Eze or St Paul de vence ?

[Tast]

We will be in Monte Carlo next month, on the ruby princess which tenders there on a sunday. We were thinking of taking a half day trip to Eze or St Paul de vence and then returning to Monte Carlo to spend some time there.

 

Which do you think is nicer, Eze or St Paul, and are they both easy to do from Monte Carlo. It will be a sunday so catching a bus may be more difficult.

 

For all you veterans what do you recommend for the day.

Is it possible to do either place by taxi?

thanks,

[robbinsca]

We are not much for shopping, so Eze was better for us. It is smaller, and not quite as "touristy" in our minds- but both are really only operated for the tourist trade.

[Hlitner]

I will have to respectfully disagree with the last post. Both Eze and St Paul de Vence are major tourist attractions, and this is even more true on Sundays when most shops are closed throughout France, but Eze and St Paul de Vence are very much open on those days. In fact, St Paul de Vence is a popular destination for the French,,,especially on Sundays. As to comparing the two places, St Paul de Vence is much larger than Eze and, in recent years, has become a major art community with many excellent galleries and shops. Some of these galleries sell very high quality expensive art and we love just browsing these galleries....some of which are artist owned. A couple of other things to consider is that Eze is very close to MC (less than 15 min) whereas St Paul de Vence is about 45 min from MC. As to Eze, it also has some arty shops and galleries although we do not think they rise to the quality found in St Paul de Vence. I should add that St Paul de Vence is truly a residential village (not just a tourist attraction) and we have often enjoyed watching the local men play boules on Sunday morning (they play in front of the cafe just outside the entrance).

 

Hank

[Tast]

I will have to respectfully disagree with the last post. Both Eze and St Paul de Vence are major tourist attractions, and this is even more true on Sundays when most shops are closed throughout France, but Eze and St Paul de Vence are very much open on those days. In fact, St Paul de Vence is a popular destination for the French,,,especially on Sundays. As to comparing the two places, St Paul de Vence is much larger than Eze and, in recent years, has become a major art community with many excellent galleries and shops. Some of these galleries sell very high quality expensive art and we love just browsing these galleries....some of which are artist owned. A couple of other things to consider is that Eze is very close to MC (less than 15 min) whereas St Paul de Vence is about 45 min from MC. As to Eze, it also has some arty shops and galleries although we do not think they rise to the quality found in St Paul de Vence. I should add that St Paul de Vence is truly a residential village (not just a tourist attraction) and we have often enjoyed watching the local men play boules on Sunday morning (they play in front of the cafe just outside the entrance).

 

Hank

 

 

Thanks that helps.

If we wanted to do St Paul de Vence on a Sunday on our own, what is the best way?

[CintiPam]

Hey, Hank, we also enjoyed the men playing boules there on our visit last month from Monaco, and agree that the art galleries were lovely and fun to visit.

 

We did not visit Eze, so I cannot offer an informed opinion to the OP.

[cberge]

I have spent a fair amount of time in the area and would say ST.P in a heartbeat...on a Sunday or any other day for that matter.I have have always had a ride,but here is a link that will give you some helpful info...

St. Paul de Vence by train and bus - Cruise Critic Message Boards

[Hlitner]

Good to see Cberge is on the job as he is a real travel pro (even I take his advice). But, we got some feedback last year on the train bus combination to St Paul de Vence (we generally prefer to rent a car and drive ourselves) that has caused us to post a warning. Last year, on my advice, a couple took the train from Villefrance to Cagnes sur Mer and expected to get the bus to St Paul de Vence. When the bus went by the stop (across the street from the station) the driver refused to stop because the bus was full (more likely to happen on Sundays). So, my advice for those in MC is to simply take the local bus to Nice and get off at the end of the line (Nice Gare Routier bus station). That happens to be the bus station where the bus to St Paul de Vence originates so you will have no problem getting a seat on the next bus. Once the bus leaves that bus station it snakes through the streets of Nice (picking up passengers at many stops) which is why it sometimes can get full before it reaches the Cagnes sur Mer stop (this is outside Nice on the far side of the airport). If somebody in your party is comfortable renting a car (remember that most rental cars are manual transmissions) it saves time to rent a car in MC and drive to St Paul de Vence. This will save you time and give you some flexibility to stop at other places. In fact, with a car its pretty easy to do both St Paul de Vence and Eze and have some time left over to explore MC (most things are closed in MC on Sundays). By the way, if you take an early bus and get into Nice on a Sunday morning, it is only about a 10 min walk from the Nice bus station to the famous Nice Flower Market (this operates on Sunday mornings until about 1 pm).

