Routes and Things to to in Villfranche

[misery1001]

Hi,

 

I am going to hop on my first cruise experience in May with RC (Brilliance)I. So exciting!!!! I am trying to work out the ports. Here is the first port we will arrive to: Villefranche. So far I have these activities planned.

 

We will be arriving at the port at 10am and leave at 8pm. Go to Monte Carol to look at the Palace and the aquarium. Maybe the Casino. Then we will head up to the Eve village.

 

1. What can we do in Eze, do we just enjoy the beauty of the village?

 

2. Is there anything else I must go to? I am not into arts and musesm.

 

As for the route and transportation, I am thinking of taking the bus and many suggest here.

 

3. From my knowledge, we can hop on to Bus #100 and go to Monte Carol. Correct?

 

4. Is Monte Carlo same as Monaco??

 

5. The port we depart should be Le Port, correct? For the Palace, the stop is Palais d'Armes. For the aquarium, the stop is ??.

 

6. To get to the Eze Village we should get on to Bus 112 and go to Eze village. Are the bus stop easy to find?

 

7. From Eze village, we can get back to the port by Bus #83 and # 100, correct?

 

8. Where can I get a english version of the schedule?

 

9. Will it be too rush to go to Nice too? What is there to do in Nice?

 

If possible, we want to go back to the ship by 5:30ish because we have the Main dining option (at 6pm).

 

 

Yes, I am a problem child. Sorry for all the questions. Thanks for helping!!

[Susan-M]

We took the bus from Villefranche to Eze, then on to Monaco, and returned by train from Monaco, so I can offer some answers:

 

 

1. What can we do in Eze, do we just enjoy the beauty of the village?

 

The cactus garden at the very top of the village is worth a visit .... not just for the garden & interesting sculpures, but for the spectacular views. There are quite a few shops there - the buildings are built into the sides of the hill, so it feels like walking into a cave when you go into a store. I'm not a shopper, and we found that 1 1/2 hours in Eze was a good amount of time. http://www.eze-riviera.com/village/ang/exotic_garden.htm

 

3. From my knowledge, we can hop on to Bus #100 and go to Monte Carol. Correct?

 

Yes - we caught the bus in Villefranche next to the TI office - the stop is called L'octroi.

 

4. Is Monte Carlo same as Monaco??

The "Principality of Monaco" is the country and Monte Carlo is an area within the country. Monaco is the second smallest independent state in the world (The Vatican is the smallest.)

 

 

6. To get to the Eze Village we should get on to Bus 112 and go to Eze village. Are the bus stop easy to find?

I would try to locate a map that shows bus stops (PCUR, who often posts on this forum, has one that she can email to you.) Monaco is a bit of a difficult place to find things (the palace is easy to locate because it sits up on a hill) - we asked locals for directions to the train station (not easy with our limited French, but we found it.)

 

7. From Eze village, we can get back to the port by Bus #83 and # 100, correct? 8. Where can I get a english version of the schedule?

Yes - here's a link to the schedule for #83 http://www.eze-riviera.com/emotions/deplacement/ang/bus.htm (you will need to look at column's 2 & 3 of schedule L83 - Eze Village to Eze Bord du Mer. If you leave Eze Village on the 3:30 bus, you can then link up to #100 at Eze Bord Du Mere - either the Gare or David stop, to catch the 4:05 bus. Here's the schedule for it: http://www.lignedazur.com/horaires_ligne/index.asp?rub_code=6&thm_id=539&gpl_id=0&lign_id=1092&sens=2&date=08%2F03%2F2007&index=34

 

9. Will it be too rush to go to Nice too? What is there to do in Nice?

I think it will be too much to pack into the time that you have. If you take the 3:30 bus from Eze it should get you back to Villefranche by ~ 4:20 - it's worth spending some time there to explore.

