From the pictures, it looks like paradise! I dont want to miss anything. Help. Thank-you!!!!
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VSM is a small town. I enjoyed walked around the old town which is close to the harbor. The Rue Obscure is very interesting and build just behind the restaurants facing the harbor. The Citadel or Fort has a couple of interesting museums and has been restored. There is a small fisherman%26#39;s chapel - Chapelle St-Pierre - which was decorated by painting by Jean Cocteau. It is right on the harbor across from Hotel Welcome. Up a bit but still in the old town, the Church of St. Michel is probably worth a peak inside. You can see the bell tower. Enjoy a drink in Place Amelie Pollonnais near Hotel Welcome.
It is great to walk along the harbor and visit the beach at the end. The views are great walking along the harbor. You can also get views of the harbor peaking out from between the builds if you take Rue du Poliu toward the train/beach.
There are just a few shops for shopping. One unique item would be the soaps from La Savonnerie. It is just uphill from the Citadel. There is also a small cactus garden next to it.
Ask you also asked, you can walk over to Cap Ferrat to See Villa Ephrussi. Beaulieu is also near. Or you can take the bus into Nice.
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My partner and I spent one absolutely idyllic week in the French Riviera! Not desiring the hustle and bustle of a big city (like Nice), and having been generously advised through T A, we booked at a charming hotel called ‘Hotel Welcome’ in the wonderful village of Villefranche-sur-mer (VFSM) at Port de la Santé – just around the peninsula from Nice. Friendly staff greeted us warmly on arrival, and were happy to assist with any arrangements or freely gave advice throughout our stay. We hired a car from Nice airport and found free parking just up the road at the old Citadel. Check out the Hotel Welcome on the TA website to see lots of pictures taken by fellow travelers.
The Hotel Welcome rooms are pretty basic but perfectly clean, the hotel is wonderfully situated – our room on the top (5th) floor had the most perfect and gorgeous views over the bay from the little balcony, where we sat sipping hot coffee each morning. My only negative comment, is that there are no tea/coffee making facilities in the rooms, necessitating ordering coffee trays from room service. Big impressive passenger liners moor in the Villefranche bay and we found it rather entertaining to watch the apparently never-ending entourage of passengers being ferried to the harbour, en-route to waiting busses parked in the Citadel, taking them on various site-seeing tours.
The fabulous Wine Pier Cocktail Bar situated at the base of the hotel, operates in the evenings and host Thomas, who speaks English, has a wealth of information on the area. I highly recommend the award-winning ‘Welcome Cocktail’!
VFSM proved to be the perfect base to explore all around the Cote D’Azur.
More info (just in case you%26#39;re interested):
Steeped in so much history and with SO many fabulous photo opportunities just waiting to be taken advantage of, one needs to dedicate at least one full day to explore our gorgeous base Villefranche-sur-Mer!
Villlefranche-sur-Mer is located about 6 km (4 miles) east of the city of Nice, separated by Mont Boron, Mont Alban and Mont Vinaigrier, and 10 km (6 miles) south west of Monaco. The bay of Villefranche has one of the deepest natural harbours in the Mediterranean Sea and provides safe anchorage for large ships, reaching depths of 95 m (320 ft) between the Cape of Nice and Cap Ferrat; it extends to the south to form a 500 m (1700 ft)n abyss known as the undersea Canyon of Villefranche at about one nautical mile off the coastline. The three %26quot;Corniches%26quot; or main roads linking Nice to Italy pass through Villefranche and offer spectacular vistas of the coast and surrounding hills.
With a population of just under 7000, from the main road above, you look down across the red tile roofs of the old town, with the distinctive churches and bell tower in the center. The narrow cobblestone streets slope steeply down towards the sea or traverse along the slope, with vaulted passages beneath some of the houses. There is a medieval feeling to this town, quiet little squares like the Place Félix Poullan beside the church, and the Place de l%26#39;Eglise just below, with a cool shaded bench circling a beautiful old tree. Saint Michael%26#39;s Church was built in the 1750%26#39;s in the baroque Italian-style in the early 14th Century. It houses various works of art and the building was included in the French Historic Sites Registry in 1990.
Just a stones throw from the hotel on the opposite side of the road is Chapelle Saint-Pierre (Saint Peter%26#39;s Chapel) also dating from the 14th Century. The church was used as a storeroom by local fishermen for most of the 19th and early part of the 20th century and was restored in 1957 by Jean Cocteau.
A massive walled citadel built in 1557 by Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy lays on the water%26#39;s edge. Today, the ancient fortress houses the Town Hall, a convention centre and museum.
The most beautiful example of a vaulted passage is the Rue Obscura, this street is a block from the seafront and is completely covered for about half its length. Illuminated only by wire-grid lamps extended from the roof, the %26quot;Rue Obscure%26quot; reminds one of days when the town%26#39;s folk sheltered here from bombardments. Little cross streets open out onto the sunny upper village with the bright vibrant ‘Promenade des Marineires’ stretching along the waterfront lining the north side of the bay below.
Currently, real estate prices are such that property here is affordable by only the very wealthy. Among the glitterati of the region, Tina Turner has a palatial villa near Villefranche, at the peak of the Colline du Vinaigrier. Other celebs to have visited the shores of Villefranche-sur-Mer include Katherine Mansfield, Jean Cocteau, The Rolling Stones, Bono and Keith Richards to name a few.
Restaurants:
VFSM boasts several good restaurants. As my prime interested is the rich French culture and keen to experience same, we avoided most of the ‘tourist’ restaurants along the Promenade, choosing instead typically French eateries higher up in the Town (like Le Serre). These serve fabulous typical home-made French food and wine in bustling bistro-style settings at reasonable prices. We also enjoyed really good cuisine just behind the hotel at Le Cosmo and also at L’Ousin Bleu on the side of the harbour which exuded its own wonderful nautical ambience.
Sunny regards
Joburg_Girl
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Thank-you so much. it looks great!!!
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For me the gem in the area is definitively the villa Ephrussi de Rotschild and its nine wonderful gardens on Cap Ferrat.
Don%26#39;t miss this!
www.villa-ephrussi.com/en/ephrussi/
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Thank-you. We just got back and we fell in love!!!! Villefranche- sur- mer is an amazing place and we will always hold it as one of our favorite days in France!!!
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Thank you to come back for feedback Mickeymouse!
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Went to VillaFrasnche in %26#39;92 it was the feature of our trip to France.
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