally owned and the most popular are Australian owned. The upper part of the town has more locals.

 

3. VF is a difficult place to connect to other places. There are rarely taxis to meet ships; the station is a very steep set of steps away and many cruisers are older and find the steps impossible. The station in Nice it connects to is away from where most people wish to be and Eze isn't close to a station. The main buses are sometimes confusing to visitors and are at the top of the town.

 

Very few - if any fish from this part of VF anymore. The main fishing area is in an unvisited part of the town past the old citadel. The mayor cleared the harbour of small boats years ago. It was an overnight thing and resented. He thought it detracted (incorrectly) from the ambience. He used some of the cash to open a police station along the sea front. Mayors in France are laws unto-themselves.

 

VF is however a great base, but needs a bit more research and work.

 

Jeff

[cruzincanuck]

Villefranche is a nice stepping stone to either get to Monaco or Nice which are both feasible to visit in one day. We were in Villefranche last September. We took the train to Monaco in the morning and took the train on the lunch hour to go to Nice for the afternoon, Got back to ship in ample time to get ready for supper. There are many trains and it fairly easy to walk around in either Monaco and Nice. If my memory serves me right the cost for all the train rides was about 14 euro (?). In Nice, it is possible to go to the beach and spend the day there- a good 15-20 min walk from the train station.

[hylasgirl]

Go to www.cruisereviews.com and there is a great post by Tom Ogg about Villefranche. It really is a nice town. There is more to see there than you think if you take the time to walk around. I wasn't really specific about where the beach is... but you can see it from where the tenders drop you off. Also... getting to other places from VF is very easy to do. I don't know why anyone would tell you this is difficult, in fact, of all the other European stops, this train station is BY FAR the easiest to find if you want to do things on your own. When you are dropped off by the tenders you will go through this little plaza where there is some information... when you get to the street turn right and walk along the water by the sidewalk cafes (a lot of people will be going this way) and up the street is the train station. It is extremely easy to go to either Nice or Monaco from here... and even if you want to come back early and wander around VF, I think you may be surprised as to the charm of this little town.

 

This was a great stop on our cruise. We can't wait to go back. It's the Cote d'Azur.... what could be bad about that??:)

 

Have a great time!

[Jana White]

We loved Villefranche. It is a small town with a intimate pedestrian section. I will admit there are lots of steps. There is a small sandy beach about a 10 minute walk, no steps here, from where the tender drops you off. We had lunch at La Nautic by the tender dock and the people watching and food were fabulous

[Cruise Junky]

Villefranche was definitely one of my favourite days of our cruise. We visited the flower market in Nice, had a lovely lunch in St. Paul de Vence, spent time in Eze, Monaco, Monte Carlo and drove around Cap Ferrat. Awesome. I can't imagine missing the French Riviera by laying on a beach or staying on the ship.

[cruisingmimi]

After what seems will be exciting and exhausting tours in Italy, my family and I (two teenagers 12 and 13), are not sure what to do at this port. The excursions offered are not tempting, so thought we could find a beach near by and just relax, instead of staying on the ship to relax. Does anyone know what there is to do at this port ?

 

Villefranche was absolutely my favorite port stop! We booked an all day tour w/ a private limo and visited Nice, Eze, St. Paul deVence, Monaco, and Villa Ephrussi in St. Cap de Ferrat (about 5-10 min. from Villefranche).

 

http://www.antibes.co.uk/nice/ephrussi.htm

 

This website will show you some of the beautiful gardens and parts of the Villa if you wanted to visit there. I am not sure how you would get there on your own. You may be able to find a taxi. Others may be able to tell you.

 

We spent about an hour and a half visiting the Villa. Our tour guide dropped us off and had pre-purchased our tickets.

 

Here is another nice website you can view:

 

http://www.villa-ephrussi.com/www.culturespaces.com/ephrussi/home_en.htm

 

I would also suggest visiting Monaco as it is very beautiful there also. The yachts, Lamborghinis, Mercedes, etc. will be eye stopping for your sons. You can also visit the palace and see the changing of the guard (I believe this is at 11 am). You can see where the hold the Grand Prix races. The cathedral where Princess Grace and Prince Ranier are buried is also nice to see. There is an acquarium that people have said is very nice also. The gardens there are lovely also. There are lots of little shops where you can purchase souvenirs. Also booths where you can buy sandwiches, etc.

 

We ended our visit in Villefranche people watching and enjoying a glass of wine at a sidewalk cafe right across the street from the dock.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Mary

[SNOWEY]

Mary: Do you remember the name of the private Limo Co. you used. Sounds like a great day! Also may I ask what the appx. $ was.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

Claudia

[cruisingmimi]

Hi Claudia,

 

We used Michel w/ Revelation Tours. Here's the website:

 

http://www.revelation-tours.com/home.html

 

We had the best tour w/ Michel. He is very responsive to emails, etc. I tailored our tour according to what we wanted to see for the day. We had 16 passengers so Michel provided us w/ 2 vans. We paid E600.00 per van for the day (not per person). However, I am sure that his prices have gone up w/ the gas prices being what they are. He is worth every cent if you book a tour. The thing I really liked about his tour was the fact that he gave everyone a nice booklet w/ overviews of the places we would be visiting. A nice souvenir. Also used audios to explain the area we would be touring prior to arriving there. It was a very nice touch. Everyone in the van got to hear about what they would be seeing. He also has a cooler w/ soft drinks that is included in the price.

