Eze or St. Paul de Vence???

[BarbMatt]

Hi

 

I'll be stopping in Villefranche in October on a RCC Med Cruise.

I'm hoping to see Nice and Monaco. I also want to see Eze or St. Paul de Vence. My original plan was to see Eze but I've read alot of nice things about St. Paul de Vence. Is there anyone out there that's seen both and have any suggestions for a choice??

We are planning to do this on our own instead of doing an excursion thru the cruise?

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks

[Hlitner]

We have been to both many times. All things being equal, St Paul de Vence is bigger, better, and it has some great art galleries. But now...the negative. St Paul de Vence is quite a distance from Villafranche. If you are planning to go to Monte Carlo (we do not like that city) and Nice, than Eze would be a much better fit geographically. If you want to go to St Paul de Vence, than I suggest you skip Monte Carlo (its the opposite direction). Here is how you can do it on your own. Take the train from the port (walk to your right along the water and than climb the steps to the station) to the Cagnes Sum Mer stop (just past the Nice Cote d"azur Airport). Cross the street and catch the public bus (it runs about once every 45 min) to St Paul de Vence. When you are finished at St Paul de Vence you can take the same bus all the way into Nice. After exploring Nice (walk along the promanade and also go to old town) you can catch the train , bus, or a taxi back to the port. Of course there is always another option which is to rent a car (my way) but I do not recommend that option for those not familar with the region.

 

Hank

[Robin G]

We were only in Eze not St. Paul. We absolutely LOVED Eze! We highly recommend it!

 

Robin G

[BarbMatt]

Hi

Thanks so much for the info. Question: how far is the bus ride to St. Paul de Vence? How long is the total trip from the port including the train and bus?

Thanks

": )

p.s. You don't like Monaco? why? I've never been there before and thought it would be good to atleast go once? your thoughts?

[Hlitner]

The train from Villafranche to Cagnes sur mer should take about 25 minutes. The bus from Cagnes sur mer to St Paul de Vence takes about 15-20 minutes. But, keep in mind you may have to wait up to 45 min to get your train, and depending how lucky your are with your connection in Cagnes sur Mer you might again have a wait of anywhere from a minute to 45 minutes. Its one of the reasons that we usually rent a car when in many ports since we hate to waste our precious port time waiting for transportation. As to Monte Carlo, many folks have been telling us about this wonderful place for years, but we have never been impressed. The palace tour is neat (when they let you take the tour), the casino has no interest to us since I think its nuts to deal with their dress code and pay an admission fee. As to the shopping, they do have some excellent high-end shops (out of my league) and the normal touristy shops you can find anywhere in any port. The bottom line for us is that we love being in Southern France and of the many many choices on where to spend our day Monte Carlo is near the bottom of the list. Geez, and my friends say I am not outspoken :)

 

Hank

[LuvCruzin2]

Depending upon the length of time you will be in port @ Villafranche, you should be able to see many of the sites in Cote d'Azur area. In 2003 when we were on RCCL~Brilliance, we toured both Eze & St Paul de Vence, Monaco, Monte Carlo, toured Saint Jean-Cap Ferrat, drove to a sight overlooking the entire Cote d'Azur, toured the old town in Nice, had lunch there, and still had a very relaxing time. We had hired a private tour guide which made it very doable with lots of time in each place, plus time to do some shopping the the old town square.

 

We are on RCCL~Brilliance starting in Istanbul in October and will do the same tours plus an additional hill town, all through our private tour guide.

 

We were on the Brilliance when they were buffeted by high winds and waves in Villefranche harbor and the captain had to move the ship. A couple of tender windows broke so they temporarily shut down the tenders which delayed in our departure...supposed to depart at 11 PM but they couldn't get the anchor up until 4 AM. Need-less-to-say, we arrived in Livorno several hours late with no way to contact our tour guides so our guides there weren't too happy.

[luvz2run2000]

We went both places in May and they were both fabulous. I have to say that I loved Eze. I made DH promise we would return for an anniversary in a few years before I would leave. Having said that if you are an "artsy" person you and only have time for one, you would probably enjoy St. Paul de Vence more. It is full of galleries and has a history as an artist colony.

There is more information about both cities in my review as well as the photos.

[BarbMatt]

Hi

Thanks so much for your reply.

I took a look at your website and love the photos. Just beautiful. One question - how did you get to see the Pope - at the audience. Did you get advance tickets?? I looked into this but it would be impossible for me to pick the tickets up the day before or have them picked up by 8:30 AM. How did you get such a good view. We'll be there on a Wednesday when the Pope is giving an audience.

any advice would be most appreciated.

thanks

Barb

[Robin G]

Luvz2run2000--

Loved your photos. I thought I was the only person taking pictures of the doors wherever we went! They were just gorgeous. My DH & DD thought I lost my marbles. Thanks -- I feel better now that I'm not the only crazy one! :)

 

Robin G

[luvz2run2000]

Hi

Thanks so much for your reply.

