Hi, I will be spending a few days in Nice next month . On one day I want to do a day trip to Antibes and combine it with visiting a small village . Debating between Vence or Biot . Which would be nicer to do ?
Seems like Biot is nearer to Antibes, but if Vence is nicer , then I would try for that , even if it means a longer day.
All opinions welcome . Cheers
IMO Biot is less touristy and full of commercial artisan etc. business. Vence is 'older'.
Easy to go to Biot by bus from the coastal Biot railway station. And why not continue to the nice Valbonne? If you like walking, there's a gorgeous one along la Brague. Same busline back.
Disclaimer: a flood some years ago might have destroyed (parts of) the track. Local expert regards will know for sure about details.
nk you. I would suggest you change the destination and go to Antibes, Valbonne and Haut de Cagnes for your day trip. As written before, Biot is not very interesting to see, Vence and beside the Chapel paint by Matisse has also nothing to offer.
Take the TER train in the morning from Nice to Antibes. It's the quickest way. If you come out the station go straight any street in front of you down and you come to the biggest private harbor along the coast between Italy and Spain. More than 3000 ships are in front of you and on your left the Fort Carré to visite. On your right surrounding the harbor you will come to the old city behind the town wall who was built under King Louis XIV by his architect Vauban. Crossing the left hand entrance you will be in the old town and on a very nice open air market (except an Mondays) selling local products from the back land and the near Alpes. Nearby you have the Musée Picasso and a lot of Bistros for a coffee stop. Dont be astonished to hear a lot of people looking like locals speaking English, this is normal here. There are few British and Irish living the year over and working on the ships. French can do it also. But the difference is if an owner ask to do some work on his yacht to finish next Friday at noon, with the British it's done Friday at noon.
Next step can be Valbonne. The beginning from this town goes back to the 10th and 12th century like most of villages in the region.The center of the old town is a public open place surrounding by house withe the entrance from the side of the place. To come in several houses have a passage. Inside you find a lot of different little restaurants offering typical local food for normal prices.
After this I would go to Haute de Cagnes. It belongs to the town of Cagnes and is situated on the top of a hill. Up there is the Grimaldi castle what was sold to the village beginning 20th century. (Grimaldi = the family of Monaco). The village is very nice to see, the castle is open for the public. Up and down to walk is not a good idea. But from the main bus terminal in town you have a free shuttle all day long.
All those three villages give you a good view about the different construction in the early middle age by the local popultion and they defence. Connection is each direction by local buses will be 1,50€ for one way, trains are a little bit more expensive. You can buy the tickets at the station in Nice from a yellow machine inside the main hall of on desks with real people behind for the same price. For buses in the bus.
Thanks for the great advice .
Regards, can you please let me know which buses will go from Antibes to Valbonne and then from Valbonne to Haute de Cagnes . Where can I get the schedules. Cheers
Have a look in the site 'lignes d'azur' covering all destination in the department Alpes-Maritimes. And/or in the site from each place/town/village under how to go.
Hi regards ,
I found that bus #10 will go from Antibes to Valbonne . Actually the bus goes past Biot .
However, am not able to figure out how to get from Valbonne to Haute Cagnes .
Is Haute Cagnes, the town above Cagnes Sur Mare ? If so , then I guess I will have to get from Valbonne back to Antibes and then take the train or bus # 200 to Cagnes Sur Mare station and then take a shuttle to Haute Cagnes.
If this is the only route , then it may be too much to do in one day.
Think that perhaps I should confine the trip to Antibes > Biot > Valbonne and back to Antibes for the train to Nice .
Which is a pity since Haute Cagnes seems like a very interesting village. Cheers
You can catch the train back to Nice also in Biot, no need to go to Antibes. And yes, the town Cagnes is spitted in three parts: Cros de Cagnes / seafront and beach, Cagnes as the new part and Haut de Cagnes the old part. From the Administration all together is called Cagnes sur Mer.
Public transport out of towns into the back land is not well organized all over France. If you visite Eze-Village on the Monaco trip you have nearly the same type of construction like in any other villages along the coast (without a castle on the top but the ruins of one with in an exotic garden). Exotic means a lot of different cactuses.