Why March Might Just Be the Best Time to Visit
After a few days visiting castles in France’s Loire Valley, I took a quick trip to the southern part of the country, to visit the French Riviera in the off season. What made visiting the French Riviera in March so appealing? Thanks to France’s high speed train, the TGV, and my Eurail France pass, I sped to the coast in just a few hours. Imposing castles, chateaux, and the marks of early spring gave way to sunshine, “short sleeve shirt” temperatures, and flowers in full bloom everywhere I looked. Even better– no crowds like there are in high season. March is one of the best times to visit the French Riviera if you want the beauty of the area without the shoulder to shoulder throngs of tourists!
Menton as a Home Base in the French Riviera
Staying in Menton
The main towns along the French Riviera are all fairly close together, and you might be tempted to use Nice as a home base for exploring the area. But I have a better idea– Menton. Nice is a large city, but Menton is far more manageable in size, with the same great links to public transportation, the same Mediterranean shoreline, but more compact and easily walkable. Menton combines gorgeous street mazes in its old town and with its newer areas in a seamless way. There’s even a casino if that interests you, and you don’t need or care about the high rolling glitz and glamour of Monaco. Because Menton is very close to the Italian border, signs to Ventimiglia, and the influence of Italian culture are everywhere in this city. I often felt like I had one foot in France and the other in Italy, crisscrossing between the two depending upon my meal that evening.
I stayed in the lovely Hotel Lemon, which is a short walk away from the train station, but a bit further away from the center of town. There are plenty of hotels in the center of Menton, so choose whatever fits your personal preference.
https://stay22.com/embed/67b89f44fc206ec2bb75162d
Interested in the French author and filmmaker Jean Cocteau? The Cocteau Museum is located in Menton. The museum was closed for renovations during my visit to Menton, but one look at the exterior of the building tells you that Jean Cocteau was a most unusual man.
This is what I love about travel– the way it leads visitors into wanting to know more– about history, literature, art, food, you name it. Travel is the expansion of one’s personal universe.
To Purchase a Railpass or Not?
This is always a conundrum for people, including myself, but it needn’t be. The trains along this part of France are inexpensive, and you shouldn’t need a rail pass if you are just traveling between the towns along this part of the country. But since traveled among different areas of the country– Paris, Loire Valley, and then the Riviera– I purchased a four day rail pass for the long distances. So while the train ride from Menton to Monaco was paid for with a point to point ticket, the longer trips from one part of the country to the other were covered by my Eurail France Pass- for example, Amboise to Paris and down to Nice. And despite the ongoing rail strike during my visit, the trains were frequent and uncrowded in March. I found it super easy to catch a train anywhere I wanted. (More on train hopping around the coastal towns in another post.)
Day Trip to Monaco and Monte Carlo
There’s the French Riviera. And then there’s Monaco.
How can you pass up the opportunity for a day trip from Menton to Monaco?? You can’t! Despite the fact that Monaco is tres cher (very expensive) and clearly for the well-heeled crowd, you can visit Monaco on a budget. And I wasn’t going to miss out on a day trip visit.
Monaco is also where I learned what “azure seas” really looks like. Truly, I’ve never seen azure waters before I visited this principality. Take a good long look and soak the experience into your soul. You’ll find yourself thinking back to it time and again upon your return– and wishing you were there instead of your desk at work.
What to know about Monaco:
1. First, Monaco is built onto and into a mountain. You arrive what feels like “in” the mountain, requiring an elevator ride from the train platform up to the station level. In some ways you feel like you’re in a subway station, but you’re not.
2. Walking Around Monaco: Again because of the mountains, Monaco has a lot of steep ascents and descents. But fear not, there is almost always a staircase to help get you from one street down (or up) to another. There are also lots of elevators around Monaco, so if you think you have a very steep climb, make sure there isn’t an easier way to help you get where you need to go. I found a great YouTube video about the elevator system in Monaco by Josh Stanley.
3. Be Health Smart: Monaco is the only place I’ve ever been that has directional signage to defibrillators. That should tell you something right there. Please remember your physical limitations and consider that before starting that long climb. Again, there’s almost always a staircase or elevator to assist you.
4. Monaco’s public transportation: There is a fine bus system in place for Monaco, and rides are 2.00 Euros. However, there is a 24-hour pass available for purchase at the cost of 5.50 Euros (at time of this writing). There’s really no need to buy point-to-point tickets. The 24 hour pass pays for itself quite quickly (3 rides), especially if you choose to ride buses rather than walk from place to place. I purchased one and used it about five times during the day and I’m a big walker. For 5.50, just get the pass!
5. Dress Code for Casinos. Some people love casinos and some don’t. But since Monaco is… well, Monaco, I felt that I should at least enter one of the casinos to see what it’s like. I was super nervous about what I was wearing, but through some quick research, I learned that the dress code depends not only on which casino you visit, but the time of day that you visit. Daytime casino visits have a more relaxed dress code than than nighttime casino visits. Since I was a day tripper, I felt no guilt about entering in my short sleeve shirt and casual pants. BUT that would change if I was going in the casino at night. It becomes more James Bond like the darker it gets outside.
Also, the Casino de Monte Carlo is, in general, glitzier than the other casinos in the principality. So if you really want to hit that particular casino, I recommend smart casual in the daytime and even dressier in the afternoon and evening. Look up dress codes for all the Monte Carlo casinos here.
6. Visiting the Casinos: You will ABSOLUTELY need your passport to enter the casinos, either in Monte Carlo, Menton, or anywhere else. So if you’re planning on going, or think you might even want to stop in, be sure to have your passport with you.
7. What to See and Do in Monaco: I used the Visit Monaco website to get the general lay of the land and develop my personal list of must-see items. I had every intention of visiting the Jacques Cousteau museum, but the incredible parks and lush landscaping everywhere got the better of me. I ended up ambling around Monaco most of the time, transfixed by this patch of paradise on the Mediterranean.
And as you can see, there’s a picture on every corner in Monaco.
Resources Used
It’s always easiest to list the resources I used to plan a trip in one place for easy access. I do a ton of research for my trips, so the list is not complete. But you get the main sites I visited:
Rome2Rio.com – how to get to anywhere from anywhere
SNCF Groupe – France train network
Eurail Passes for online purchase
Tripadvisor.com – I use tripadvisor.com to verify the reviews I see in Booking.com. Just a nice double check, and it can work in the other direction as well. Use booking.com to verify what you are reading on Tripadvisor
Hidden elevators in Monaco – Josh Stanley’s YouTube video. Thank you for allowing me to link, Josh.