Villefranche: take ship tour?

[LishaD]

My mom and I are going to Villefranche on the May 27th sailing of the Millie. Mom has booked quite a few ship tours, all of which I am happy with except Villefranche. She has us going to Nice, Monaco and Eze. It is an eight hour tour, and we won't have time to do the things that we really want to do. I do want to go to the Old town in Nice and to Monaco (not Monte Carlo). It seems like we could take a train or bus to both of these locations and do what we want to do. Has anyone been on this shore excursion? Should we just do it or should I talk her into doing this port on our own?:confused:

 

Thanks,

 

LishaD

[bubbadog]

hello:)) we did this in october,only we hooked up with another couple,and had shared a private tour,i dont recommend doing this on your own,i think you get more for your money with a private tour than with the ship tour,so if it was me id e-mail www driverinrome.com or www limoinrome.com and get a quote from these guys,they were the best:)))))) and try to share a tour with another couple on board,or take ship tour ,read past reviews and judge for yourself,good luck and hope your trip is great:)))))):p

[Bruin Steve]

We did exactly that Shore Excursion in August 2003 while on the Millie. Altogether, if those are the places you want to see, it is not bad. Our tour guide wasn't so great--she arranged for a meeting point outside the Oceanographic Museum after free time in Monaco at a particular time and then never showed up herself!!! We found her back at the bus (she decided it was too hot to stay at the meeting point...Luckily, I knew my way around Monaco (having been there a couple of times before) and convinced everyone to follow me to the bus...Needless to say, she got no tip from us!

 

Anyway, your chances at that adventure are probably slight...I am hoping she got fired after all of our complaints to Celebrity...

 

Aside from that, the tour was well organized and took in a lot...and there was plenty of time on our own at each stop - Nice, Eze, Monte Carlo and Monaco...My guess is that if you wanted more time in Monaco and less in Monte Carlo, you could probably arrange with the tour guide to skip Monte Carlo, stay in Monaco longer and just walk over to the bus at Monte Carlo at the appointed time...Also, the lunch in Eze was quite good.

 

Trying to get to all of these places on your own by use of public transportation might be a bit complicated and difficult...

 

I would either take the ship's tour or hire a local driver (I'm not sure where bubbadog is coming up with all these Italians???) Try Alain at Dream Tours:

 

http://www.dream-tours.com/dreama1.html

 

He comes highly recommended. We didn't use him, though...I exchanged E-Mails with him before settling on doing the ship's excursion instead...He can customize whatever you want.

[cs1]

Lisha, we are on your cruise actually. We are renting a car for the day but that is very complicated and in Villefranche we will be with our little children so this was an easy option. We stayed in Villefranche a few years ago and found that

it was relatively easy to get to Nice and Monaco without a car (bus and train).

Also, I have done Cannes once from Monaco by train when we were docked for the day there on another cruise.

That said, I checked and according to my findings, the day that we are in port in Villefrance there are 2 other big cruise ships docked for the day. I think that since Villefranche is small it will be mobbed with day trippers including the bus/train stations so I would go with the ship's tour or try putting together a small group for a private one.

Cynthia

[citoman]

Cynthia,

I will be in Villefranche next week-Brilliance of the Seas- My family and I were thinking on renting a car. Can you tell me what rental company is the best and if they pick you up from the port. I read the nearest town with car rental is Nice- if we have to take a taxi from the port to Nice-do you know how much it would cost?

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Citoman

[Alan2504]

Citoman,

 

Bear in mind that on May 22 there's the Monaco Grand Prix and that whole area of Monaco is packed out!

 

The actual race is on the Sunday (22nd) however the "race programme" starts on Thursday (18th).

 

Expect more potential transport problems around these dates.

 

Perhaps a ships tour might be worth considering just for the peace of mind?

 

Alan

[citoman]

Alan,

 

Thanks for the advice. I guess we will end up taking a ship's tour.

Thanks again!

[Images]

We have been to the South of France and Monaco several times on our own. We have been to all of the place you'd like to see. It is very easy to go by train or bus on your own. It won't be crowded on the trains. You may have to buy your tickets from a machine. Eze Village is wonderful but you must take the bus there, way up the hill! Old town Nice is pretty run down and dirty. Very disappointing, but I'm sure you'll want to see it, just don't plan your whole day around it. Antibes is also a wonderful small town you may like to go to on the train. On one trip the trains went on strike, in the middle of the day. No problem, just change to the bus. It goes on the same route.

 

I don't recommend using a car. The roads are very conjested and it can take you a long time to drive it.

 

The race will be over long before May 27. That shouldn't effect your time there at all.

 

The tour does cover great places, so if you feel best with that it's not a bad option.

[LishaD]

Thanks for the replies. I think I have talked her into doing the "Nice and Monaco on our own" tour. That will be more suiting to what we want to do, and will still let her feel safe.

 

LishaD