If you had to choose: St.Paul de Vence or Eze?

Which would you choose? My soon to be husband and I have decided we are going to do a Celebrity excursion on our day in Villefranche (we are doing private tours other days) but we can't decide which would would rather see and its seems we have to choose.

My vote would be for St.Paul de Vence,but I love that place anyway.

Karen

Ü

my vote also goes to St Paul de Vence

No contest! St Paul de Vence over Eze although they both have their charm. The one drawback to St Paul de Vence is thats its bit difficult to get to that village by yourself unless you are on a tour, rent a car, or hire a car/driver.

Hank

thanks so much everyone! We went with the tour that will take us to Nice and St. Paul de Vence. I think between those two towns and a little time in Villefranche it will be a nice day.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by honeymooninginJune:

thanks so much everyone! We went with the tour that will take us to Nice and St. Paul de Vence. I think between those two towns and a little time in Villefranche it will be a nice day.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I do not think you will be disappointed with this choice.Have a super honeymoon...

Karen

Ü

Can you tell me a bit about ST Paul as I have been to EZE already...

Any idea about how much it would cost to hire a taxi in Villefranche to get to St. Paul? How long does it take to get there?

Thanks in advance!

For information on St.Paul de Vence go to WWW.saintpaulweb.net

Mike

We just returned 2 days ago, and St. Paul de Vence gets my vote too, although Eze is also very charming (much smaller). I recommend hiring a private driver and looking for others to share the cost on this board or similar sights or on your ship.

Out of Monte Carlo, we used Dream Tours and it was great. They also operate out of Villefranche. We went to St. Paul de Vence, Eze, and Nice.

Hope you have a great time,

Donna

I cannot tell you the cost for a taxi, other than that it will not be cheap. Its a good 45 min ride to St. Paul de Vence since you have to drive through Nice (with its traffic) and past the airport before you get to the turn-off that gets you out of the congested coast and onto the faster country roads. Taxis in Southern France are not cheap, and they generally will not negotiate on this type of fare. You might be better off trying to negotiate a whole day with a taxi (or a car/driver/guide on-line). You could also take the train from Villefranche west to Cagnes sur Mer and take a taxi from there for a lot less money. If you do a search there was another post on this subject in the past few weeks.

Hank

Thanks y'all for the help.

Now that you mention it I do seem to recall that thread. The "find" function does not seem to work. Will manually go through the threads.

There isn't much to see in Villefrance itself - but if you want a lazy day with one of the best walks and most scenic walks in the world - followed by a wonderful lunch - all walking from the ship - then say so and I'll post the details. If you have a day - then this combined with some time in Nice would make a great day.

uk1,

I'd love the details of your walk. We just booked August 28 2005 on Brilliance for our first Mediteranean cruise and I'm in the research stage, and will be for some time At first we booked October 15th 2005 but after looking into the weather at that time of year we switched it to the late August date. The weather in mid to late October looks like it is sometimes cool and rainy and we want to avoid that and have nice warm (hot) weather. I'll take all the hints/tips offered. Thanks.

Zenith 9/1997,Bermuda

Zenith 9/1999,Bermuda

Mercury 4/2001, 10 night Caribbean

Galaxy 9/2002, 11 night Caribbean

Zenith 9/2003,Bermuda

Next up:

Adventure of the Seas

Sept 12th and 19th 2004

Southern Caribbean

Brilliance of the Seas

August 28 2005

12 night Mediterranean

I know the area well - as I go there every month from the UK. Personally I'm (We're!) no good at coach trips etc.

However, if this doesn't worry you then the trips you've been offered will be good enough. I like to be with my partner by ourselves and Villefrance is in a gem of an area. By the way if you can rent "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" with Steve Martin and Michael Cain - it's all filmed in Villefrance and Bealieu-Sur-Mer which is where my walk will take you.

