I%26#39;m planning on travelling to the South of France after spending some time in Paris in September. I Was thinking of staying in NIce due to it%26#39;s location (near Monaco and Italy). Would Nice be the best choice of the three mentioned.
Also, how long does it take the TGV to go from Paris to the south of France and does anyone know the approximate cost of the trip.
Thanks
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Nice is a nice, central location with many many convenient amenities. I believe that you made a fine choice. You%26#39;ll have trains stopping by almost every five minutes here.
St Tropez %26amp; Cannes have their pluses and minuses too. They are smaller, less central, with fewer convenient amenities. You%26#39;d sacrifice the ability to be spontaneous in these two locations. Cannes%26#39; train service isn%26#39;t quite as frequent as Nice. St Tropez would require you to hop on a bus, a ferry or rent a car to get anywhere conveniently.
Five years ago, the roundtrip with a Decouverte a Deux discount was about US$150. I%26#39;d give the trip a minimum of four hours. TGV gets to Lyon%26#39;s fast. After that, things slow down a bit. I believe Easyjet%26#39;s direct service from Paris to Nice could be quite competitive.
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Thanks Darth, very much appreciated. Being able to get info from people who have been there and done that is great!
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I agree with DarthAnon (I usually do...) about the best place out of the three. You might also want to consider Villefranche-sur-Mer as a base, just a few minutes from Nice, and in some ways better if you want a more %26quot;seaside%26quot; feel rather than a busy and crowded city.
One minor correction - the TGV to Nice takes between 5.5 and 6 hours...
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Thanks Irish, I will look into Villefranche as I would think I would get more bang for my dollars in terms of lodging at that time of the year.
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Hey Canuckian, I think you have my agenda. My sister and I are going to stay in Paris for a week, then we%26#39;re off to the French Riviera for a week and a half. Except it%26#39;ll be in July instead of September.
The TGV from Paris Gare de Lyon to Marseille is 3 hours 10 mins (www.sncf.com). Then from there, it%26#39;s another 2 hours to Nice.
We%26#39;re spending a couple of nights here and there. 2 nights in Marseille, 2 in St Maxime (since all of St. Tropez is booked in July and August), and 4 nights in Nice. Nice is a good place to base for visiting Manaco and Cannes. Then we%26#39;re flying back to Paris via easyjet (www.easyjet.com) from Nice. St. Tropez does not a have a train station. So you have to get there via bus (http://www.sodetrav.fr/) or via boat (http://www.bateauxverts.com/)
Bon voyage!
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Oh yeah, I paid 100 Euro (refundable fare) for both of us from Paris to Marseille. It%26#39;s another 30 Euro from Marseille to Nice. The train doesn%26#39;t go directly to Nice from Paris. There%26#39;re some non-refundable fare for 35 Euro each person, one-way. If you travel mid-week, it%26#39;s much cheaper.
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Nivce for sure. TGV ride is 6 hours and about the same price as easy Jet flight from Paris (compare with Air france too)
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt; The train doesn%26#39;t go directly to Nice from Paris. %26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
htc001 - I don%26#39;t know where you got this information from but it is not correct. There are several (I think about five) direct trains daily from Paris to Nice. And the quickest you will do it is closer to six hours than five, and a bit more than six if you change trains in any of the various places possible - Lyon, Marseille or Toulon...
Currently the lowest fare I can find for a restricted ticket is 80 Euros RT, but I dare say a cheaper fare could be found with a more diligent search. If all the stars lined up just right, you can probably get from the center of Paris to the center of Nice quicker by plane, but I%26#39;d be inclined take the train because it is more relaxing...
And I doubt if you could match the lowest train fare by the time you factored in your airport transfers...
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Hey htc001, as you guys will be taking the same route that I plan on taking in september I wouldn%26#39;t mind if you would give your impressions and perhaps suggestions once you get back. I%26#39;d certainly appreciate it. You can%26#39;t have too much information before planning such an important voyage. And I don%26#39;t like to leave anything to chance.
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt; The train doesn%26#39;t go directly to Nice from Paris. %26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
Oops! My bad! That is very misleading, isn%26#39;t it? When I was trying to book via the SNCF web site a couple of weeks ago, I got an error saying there is no available fare or something like that. Maybe it was too early then?? Anyway, I tried it again today, and there is a fare for Nice directly to Paris in 5.5 hrs, for the date that I%26#39;ve selected. Thanks for the correction, IrishRov.
Canuckian, I don%26#39;t mind filling you in on our trip when we get back. Since we%26#39;re taking a similar route :). I hope there%26#39;ll be nothing but good things to say! And I%26#39;ll make sure to remember all the relevant stuff that%26#39;ll help you out on your trip.
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