Or, you could catch the 4:40 bus from Eze Village and arrive back in Villefranche close to 5:30.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Susan-M]

Just in case I haven't confused you enough in my post above :) - I wanted to post a link to the schedule for #112 - going in the direction from Monaco to Nice: http://www.lignedazur.com/horaires_ligne/index.asp?rub_code=6&thm_id=539&gpl_id=0&lign_id=1093&sens=2&date=08%2F03%2F2007

 

Note that the timetable doesn't actually start in Monaco, but in Cap D'ail, which must be right at the border of the two places. If you look at this schedule and compare times, the bus leaves Monaco about 3 minutes prior to the times shown in the schedule above. http://www.eze-riviera.com/emotions/deplacement/ang/bus.htm #112 doesn't run very often, so you need to plan carefully. I made up two possible itineraries which is why we ended up coming back by train. It's really quite easy if you have your schedules with you and a plan worked out in advance.

 

And one last tip - you'll be able to use the same ticket for bus #83 and #100 coming back from Eze.

[twscott1961]

Hi Susan,

 

Just wanted to say a quick hello. I see your post all the time. I still think about the 2005 Med cruise. Doug and I are going on a 14 day Oceania cruise, that goes to Egypt this Sept. I'm doing research now on all the ports.

 

Tammy

[Susan-M]

Hi Susan,

 

Just wanted to say a quick hello. I see your post all the time. I still think about the 2005 Med cruise. Doug and I are going on a 14 day Oceania cruise, that goes to Egypt this Sept. I'm doing research now on all the ports.

 

Tammy

 

Hi Tammy - great to hear from you! Can you tell that I'm still focussed on our Med cruise ;) We did the Galapagos in November - it was wonderful, but to be honest, the Med cruise is my favourite.

 

Your cruise sounds wonderful .... great itinerary! - and I've been reading such good things about Oceania! Have a wonderful time!! I am in cruise withdrawal right now - Rick and I were going to do the Tahitian Princess in October, but instead are going to Hawaii for a couple of weeks at Christmas time with our son, daughter and daughter's boyfriend. It's a nice trade-off for us since our son lives 2000 miles away and spending two weeks together will be fun.

[twscott1961]

Susan, I'm always planning our next trip. A family vacation will be nice, too. Cruises are still our favorite way to go. Getting back to the thread ( didn't mean to take up all the time with personal chatting) We did a private tour with Dream Tours. I really enjoyed the old part of Nice, and the small village of Eze. Susan is a great person to give advice on doing it on your own. Whatever you do, I'm sure you will have a wonderful day there. Susan, can you give advice on a hotel in Athens? Our cruise starts there.

 

Tammy

[Susan-M]

Susan, can you give advice on a hotel in Athens? Our cruise starts there.

 

Tammy

 

Hi Tammy, many thanks for the nice comment :) I've only been in Athens once (the day we spent there on our Med cruise) so can't help with hotels .... other than to say that I rely on tripadvisor when I'm choosing hotels. If you're not familiar with this site, scroll down to "Athens Hotel Recommendations" - it will show the top ten picks (based on client feedback) - then if you click on the hotel, you'll see comments.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g189400-Athens_Attica-Vacations.html

[Capsu78]

One suggestion might be to plan for lunch in Eze. We had a fabulous view with our lunch at "The Eagles Nest", which I think translates from "Le Nid DAigle". As I was paying the bill I spied a picture on the wall of the family owners surrounding a guest. I leaned in and saw it was Bill Clinton standing in the doorway I was standing next to!

The food was great, the view better and it gave us a nice time just to sit and sop in the moment.

[misery1001]

Thx everyone, esp Susan.. the information is VERY helpful...

 

I am planning to stay in Monte Carol for 3 hrs and Eze Village for ~1 hr. Our ship dock at 10am and leave at 7pm.... we don't have much time

 

I am planning to go the casino, aquarium, and the cathedral.

 

If the ship dock at 10am, when will we be on land? I am hoping in around 30 minutes... is that reasonable?

[pcur]

OK, I'm here!

 

If you want the Villefranche simplified bus routes, and my handy Monaco / Monte Carlo maps, then email me at pcurri at that yahoo place.

 

I cannot believe how many people want these maps. The bus is going to make a lot of money this summer!! :D

 

I have the maps all attached to a draft email, so all I do is pop the email address in and send it off. Feel free to ask for it.

[Susan-M]

If the ship dock at 10am, when will we be on land? I am hoping in around 30 minutes... is that reasonable?