The walk I suggest is when you arrive you'll find yourself in a small bay. I'm assuming you've got a day - and you want to "waste it" by simply having a relaxing day soaking in the local flavour rather than a frantic coach trip. Nothing wrong with that - if that's what you want.

Off of the boat and dead ahead of you (water behind you!) s the old town of Vllefrance. Much of it is medieval and it's worth al look at the first couple of streets behind the harbour where the streets are actually under the houses. This is only around a 30 minute explore or so. Back down to the "harbour". With the water on your right and the restaurants on your left take a leisurely stroll around the bay. You'll pass restaurants on your right including the last which is called Carpaccio. At the end of the bay you;ll be a a car park and you'll see some steps UP following the train lines. Up the steps until the end and on your right you'll see a path/road over the train lines - don't go there but keep right. You'll pass many houses that are the most expensive in the world. A further half mile and you'll come up to a point (called "The point!") where several roads meet with traffic lights. Keep going in the same direction you were going in - it's downhill with some train lines on your left. You'll go pass the Royal Rivieara Hotel on your right.

Now you're in Bealiue Sur Mer. It's used for filming because Monaco won't allow fliming and this are looks similar. Just pas the Hotel you'll see a bay and a path on you're right this is where the walk "proper" starts. But hold on. Walk a few hundred yards and you'll see a building on your right that looks like the casino at Monte Carlo. Just past that is a sign saying villa Elthruzzi (spelt wrong - but you'll see it) - go there! It's a small villa right on the waters edge that is wonderful and will take you around an hour to explore.

Back track to the path which will take you around the headland of St Jean Cap Ferrat - the most expensive real estate in the world. Savour this path. It's a wonderful walk along the water. After 30 minutes or so you'll pass David Niven's onld house on the water side. You'll see it as they helpfully called it "Niven Place"!

Another 20 minutes and you'lll be in CapFerrat. Look for the "Sloop" amongst many restaurants in the harbour - this is the best and owned by a husband and wife team. Take the menue of the day. If you like Rose -try Ott! the best provencale rose. The husband has a great armangnac collection ..... so .....

Reverse route back.

Hope this is what you want and if you try it hope it doesn't dissapoint.

............ by the way - what are the timings for Villefrance - and what is the rest of the ports you're visiting?

uk1,

thanks for posting this "walk". i will also be visiting villefranche on celebrity. we are in port form 8 to 5. i'm not one for bus tours and this seems like a great way to spend the day. other ports on my celebrity cruise include naples, mykonos, santorini, valletta and barcelona. the ship embarks/disimbarks in civitavecchia.

any other tips are appreciated.

uk1,

Thank you for posting your walking tour, it looks lovely. We are on the Brilliance of the Seas 12 night Mediterranean cruise departing Barcelona on August 28th 2005. Villefranche will be our first port of call on August 29th. We then have a day in Livorno,then to Naples, a sea day, an overnight stay in Venice, on to Dubrovnik Croatia, a day in Corfu Greece, a day at sea, on to Civitavecchia, ending with a day at sea before disembarking in Barcelona. This will be our first trip to Europe and I'm looking over the ports of call to make the most of our stay. My thoughts at this time are to go on private tours in several of the ports, such as Livorno, Naples, and Rome and go on our own the rest of the time. What are your thoughts? Thanks again for your tour, it looks like a great way to spend the day. Kathy

Zenith 9/1997,Bermuda

Zenith 9/1999,Bermuda

Mercury 4/2001, 10 night Caribbean

Galaxy 9/2002, 11 night Caribbean

Zenith 9/2003,Bermuda

Next up:

Adventure of the Seas

Sept 12th and 19th 2004

Southern Caribbean

Brilliance of the Seas

August 28 2005

12 night Mediterranean

sorry correction. Should have said (of course) that when walking from Villefranche to town and restaurants are on your left (not right!) and the sea is on your right.