I took a look at your website and love the photos. Just beautiful. One question - how did you get to see the Pope - at the audience. Did you get advance tickets?? I looked into this but it would be impossible for me to pick the tickets up the day before or have them picked up by 8:30 AM. How did you get such a good view. We'll be there on a Wednesday when the Pope is giving an audience.

any advice would be most appreciated.

thanks

Barb

 

If you click on my review and scroll down to Day 13 you can read all the details of our Papal Audience adventure. There is a company www.goporta.com that will pick up the tickets for you and leave them at a ticket office in St. Peter's Square. The cost is 3 euros per ticket, but it was well worth it. The photos of the large bronze door with the two swiss guards are actually the location where I picked up the tickets. It is just to the left as you approach St. Peter's Square.

[luvz2run2000]

Luvz2run2000--

Loved your photos. I thought I was the only person taking pictures of the doors wherever we went! They were just gorgeous. My DH & DD thought I lost my marbles. Thanks -- I feel better now that I'm not the only crazy one! :)

 

Robin G

Those are some of our favorite photos, everyone who looks at our album comments on them.

[winewanderer]

I agree with Hank that St. Paul is bigger and better, but it depends on what you're looking for. Eze is cute but you can walk through it in 20 minutes.

 

DH and I enjoy art galleries and there are a plethora of them in St. Paul. But you can also walk more in St. Paul. I love a good walk.

[Capsu78]

I agree with others... both towns have a nice charm, Eze smaller, better views. A complete toss up in my book.

Regarding the Popes schedule, this is the best site I found for knowing what was going on. His schedule is not announced until days before, so we didn't know if we would get a chance to see him or not until we had already left.

 

http://www.santasusanna.org/popeVatican/popeVatican.html

 

I also agree paying $3 euros to pick up ticket on site is a reasonable charge, but not certain if you get money back if "Papa" does audiance from his summer home.

 

We ended up seeing him and it was very cool!

[BarbMatt]

HI

THanks for the info - one question - if I get tickets but don't want to stay for the full service which you mentioned is 3 hours long - can I get up and leave????

Also, what if I go to St. Peters on that day, but don't go to the service at all - can I still have access as a tourist to the inside of the basillica?? or do the hours change for the basillica and vatican museums - only allowing people in after the service??

thanks

: )

[luvz2run2000]

As far as refunds if the Pope doesn't do an audience that day, they did not charge my credit card until it was a confirmed date. We first ordered them about 2 months in advance and received an e-mail saying he schedule for that month had not been released yet but they would e-mail again when the information was available. About 2 weeks later we received an e-mail saying the date was confirmed, our credit card had been charged and the info for how/where to pick up the tickets.

 

If you don't want to stay the entire time I'd suggest you sit on an aisle near the back so you don't have to climb over people to leave.

[gotwake?]

Beautiful views! Great pictures. We enjoyed wandering in and out of some of the small hotels, shops, and restaurants. I agree, skip Monaco. Of course, this depends on what you enjoy.

[chefajax]

Hi to All.....

 

My vote would go to Eze as it was very comfortable stroll around the small town and it was wonderful to experience the place with a glass of champane and the little bites to eat from the balcony of the Chateau Eza, overlooking the sea. My wife and I wish to return there.

 

The other place was very beautiful, but I felt like I was at an ancient mall, since every ground floor was a shop. I prefer to travel to experience rather then just look and shop. It depends on your reason to travel IMHO.

 

Dennis

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I agree with Hlitner about Monte Carlo. We embarked there in June, but stayed in Nice pre-cruise. Loved Nice, but M-C seemed very sterile and uninteresting. Several of our cruise buds (from another board) stayed there pre-cruise, and really found it uninteresting. Unless you have a fantasy about the casino, there's nothing there that you just *have* to see.

[lord of the seas]

Wendy,

The shops surely!!

[Jaalice]

In April we were on the Brilliance of the Seas and when we stopped in Villefranche a friend told us to catch a bus to Eze. You can ask for the info inside the building where the tender docks. Go up the hill and catch the bus to Eze sur Mer & transfer to another bus. Sorry I forgot the number. Anyway we paid 1.30 euros for the ticket in Villefranche and used the same ticket on the connecting bus which took us to Eze. We paid 1.30 euros for the return ticket---total 2.60 euros for a wonderful trip.

Many people caught the bus to Monaco --not sure what it cost but it shouldn't hae been much more. Take time to walk around Villefranche.

 

Jallice:) :)

[Queenk2]

Here is a question... I am using a private tour guide next summer when we visit Villefranche. Last time we were here, we used a ship tour and went to Monte Carlo as well as Eze and the perfume factory. I would love some advise from someone who has done a private tour as to what I can accomplish in one day! I have yet to work out an itinerary with the guide and would like to sound somewhat knowlegeable when I discuss this later in the year. Does anyone have aa copy of a suggested itinerary for me to follow? I can research this, but would prefer a guideline to follw. All help would be greatly appreciated!You can E mail me at Queenk2@aol.com

Karen