 

We also docked at 10 and were able to catch a 10:40 bus - try to be in line for the tender early. Tendering in Villefranche is quick as it's only a 2 or 3 minute tender ride between ship and dock.

It's about a 10 minute walk to the bus stop.

 

Since you are heading straight to Monaco, the train might be a better option depending on what time it leaves V.F. - the train station is closer than the bus stop and a much quicker trip to Monaco. You could then do the bus on the way back to Eze and V.F.

 

I had both bus and train schedules with me, so that we could decide which the best option would be once we arrived.

 

I had a look at train schedules and there is one that leaves Villefranche at 10:59 and arrives in M. Carlo at 11:14 (I think this would be your quickest way to get there.) http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/_SvTermConsHorPropositionAller?_TMS=1173449194524&_DLG=SvTermConsHorPropositionAller&_LANG=UK&_AGENCY=VSC

But if you miss that train, then the bus would be your only option as the next train isn't until 12:44.

Here's a link to PortReviews for Villefranche - with details of where the train station is:

http://www.europeportreviews.com/Villefranche.htm#Dock

[Susan-M]

Misery1001 - I'm not sure if you were able to get the information that you needed from my link to: http://www.lignedazur.com/ When I clicked on the link in my post above, it had changed, so thought I should mention the following:

 

If you go to http://www.lignedazur.com/,

- click on the Union Jack for English

- beside "Plan your Journey", click on Timetables

- Click on "Timetables, Consult Your Line's Timetables"

- Click on "Secteur Cap et Corniche"

- all of the routes that you need are in this section, just click on 83, 100 or 112 for the timetables.

It then gives options for "other direction", "earlier or later times", etc.

Closer to the date of your trip, you'll be able to get schedules for the day that you'll be there.

[misery1001]

I found some websites and maps might be useful for other people.

 

Bus Network near Villefranche:

http://www.lignedazur.com/plan/index.asp?rub_code=5&thm_id=1368&gpl_id=

Villefranche stop: L’octroi

Monaco: Not shown in this map

Eze Village: Eze Village

 

Bus stop for 100 Villefranche <-> Monaco

http://www.rca.tm.fr/ftp/FR_plan/ligne100.pdf?plan=%2Fftp%2FFR_plan%2Fligne100.pdf

http://www.rca.tm.fr/ftp/lignes/Fiche%20Horaire_08012007%20Nice%20Menton%20A.pdf

http://www.rca.tm.fr/ftp/lignes/Fiche%20Horaire_08012007%20Menton%20Nice%20R.pdf

 

Bus stop for 112 Monaco<-> Eze Village

http://www.rca.tm.fr/ftp/FR_plan/thermometre112.pdf

http://www.rca.tm.fr/ftp/lignes/LIGNE112.pdf

 

Bus 83 Eze <--> Eze Village

http://www.lignedazur.com/ftp/lignes/ligne%2083.pdf

[leoandhugh]

as someone has already mentioned above, you need to keep in mind that Villefranche is a tender port which takes time - getting on an early tender is not always an option because they assign those to passengers taking ship's shore excursions. And I would not be so tied to your dining schedule that night - you could squeeze a couple of more hours ashore in the evening if you skip the dining room and eat in the Windjammer that night. we were on Brilliance last November in Villefranche and managed to find a ship's tour that went to Nice, up to Eze (with about an hour 1/2 there and returned to Villefranche through Monaco, but did not stop there for sightseeing - just picture taking stops

[leoandhugh]

just remembered when thinking about Eze and the cactus garden and the fabulous views from up there, be prepared to pay a fee to go there - my recollection is that it was 5euros each - not much, but you will need to have the euros with you if you go there. the day we were in Villefranche the French RR system was on strike so many passengers had to scramble to change plans and the busses to and from Eze and Monaco were very crowded.

[misery1001]

Sorry, I have a change of plan here.... I want to go to Parc du Chateau instead of the Eze village. How can I get to the elevator from the bus route? Which stop should I step off? Alos, is it feasible to go to the Archaeology Museum? Thanks

 

pcur: did you receive my email?

[pcur]

Yep, and sent you the maps. If those sites are in Monaco, then the map will show them. Also, it has the elevator locations on it.