St. Paul de Vence or Eze and Nice?

[Lastdance]

Our ship doesn't even have 8 hours in Villafranche. Should we see Nice and Eze or go to St Paul de Vence? We are doing a 4 hour tour. Is St Paul de Vence similar to San Gimignano in Tuscany? Any information you can give me will help...Thank you!

[Hlitner]

Originally Posted by YouGo Girl

Our ship doesn't even have 8 hours in Villafranche. Should we see Nice and Eze or go to St Paul de Vence? We are doing a 4 hour tour. Is St Paul de Vence similar to San Gimignano in Tuscany? Any information you can give me will help...Thank you!

I do not recall anyone ever asking about a comparison between St Paul de Vence and San Gimignano (two favorite places of ours). There are some similarities in that they are both old walled cities with lots of charm. St Paul de Vence certainly has the better shops and galleries whereas we think that San Gimignano has too many touristy shops. Keep in mind that Nice and Eze Village are much closer to your port (Monte Carlo) then St Paul de Vence. If time is a major factor we would probably opt for Nice and Eze. If you are get to shore before 11 you certainly should consider going straight to the Flower Market in Nice (it closes by 1pm) which is a great starting place for a port day.

The Flower Market (not open on Monday's although they have an antique market that day) is a great way to soak-up some of the Provencial culture. Not only do they have lovely Flowers, but you will find lots of food products, cheeses, spices (many like to buy some Provencial spices to bring home as gifts), fruits etc. The Cours Selaya is a perfect setting for this outdoor market.

Hank

[shoesonfire]

Our tour guide has suggested St Jeannnette for wine tasting is anyone familiar with this?

[Lastdance]

Originally Posted by Hlitner

I do not recall anyone ever asking about a comparison between St Paul de Vence and San Gimignano (two favorite places of ours). There are some similarities in that they are both old walled cities with lots of charm. St Paul de Vence certainly has the better shops and galleries whereas we think that San Gimignano has too many touristy shops. Keep in mind that Nice and Eze Village are much closer to your port (Monte Carlo) then St Paul de Vence. If time is a major factor we would probably opt for Nice and Eze. If you are get to shore before 11 you certainly should consider going straight to the Flower Market in Nice (it closes by 1pm) which is a great starting place for a port day.

The Flower Market (not open on Monday's although they have an antique market that day) is a great way to soak-up some of the Provencial culture. Not only do they have lovely Flowers, but you will find lots of food products, cheeses, spices (many like to buy some Provencial spices to bring home as gifts), fruits etc. The Cours Selaya is a perfect setting for this outdoor market.

Hank

Thank you so very much for your two comments!!!

[mlbcruiser]

We have also been to Nice, Ez, Monaco, St. Paul de Vence and San Gimignano. We did a tour to Nice once. It's nothing like St. Paul de Vence or Ez. Nice is a large city. While it's interesting enough, it's doesn't have nearly the charm or medieval, fairy tale feeling of Ez or St. Paul de Vence (or San Gimignano, for that matter). It does have a beach that borders a wide promenade lined w/buildings, a nice Russian church, an area where the nicer old homes are (usually covered by most tours), and some areas w/many restaurants that are probably much more lively at night. We rented a car in Cannes and drove to St. Paul de Vence. A totally enjoyable trip. It's large enough that you can easily spend 3-4 hrs. there, yet you can see most of it in half that time easily enough if you have to rush, or don't want to eat or shop too much. Ez is tiny. And steep! It takes very little time to see it. There are some nice shops (a few carved out of rock like small caves) but not enough to take up hrs. of your time. The Nice/Ez tour is a good one. If I could do both Ez and St. Paul de Vence on the same tour, however, I would do that. You can't really go wrong w/any of these itineraries.

[mskaufman]

We just got back and did the Nice and Eze tour. Can't compare to St. Paul because we were never there. The Nice/Eze tour was well run with a good guide. We had a walking tour through Old Nice, some free time and then the trip to Eze where it was mostly free time. I don't think we could have done both Nice and Eze on our own. We would have had to pick one or the other. I know there is a bus but the timing was tricky. We also got to spend the morning in Villefrache where we took some great pictures.