A general map of the area is:

http://www.villefranche-sur-mer.org/pages/plan/planville.html

http://www.ot-beaulieu-sur-mer.fr/

and this also shows with a few links - a street map.

http://otbeaulieu.free.fr/situation/plan.html

You'll be walking from

http://otbeaulieu.free.fr/situation/C1.jpg

to

http://otbeaulieu.free.fr/situation/C2.jpg

You'll see Prom M Rouvier which is where the walk around the Cap actually starts. Suggest before that you go, go to Kerylos Villa at 10:00 when it opens. Allow an hour or so wander from the ship. This should get you to the restaurant by 12:00'ish.

http://www.villa-kerylos.com/kerylos/uk_index.htm

Hope this is useful

When in Rome - one of the most unkown and best places to see is a place called Ostia Antica. It's like pompeii - but it was covered with sand rather than an eruption. It's a complete roman city with blocks of flats bars shops etc - but far less touristy than pompeii.

Here are a couple of starting points

http://www.ostia-antica.org/

http://www.thingstodo-rome.com/brochure/product_show.jsp?ID=1010&PRODUCTID=1016&CODE=2390GRET9

http://www.dockdiscover.com/civ11.htm

To me - apart from seeing the main Rome sites - this is an unknown highlight of the Roma area.

I'm glad to see another fan of the Ostia Antica ruins because we have visited many ruins in eight European countries and Mexico, and these outside Rome are our favorite.

Yes and the tips are

1. Arrive early

2. Walk right to the end of the city and then walk back in the opposite direction of anyone else

UK1 thankss for your walkingtour I have printed and will taek it withme on my 12 day Celebrity Med. cruise in June. We will stop in , Civitavecchia, Santorini, Pireaus, VilleFrance, Livorno, Naples.

My husband and I havenever been, it is our 15th anniversary and this is our gift to each other.

We planned to take a guided tour in Naples, and Athens and do Rome, Florence, Villefrance, Santorini on our own. Do you tihnk thi sis realistic beingour first time in Europe?

My husband and i prefer to be with ourselves particularly since this is such a special trip for us.

Any suggestions on any of these ports will be appreciated.

For Naples I recommend Salvatore of DriveAmalfi (*****),for Florence Paola of Florence Tour (info@florencetour.com) and for Villefranche Sylvie of Azur Guides (sylvie.di.cristo@wanadoo.fr)

Mike

Carmendmun

The reality is that most people having travelled all the way from the US want to cram as much in as possible ie the full buck for every moment. To me that's a shame. So they often take the coach. The issue is that you see a lot - but it's not my choice. I like to linger, smell, taste etc. I also never ever take tours but prefer to eperience less but feel I've had a flavour. But we travel a lot in Europe so are able to just see what we feel like.

So it really depends on what you want to do. It sounds like you prefer to be indepenendent. So you'll see less - but perhaps not experience less. A leisurely meal with your husband on the special "date" will be more memborable than a climb up a steep hill in a tour bus with 30 other people you're already living with.

I go to the Sloop around 6 times a year - the last time a few weeks ago. It's right on the waters edge at Cap Ferrat. When I go there all of the stress dissapears. We took some friends with us on our last visit - and it had the same effect on them. The walk around the Cap is magical - and if you have time you can walk round all of it. It's nice to return to the ship relaxed rather than stressed. I think the walk will make you want to return. The coach trip may or may not do.

I've talked in another post about Ostia Antica near Rome. This is to me one of the best european secrets - a Pompeii without the crowds. Do a search and research it. If you go into Rome - and if you want to see the vatican museum - it's essential you arrive at around 7:15'ish. By the time the museum opens it use to be that the crowd was so long that the people arriving at opening time wouldn't get in before the gates shut at 11:30'ish when it shuts. You need to check this out - as I've not been for a year or two. The collusseum is another great thing to see early. Santorini is a donkey ride up from the boat and a place to laze and hopefully see a magical sunset. I think you're right to see Naples and Athens with a guided tour.

I hope you enjoy your trip.