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Categories: Occitanie, Provence
In today's episode of the podcast, Annie Sargent and Renee Bogue delve into the practicalities and joys of train travel in France. Despite facing challenges like train strikes, Renee and her husband demonstrate that effective planning can ensure a smooth journey. The couple shares their adventures on four coastal walks along the French Riviera, highlighting the scenic routes from Villefranche-sur-Mer to Nice and from Cap d'Ail to Monaco. The episode offers valuable insights into navigating the French rail system and tips for enjoyable coastal walks, making it a must-listen for those planning a similar journey.
Hotels Renee selected for this trip
Toulouse: Hotel Croix Baragnon - Great location, clean, kind and helpful English speaking staff, website accurately reflects room and facilitiesi and comfy bed. 5 nights
Carcassonne: Hotel Pont du Vieux - Small rooftop terrace with magnificent view of the castle especially at night. Clean, nice hotel. 1 night, coffee in room.
Montpelier: Hotel D'Aragon- Nice hotel close to the train station and Place de Comedie. Comfortable bed, clean and helpful English speaking staff. 3 nights
Beaulieu-Sur-Mer: Hotel Frisia. Balcony room overlooking the marina. Close to train station and bus stop making it an excellent home base. Clean, friendly English speaking staff. Excellent value for money. 6 nights
Nice: The Westend- Beautiful hotel in an excellent location. A splurge for our last night. 1 night.
Coastal walks along the Mediterranean
Renee and her husband took 4 coastal walks on this trip and this was their favorite activity. They didn't do the Antibes coastal walk because they weren't sure they could find the trailhead. None of these walks are very challenging physically but you do need to be able to walk on uneven ground and take stairs. People do these walks with children and you're not in the wilderness. This is the site Renee used to prepare for these walks.
Coastal Path Between Villefranche-sur-Mer and Nice
They did the walk between Villefranche-sur-Mer and Nice. This took about 3 hours but they stopped a lot to take pictures. The paths are well maintained and even though there are stairs sometimes, it's not particularly steep.
Coastal Path Between Cap d'Ail, Mala Beach and Monaco
You take a left when you get out of the train station, walk by many mansions and get to a well marked trailhead. It looks like a movie set it's so gorgeous! There's a resort and restaurant. This trail takes you all the way into Monaco and it's well maintained. There is a bathroom along the way, etc.
Coastal Path Between Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Saint-Hospice
They took the train to Beaulieu-sur-Mer, then walked to Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, to Cap Saint-Hospice.
Advice shared on this episode
Print a copy of your tickets just in case you run into language complications. And take a screen shot of the QR code of your ticket so you can find it easily. You should keep your train tickets on either the SNCF Connect App or the Trainline App. You can import a trip from one App to the other if you to cover all the bases.
Renee traveled during a period where there were lots of strikes due to changes in the French retirement laws. They ended up needing to take an earlier train one day and got to their destination later than planned, but they were never stranded.
More episodes about active vacations in France
Table of Contents for this Episode
#TrainTravel, #FrenchRiviera, #ToulouseToNice, #TravelPodcast, #CoastalWalks, #FranceAdventures, #TravelTips, #RailJourneys, #ExploreFrance, #ScenicRoutes, #MediterraneanViews, #JourneyThroughFrance, #TravelFrance, #RailwayAdventures, #FrenchCoast, #VacationInFrance, #TrainTrips, #DiscoverFrance, #RivieraWalks, #FrenchEscapade
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Discussed in this Episode
- Day trip to Albi from Toulouse on the train
- Toulouse to Carcassone on the train with one night in Carcassonne
- Carcassonne to Montpellier on the train with 3 nights in Montpellier
- Day trip to Nîmes from Montpellier by train
- Montpellier to Baulieu-sur-Mer on the train
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