 

You tell him what you want to see and do and he'll take you there. We did have a long day but everyone said it was the best tour they have ever taken! I know he's also very popular so if you want to book him I wouldn't wait!

 

Good luck. I have a couple of other companies I got quotes from also.

 

Mary

[harrodsfan]

Loved this port...really charming. There is a restaurant right by the tender dock,,,to the right as you go out the door...I had a Salad Nicoise..that was to die for. I even took a picture of it...

The town is little and picturesque. Our college boys found a nice beach about 4 blocks from the tender dock...turn right past the above mentioned restaurant...

Previous trips we have been to Eze, Monaco, Nice (an easy cheap bus ride away...) and St. Paul de Vence. Enjoyed them all. It is a very pretty area.

The bay is gorgeous.

[Robin G]

Just back - took the train into Eze and loved it. Villefranche is also really nice to walk around. This was one of my "least looking forward to" port and turned out to one of most favorite!

 

Robin

[KathiB]

Claudia,

 

Just got back very early this morning from the 12 day Brilliance cruise. We used Michel from Revelations Tours for our day in Villefranche. He was hands down the best private guide of our trip ( we also used Barcelona Experience in Barcelona, Seesorrento ( Marcello Maresca) in Naples and Driverinrome for Rome.

 

It was just my family of four. Michel took us first to the flower/food market in old Nice, then out to St. Jean Cap Ferret for lunch near the little marina there, then to the Rothchild Villa (the gardens and views were amazing), then to Eze (too touristy for us but charming) then finished with a drive through Monaco and Monte Carlo.

 

Michel was extremly informed about this area. His knowledge of history, politics, economy and trivia was outstanding. Some might think this an uninteresting port compared to Florence or Rome but Michel made it incredibly enjoyable. My two teenage girls had fun and learned more from him than from any other guide. He was full of energy and humor.

 

If you can book him do it. His van was 600 euros. We had just 4 but he can take up to 7. He will take you wherever you want to go or just tell him to plan the perfect day and he will. The previous poster gave his website info. I cannot recommend him highly enough.

 

KathiB

[Cruise Junky]

How was Marcello? we have him booked for next year.

[KathiB]

Cruise Junky,

 

Marcello was great. We had communicated over time so when we met at the dock I felt like I was greeting an old friend. We had brought him a San Francisco Giants hat as he collects baseball caps and he wore it all day.

 

He is a real character. Full of energy and info of the area. He grew up in Sorrento and knows the area like the back of his hand.But I will warn you that he is an incessant self promoter. He believes that his way to see the Amalfi coast is the only way. He does know what he is talking about because we avoided traffic and busses all day.

 

The other big warning: he is totally against shopping. He keeps saying that shopping will eat up all your time and if you want to shop you do not need a driver/guide you should just take the hydrofoil to Sorrento and just spend your time doing what all the other tourists do. Of course he is right but he is a bit militant about it. My group really did not want to shop so it was fine by us (with the exception of my 16 year old daughter who kept looking at all the cute shops we drove by).

 

If you want to do some shopping, be very clear at the start that you want to stop for one hour or whatever in a particualr village and he will accommodate you. He just isn't into stopping at every town and giving you free time to wander and shop. It makes sense though since there is so much to see and lots of area to cover. We had a FABULOUS lunch in a small village overlooking the coast. We never looked at a menu...he took care of everything. We had appitizers, bread, pasta, pizza, non stop wine, liquers and dessert. All for 20 euros a person.

 

I would highly recommend Marcello, just be sure what you want to accomplish that day and stick to it as you are the one hiring him. We are had fun with him and will remember that day forever!

 

KathiB

[Poohb]

KathiB. We'll be in VF in November. Just for my edification: It appears that the euro is about $1.25 american now. Can you give an approximate of the $ american amount that your paid. $600 seems a bit high. Also, I was trying to see something on Marcello, who seems more reasonable. Can you give some more into on him? Thanks for your help.

[KathiB]

Michel Legrande of Revelations Tours charged us 600 Euros for the day, not dollars. So yes, it was a very expensive day but we could have split that amoung 7 but we just chose to do it with my family of four. But he really does a fabulous job and was the best private guide of our trip. For all of our other tours we found people to join us by asking on our cruises roll call thread. That worked really well for many people. We had a couple jion us for the Amalfi Coast with Marcello and also had two couples join us in Rome.

 

If you want more info on Marcello see my post on page one of this thread. He also has a web site. www.seesorrento.com

 

KathiB

[KathiB]

Sorry..meant to add that Marcello charged 550 euros and there were 6 of us. We also gave him a nice tip since we had a great day with him. So it's about 100 euros per person but the cruise ships charge about $325 per person for a tour like this. There are many more inexpensive ways to see the ports but when you have an extremely limited amount of time this is a great way to see and learn a lot about an area.

 

Also wanted to clarify...Revelations Tours/Michel Legrande is for Villefranche and seesorrento/Marcello Maresca is for Naples/Amalfi coast/Pompeii.

 

KathiB

[Poohb]

Thanks for the info.

[corkpopr]

you cannot take a train to eze it is up 3000 feet on the side of the mountain. 100 meters from the villefranc train station is the bus stop going to Eze. you can easily take the train to Nice for a couple of hours, come back to villefranc, then take the bus up to Eze have lunch at Cheve d'Or (about a hundred per person!) wander around the village (artists colony) then take the bus back down the hill to villefranc, wander around hit the outdoor bar by the tender terminal for a drink or two then back on the ship. fun easy day and very inexpensive if you dont eat at Cheve d'Or!!!!