Suggested area to stay in

We will be flying into Nice airport for a few days nexty summer, and will be hiring a car. What would be a good area to stay in, to be close to some of the main sights of the riviera (Eze, Villefrance sur Mer) as well as some of the interior sights (gorges). Not really big on the big cities, would prefer a smaller village. Any suggested areas???

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Hello

There are so many beautiful places to stay in the area that you are a bit spoilt for choice! We travel regularly to Antibes which is an excellent base to visit Cannes, Nice, Monaco and surrounding villages.

One of our favourite villages is St Paul de Vence, just outside of Antibes, which is famous for its artists and galleries and a view to die for over the surrounding area. There is a hotel there but I don%26#39;t know the name as well as the famous Colombe d%26#39;Or restaurant where artists would swap their paintings for a meal. One of our favourite pastimes is to sit at the bar that overlooks the petanque pitch which gets very busy about 6pm with a really good local atmosphere.

Other villages worth consideration is Haute Cannes and Mougins - both hill top fortified villages which also have hotels I believe.

Finally, have you considered getting a gite? A lot of these villages have little cottages in the centre of villages that you can rent.

Hope this helps!

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We will stay away from hotels and take a gite or bed and breakfast for sure. I like the freedom of having food and especially drinks with us. I expecially like the idea of having a wonderful relaxing breakfast before we head out for the day.

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We found Haut de Cagnes a bit of a pain to get into and out of, with limited parking. A good compromise between the area east of Nice (Villefranche-sur-Mer, Eze, etc.) and the west would be the small town of Valbonne. It%26#39;s quite charming, and the Bastide de Valbonne (on the Route de Nice) is a pleasant place to stay that is not terribly expensive. From Valbonne you can head over the hill to Tourrettes-sur-Loup, Gourdon, Vence, and St-Paul-de-Vence.

South of Valbonne you find the perched village of Mougins; down on the coast lie Cannes and Antibes.

Just to the west of Valbonne lies the city of Grasse, and from there you pick up the Route Napoléon to travel west to the Gorges du Verdon and the delightful village of Moustiers-Ste-Marie.

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