Anyone know the Nice area particularly well?

[themurkyera]

DS is desperate to walk and see some of the Monaco F1 track. We have a few days in October and I’ve started to look at flights etc. He is 16 so a bit old to be sharing a hotel room with us as he did when he was younger so I am looking at air B and B but crikey, some of these are hugely expensive. Is there anywhere along the coast line that you’d recommend searching that might be a little cheaper? We are happy to use the train so as long as it’s near the train line we would consider it. Thank you.

I would look at hotels in Nice or Antibes. The train from Nice Ville to Monaco is cheap and takes around 20 minutes.

Have a look at Menton as well, it's a bit cheaper yet really close

Try Fréjus. Bit further away but cheaper, very nice, and on the train line.
Alternatively, it's cheaper over the border in Italy.

YY to Menton. Or go inland a bit image will be a bit cheaper,, but then you lose the sure useful railway. Or try Ventimiglia (sp?) just over into Italy, but still an easy journey to Monaco.

Menton is absolutely gorgeous too!

Third Menton. Great alternative to Nice.

There is a youth hostel near Plage Mala which is absolutely beautiful. Near to Cap d’Ail station with trains I believe running from Monaco.

Oh no ! Looks like it shut down. Always did seem too good to be true. If you Google it there are other hostels linked which might be good. But I recommend Cap d’ail if there is time for the beach - 20 minute walk from the station but so nice

If you are stuck with school holidays, try going the last weekend of October half term, it seems a bit cheaper being November than when I went last year. There is much more of a selection in Nice, including budget hotels such as Ibis. I’d look on a booking site to see what you can get. I did a trip with a triple room when Ds was that age & we survived!

Villefranche-Sur-Mer is lovely. On the train line between Nice and Monaco. Lots of great restaurants. I spent a lovely afternoon walking into Nice which was an amazing route along the coast. Hotel de la Darse was great, I'm sure others are too.

Thanks everyone. Yes, it’s the school holidays but Scotland so we are off the week of 7th October. I have found flights but it’s for one night. Our early on a Thursday and back late on a Friday night. For some reason the other flight times from Edinburgh are rubbish that week and massively expensive so looks like potentially a one night trip. We will be fine in a hotel for one night I think so going to look at hotels in Nice. It seems quite a compact town and very near the airport.

The trains in that part of France are really good and the train from Nice to Monaco is pretty spectacular (as is the train station in Monaco - it's carved in to the rock and feels like a film set.)

We took a car mad teen to the museum that holds all the cars owned by Prince Ranier III which was a great way to spend a couple of hours - https://www.mtcc.mc/

Monaco is a slightly odd place and you can't see much of the F1 track on foot as most of the footpaths don't follow the roads as it's so hilly, but you can soak up some of the atmosphere and enjoy the people watching. Nice is a lovely place to explore too.

Villefranche is lovely. Menton is v close to Monaco and is nice but very busy.

I actually drove along part of the F1 track. Went over the start grid and round a few bends! Didn’t intend to but a combination of poor directions from dh and being in the wrong lane made it quite interesting! Monaco is steep. Roads are on different levels. I would research the track and overlay it onto a street map.

There’s more options to stay in Nice. Easy to get from airport and train to Monaco is reliable. Go on to Menton. Both are worth looking at. Plus the yachts in the harbour.

St Raphael is lovely and a very nice train ride to Monaco.

I was going to say Villefranche or Bealieu sur Mer, a quick train ride to Monaco

Before kids we stayed in Nice and then got a ferry for a day trip to Monaco, you then arrive via the harbour and see all the mega yachts.

we also got a public bus that went through the tunnel and round a lot of the track.

gping back in July with our teens to take them for same reason as you. I found an Airbnb that is on a small yacht in the harbour, looks fun, though is basically a floating caravan looking at the beds! It might be a 2 night minimum stay but might be worth a look

Biot is cheap and cheerful with caravan parks from memory. Very close to Monaco

We stayed in an apartment in Nice that we found on Booking.com. I can’t remember how much it was, but it wasn’t expensive and in a really good spot.

We stayed in Paris for a few days and got the train from Paris to Nice and just had a ten minute walk to our apartment.

The train to Monaco was easy, and I disagree with a PP who said you can’t see much of the track on foot. We walked the whole track and had lunch in a restaurant on the start/finish line.