Villefranche info & advice

hi guys

We set sail on our first cruise on Friday which is for our honeymoon yay! We are sailing with royal Caribbean on brilliance of the seas. Super excited to see our ship!

Our first port is villefranche and it will be my birthday on that day! We originally had a trip booked to Monaco on that day which has been cancelled so we have decided to have a day by ourselves in and around villefranche. Just wanting to know how easy is it to get to the main area of villefranche from the port, what ships and cars/cafes/restaurants are available and what the beach is like? I have heard it's a very pretty village. If anyone has any recommendations or advice I would love to hear it.

Thanks! X

Villefranche is a tender port and the tender leaves you directly in town. Here is a link to some pictures. It is very lovely there.

https://markandkareneurope2012.shutterfly.com/pictures/564

Take the train to Monaco/Monte Carlo or Nice on your own. Very easy to do. Monaco is very hilly. Buy a bus day pass from the bus driver to get around. Spend part of the day there. Then return for a few hours in Villefranche. Villefranche is not large and a few hours would be plenty. The train station is a short walk from the tender drop off.

The tenders drop you off at the bottom of Villefranche. Nice seaside restaurants and shops. A castle on the hill which has very nice views.

Villefranche is a beautiful small town and there is no need to go into Nice or Monaco if you prefer not to. Villefranche offers a great deal and you can head up into the Old Town to explore the medieval alleys and small streets where you will find several restaurants and boutiques selling various goodies. We found some excellent jewellery shops, but we also enjoyed gentle walking seeing the sights and backstreets soaking up the atmosphere.

Along the waterfront to your right from the tender drop off, there are also a selection of bars and shops - the Hotel Welcome is quite famous. Keeping the water on your right, you will come to the beach after a few minutes stroll.

It's a lovely port for a quiet day just mooching around at your own pace. Villefranche is one of our favourite stops and I'm sure you'll enjoy it very much.

Villefranche is a beautiful small town and there is no need to go into Nice or Monaco if you prefer not to. Villefranche offers a great deal and you can head up into the Old Town to explore the medieval alleys and small streets where you will find several restaurants and boutiques selling various goodies. We found some excellent jewellery shops, but we also enjoyed gentle walking seeing the sights and backstreets soaking up the atmosphere.

Along the waterfront to your right from the tender drop off, there are also a selection of bars and shops - the Hotel Welcome is quite famous. Keeping the water on your right, you will come to the beach after a few minutes stroll.

It's a lovely port for a quiet day just mooching around at your own pace. Villefranche is one of our favourite stops and I'm sure you'll enjoy it very much.

Oh my gosh this has made me super excited! Thank you for your help!

If you want to go to Monte Carlo, it is very easy to just hop on the train or bus (#100) from Villefranche and do it your self. or....You could hop on the same train or bus going the opposite direction and go to Nice (Nice is nice). My point is that you will be in a fabulous part of France where there is excellent (and inexpensive) public transit (trains and buses).

Hank

Villefranche is a tender port and the tender leaves you directly in town. Here is a link to some pictures. It is very lovely there.

 

https://markandkareneurope2012.shutterfly.com/pictures/564

Thanks a lot for sharing :)

Villefranche is a tender port and the tender leaves you directly in town. Here is a link to some pictures. It is very lovely there.

 

https://markandkareneurope2012.shutterfly.com/pictures/564

Lovely photos - enjoyed looking at these!

As others said, Villefranche is nice.

Good restaurants along the waterfront promenade that cost a lot less than places in Nice or Monaco.

Exceptional Moules Frittes (steamed mussels and fries)!

The beach in Villefranche is one of the best in the area.

Monaco or Nice are a few minutes , well, less than 1/2 hour by cheap and frequent train.

It's a very relaxing port (apart from the boring wait to get the tender back to the ship)

"The train station is a short walk from the tender drop off. " Also didn't realise this is a tender drop off

I am looking at the feasibility of going to Villa Rothschild on St Jean Cap Ferrat with my Mum with the help of a TripAdvisor forum. We can get there by bus or train/bus but there is a question about very steep walkways up to the bus stop from the port (which goes direct to the villa). The alternative is the train and a change to a bus. Don't know anything about the walk to the train station.

My foot is a bit sore following an operation (plus several previous city stops before this) and I want to cut down any extra k's

Can anyone who's been there before advise on this please?

"The train station is a short walk from the tender drop off. " Also didn't realise this is a tender drop off

 

I am looking at the feasibility of going to Villa Rothschild on St Jean Cap Ferrat with my Mum with the help of a TripAdvisor forum. We can get there by bus or train/bus but there is a question about very steep walkways up to the bus stop from the port (which goes direct to the villa). The alternative is the train and a change to a bus. Don't know anything about the walk to the train station.