 

Hank

[cberge]

Good to see Cberge is on the job as he is a real travel pro (even I take his advice). Hank

Thanx Hank...but this is Karen and I am not a he...you know that:D.How many years from the old AOL baords before.....Will update info..I just keep the link I gave around as at least it is something.

[Hlitner]

Thanx Hank...but this is Karen and I am not a he...you know that:D.How many years from the old AOL baords before.....Will update info..I just keep the link I gave around as at least it is something.

 

My goodness, so now the secret is finally out! I actually remember your name from the old AOL board (used to love that site). I guess we are all a bit older (and hopefully wiser) from those days. My DW just reminded me that we started this cruise blogging stuff before AOL on the old GENIE (wonder who remembers this old site) and Prodigy sites.

 

Hank

[ILoveScotland]

Haven't been to Eze but loved St. Paul de Vence which I did as part of an all day private tour.

[CruisingGoddess]

I also had this dilemma and decided on Eze for these reasons: sounds like a smaller village, the view from the village, and the PERFUME FACTORY!

[suekay]

We took the train from Villefranche to Cagnes-sur-Mer with the intention of getting the local bus to St Paul. The small local bus sailed past full, and as it was Sunday there were no taxis at the station. We finished up waiting for the next train back to Villefranche along with a few other disappointed cruisers

[hgrca]

Does anyone know the cost of taking a taxi to and from Monaco to St Paul de Vence.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good to see Cberge is on the job as he is a real travel pro (even I take his advice). But, we got some feedback last year on the train bus combination to St Paul de Vence (we generally prefer to rent a car and drive ourselves) that has caused us to post a warning. Last year, on my advice, a couple took the train from Villefrance to Cagnes sur Mer and expected to get the bus to St Paul de Vence. When the bus went by the stop (across the street from the station) the driver refused to stop because the bus was full (more likely to happen on Sundays). So, my advice for those in MC is to simply take the local bus to Nice and get off at the end of the line (Nice Gare Routier bus station). That happens to be the bus station where the bus to St Paul de Vence originates so you will have no problem getting a seat on the next bus. Once the bus leaves that bus station it snakes through the streets of Nice (picking up passengers at many stops) which is why it sometimes can get full before it reaches the Cagnes sur Mer stop (this is outside Nice on the far side of the airport). If somebody in your party is comfortable renting a car (remember that most rental cars are manual transmissions) it saves time to rent a car in MC and drive to St Paul de Vence. This will save you time and give you some flexibility to stop at other places. In fact, with a car its pretty easy to do both St Paul de Vence and Eze and have some time left over to explore MC (most things are closed in MC on Sundays). By the way, if you take an early bus and get into Nice on a Sunday morning, it is only about a 10 min walk from the Nice bus station to the famous Nice Flower Market (this operates on Sunday mornings until about 1 pm).

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

Does anyone know the cost of taking a taxi to and from Monaco to St Paul de Vence.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

I do not know the exact cost, but you are talking in the hundreds of dollars round trip. We seldom see taxis when we are at St Paul de Vence, so you would probably have to arrange for round trip. The village is located several miles inland in a pretty isolated part of the countryside.

