Cannes private tour

[Houston Pegaroo]

We are planning to do a private tour on a Sunday from Cannes to Nice and St. Paul de Vence. We are also considering adding Antibes, Tourettes Sur Loup, and Gourdon. Wondering if we can do all of this in 6hrs. Does anyone have info. re: driving times between these locations and on approx. time we should allow at each stop?

[Hlitner]

We are planning to do a private tour on a Sunday from Cannes to Nice and St. Paul de Vence. We are also considering adding Antibes, Tourettes Sur Loup, and Gourdon. Wondering if we can do all of this in 6hrs. Does anyone have info. re: driving times between these locations and on approx. time we should allow at each stop?

 

Whenever I see this type of question my first reaction is, just ask your tour guide! After all, this is why you are hiring a private guide. As to driving time, it take approximately 45 min to get from Cannes to St Paul de Vence. Antibes is a bit closer and is actually a good fit with a trip to St Paul de Vence since it is on the return route if your guide uses the road along the coast (as opposed to the Autostrade). We often do this combination when we rent a car in Cannes (a rental car is about $100 a day). Both Tourettes and Gourdon are inland not too far from St Paul de Vence, but you are talking about going to 4 cities in 6 hours of which about 2 hours will be just driving. This leaves 4 hours for 4 towns. My wife and I normally spend that much time (or more) just exploring St Paul de Vence, and we have been to that town many times. If you want to rush through some of those places it could be done if you don't stop to eat, go to the rest rooms, or smell the roses (not sure if the actually have Roses so perhaps it should be smell the lavender). Also keep in mind that Cannes is a tender port which means, as an independent passenger you might not be able to get quickly ashore. You would also need to be back to the tender pier in plenty of time to catch the last tender (they generally leave 30 min before you must be aboard). The good news is that on Sunday's the traffic in Cannes is not too bad although the traffic along the coast road (N98) that connects Antibes to Cannes can be very slow during the summer season.

 

You might have noticed that I did not mention Nice (yes, Nice is nice). The reason is that Nice will add another 20 - 30 min of driving (at least) and that would make 5 cities in less than 4 hours. Nice is a big city, but just about every shop is closed on Sundays. Of course Nice does have its fabulous Flower Market on Sunday morning (it starts to close-up a little after 12 pm) which is in the old town. So, are you trying to do too much in a short time? Try to picture visiting 5 cities around Dallas (or Houston) in an afternoon.

 

Hank

[Houston Pegaroo]

Thanks for the helpful info. Hank. I had discussed the itinerary with the tour guide, but was wanting to get multiple opinions. We are going to condense the tour as I fully agree with your opinion that it's more enjoyable to see fewer places at a more leisurely place.