 

My foot is a bit sore following an operation (plus several previous city stops before this) and I want to cut down any extra k's

 

 

Can anyone who's been there before advise on this please?

There is a pretty long stairway that takes you from the sea level tender pier area up to the train station. You could also get to the train station by walking up some streets/sidewalks where you trade an upslope for the steps. It is similar with the bus stops. Villefranche is located right along the sea and, accordingly, it is uphill to anything in the town other then the tourist stuff arrayed right along the sea. The public bus line does not come down to the sea level road.

Many folks with some mobility issues can handle the steps or slopes although you might want to take your time :). If that is not reasonable (or possible) in your case, an alternative is to try and get a taxi from right outside the tender pier facility. However, be warned that taxis are not always waiting....and they will cost a lot more then the local bus or train. Another option is Uber (we have never personally used Uber in Villefranche) which would normally cost less then a taxi. For Uber you would need a working Smartphone, have their app, and have established an Uber Account.

In order to help you I am going to post the direct line to Tom's Port Guide (writtien by Tom Sheridan) and hope this is not violating any board Guideline. If so, I apologize....in advance....to the Mods :).

https://www.tomsportguides.com/uploads/5/8/5/4/58547429/villefranche-sur-mer-06-20-2012.pdf

I am posting this to give you some detailed answers to how to get to the train station or the nearest bus stop.

Hank

Hlitner, this is so helpful and a little bit of a worry as it looks quite a schlep!

I reckon it might be an idea to try and work out how to register with Uber and see if I can work something out

I'm starting to wonder how much it would cost to Uber it all the way - certainly A LOT more than public transport but it would be good to know the facts ...

I'll definitely be looking in to other ports on these web sites though - so helpful

Just looking into Uber and seems like it might be a go but I can't work out (from the options that are coming up) how I would refer to the port/terminal/dock etc?

I'm trying to get an Uber quote to Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild at Saint Jean Cap Ferrat cannot get a start point in Villefranche. Can anyone help please?

Thanks Sarah

Just looking into Uber and seems like it might be a go but I can't work out (from the options that are coming up) how I would refer to the port/terminal/dock etc?

 

I'm trying to get an Uber quote to Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild at Saint Jean Cap Ferrat cannot get a start point in Villefranche. Can anyone help please?

 

Thanks Sarah

Yes, I was just able to use their calculator (which is usually pretty accurate). From Villfranche to the Rothchild place is about 12-16€ depending on whether surge pricing (at the busy times) is in effect. Given that cost and the time you would save it might well be your best option. That Uber estimate also told me it was about 5 min to get an Uber X car. Of course the waiting time for a car does always vary, but it sounds like they have pretty good service in the Nice area.

Thank you for that, it seems a good price for the two of us and easy

Not having used Uber before (know I'll need an account on my phone), if I need to book it on my phone rather than call them I still don't understand which option I need to use to say where i am in Villefranche i.e. the port or cruise terminal etc to make a booking? Maybe I'm missing something?

Villefranche is a beautiful small town and there is no need to go into Nice or Monaco if you prefer not to. Villefranche offers a great deal and you can head up into the Old Town to explore the medieval alleys and small streets where you will find several restaurants and boutiques selling various goodies. We found some excellent jewellery shops, but we also enjoyed gentle walking seeing the sights and backstreets soaking up the atmosphere.

Along the waterfront to your right from the tender drop off, there are also a selection of bars and shops - the Hotel Welcome is quite famous. Keeping the water on your right, you will come to the beach after a few minutes stroll.

It's a lovely port for a quiet day just mooching around at your own pace. Villefranche is one of our favourite stops and I'm sure you'll enjoy it very much.

What great info! Can anyone recommend a nice restaurant or bar that's a must do??

Thanks so much!

What great info! Can anyone recommend a nice restaurant or bar that's a must do??

Thanks so much!

We ate at Lou Bantry and it was amazing. I reviewed it here:

https://soccermomtravels.com/2017/11/29/freedom-in-the-med-nice-nice/

Very reasonably priced, great food amazing views...they even had meals for my picky kid!

We visited the Rothschild place on one of our cruise stops to Villefranche and really loved the gardens, we took the bus there. I am not sure of how bad mobility issues you have but we did not find it a problem getting to the bus stop, the bus stop was quite a bit lower than where the stairs are showing in the picture. Bear in mind that you have quite a bit of walking once there as well to see all the gardens.