 

Hank

[Parapara]

We have just found out that our overnight stop in Villefranche is now in Nice and then we go to Villefrance the next morning and leave from there at 8pm. Now thinking that we would spend a wee bit of time looking at Nice and then going to St Paul de Vence. I see you can get buses from Nice to there. We are berthing at Nice at 11.30a.m. Next day, after we berth in Villefranche ( think it is about 9-9.30 a.m.), thought we might 'do' Monaco, Eze and Villefranche itself which all appear to be very close together on our rather poor map. However I can't find a map with St Paul de Vence on it so am presuming it is sort of to the left of Nice! We don't have the luxury of fast internet here ( I don't mean New Zealand!- just the rural area we live in) so dial up is pretty hopeless for things like maps.

Jean

[hrcs23a]

I visited Saint Paul de Vence, Eze, and the lesser known village of Tourrettes sur Loup this past June. I was disappointed with Eze after having visited the other two earlier in the day. Since it is more compact than the others, this means there is less to see. I got a lot more out of Saint Paul de Vence and Tourrettes than Eze. In fact, on a two week trip where I took nearly 2000 pictures, I probably took less than 10 at Eze. The other two villages are more navigable with more options for shopping and eating. While I would return to Saint Paul or Tourrettes, I would not recommend Eze over either of these two.

[dig21]

Who did you use for private tour and did you like it. How much was the fee? Thanks

 

Linda

[dig21]

I have enjoyed reading your posts and you seen very informative about travel in this area. Would have a suggestion on how to go from port at Cannes to St. Paul de Vence. We could go on a ship tour that includes St. Paul and Grasse but if we could do it ourselves I would prefer it. Our ship will be in Port on a Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

 

Thank you,

 

Linda

[visitingeu]

I recommend going to Eze, as it's closer and easier to get to. Eat lunch at Le Nid d'Aigle and wander around the art galleries and the narrow streets. It's small, so easy to do in a day. If you take the train, the hike from the sea up to Eze is great.

[mpb43]

If you take the train, the hike from the sea up to Eze is great.

 

Did you take the Nietzsche trail? We are thinking of doing this in Novemeber. How long did it take to hike from Eze-bord-de-mer to Eze village?

[tuleia]

Dear Dig21,

 

Our group of 21 used REVELATION TOURS on June 27, 2008, to transport us in three 8-passenger Mercedes minivans from the port in CANNES, to fabulous ST. PAUL DE VENCE, MONACO and MONTE CARLO.

 

The company/service was excellent. Our 3 driver-guides were prompt, courteous, informative, friendly, and very helpful.

 

In June 2007, the per-person cost for this 8-hour tour was 75 Euros which included the tip.

 

Hope this helps. REVELATION TOURS and its fantastic owner, MICHEL LEGRAND, may be contacted at http://www.revelationtours@aol.com.

 

In fact, REVELATION TOURS is taking my business associates to ST. PAUL DE VENCE and medieval NICE when their ship docks in MONTE CARLO in October 2009.

[wactedout]

Hi,

 

When do you get there? Are you on Celebrity,Century possibly? Have you found a car rental company or what? I appreciate your answer. We are two woman, from Calif.Would love to share. Take care Madelon

[maidut]

I wanted to see if anyone else has any input on this?

 

If we are docked in Monaco and plan to spend time there, then head to Eze and/or St Paul de Vence. If we just do Eze, we will take the bus, but if we do SPdV, we may rent a car after we see Moanaco.

 

Any suggestions??

[Hlitner]

Not sure what kind of suggestions would add to your plan. You are correct that if you want to go to St Paul de Vence, a rental car would be your easiest and most cost effective option. However, if you are going to rent a car it makes more sense to get the car early in the morning and also use it to drive to Eze, Nice, Antibes, etc. There is convenient parking at Eze and ST Paul de Vence.

 

Hank

[DrivesLikeMario]

We'll also be in Nice on a Sunday and plan to do Eze via taxi, then go to the Flower Market. Will the Flower Market be open on Sundays? What should we expect to pay for a taxi to Eze from the port of Nice?

 

Thanks for the help! :)