Nice-Villefranche-Eze-Monaco On Your Own...A guide book recommendation

[Susan-M]

As there have been a number of threads with questions about travel on your own between Nice-Villefranche-Eze-Monaco, I wanted to pass along a recommendation for a guide book that was helpful when I planned our port day: Rick Steves' Provence and the French Riviera

 

It includes maps, details on how to get there by public transit (including details on various bus stops, and sightseeing recommendations.) The description of the 3 roads, lower, middle and upper corniches helps in understanding why bus travel to Eze Village can get a bit complicated.

 

You will still need to access bus and train schedules on line, but this book will give you a good start.

 

If anyone else has recommendations for books, please pass them along.

 

I was able to get Rick Steves book at my local library.

[taxatty]

The general Rick Steves France guidebook is not quite as detailed as that one, but it gave great advice and was very useful for our 1 day car trip in that area out of Monte Carlo.

 

Les

[Susan-M]

For me, it is so much more relaxing to be able to tell a driver what the group want to see and let the driver figure out the logistics of the trip, than trying to constantly figure out maps, bus lines, and timetables and worry about getting back to the ship in time.

 

There have been questions posted recently from those interested in taking the bus and/or train, hence my OP, but for those who would rather do it by private tour, then that's a good option as well.

 

We are much happier touring independently rather than being chauffeured. With pre-planning, we were able to spend time in Eze, Monaco and Villefranche without waiting more than a few minutes for the bus or train....and because we were well prepared, no worries.:)

 

Although costs savings isn't the main objective, it's a nice bonus. For less than the cost of the tip for a private driver, we were able to cover travel costs from V.F.-Eze-Monaco-V.F. (a total of €6 each.)

 

It does take some extra effort with advance planning and a good deal of walking during the day, but the rewards are worth it if that's how you enjoy sightseeing.:)

[lambs2]

Just a word of caution should you just happen to be tendering into the closest harcor to Monoco during the week of the Grand Prix. Last May we found that the streets are all blocked off and rerouted AND the public buses were not running!! We had made the decision pre-cruise to take a rather low-priced ship excursion that would take us to Eze and Nice along the upper and mid-Cornishe highways which give INCREDIBLE views of the French Riviera. Our tour bus was over an hour late getting to us because of the rerouting of the streets and I heard from others on our HAL ship that they had had to abandon plans to take the bus to Eze that day! :( It also took many hours to get to the Monte Carlo casino - only people I knew who made it there had to walk and it took hours because of the detours, and then if you just want a peek inside it cost €10 and in order to admitted men had to wear a sport coat. Since it was in the high 80's that day I don't think many made it in!) So, in our case the ship tour was really a smart decision for a 3 1/2 hour morning excursion. After we got back from it we chose to walk up to The Rock and spend the rest of the day exploring Monoco. GREAT decision as we also had fantastic FREE views from atop The Rock of the Grand Prix stands and the time trials in progress. DH was so happy! And there were no lines or crowds to see the changing of Monocco's guard, or to take the tour of the Palace and Cathedral (where Princess Grace and Prince Rainier were married and are buried). We had a fantastic day!