Toulon and Villefranche with Teens - DIY ideas to do?

[Cruise Leprechaun]

We will be doing a med cruise this summer with our teens and I get so many good ideas from these boards that I thought I'd throw this out for suggestions. Our Italy stops are already planned and will be more involved but we thought we'd take it easy on the two French Mediterranean stops of Toulon and Villefranche. For one thing Toulon will be Sunday and I've heard some of the towns close up on Sunday and the other Italian days we'll be taking trains and public transit I was hoping to see the french riviera area leisurely without too much planned. I really dont want to venture too far out of these two port towns unless there's a must-see. I figured with Italy and Barcelona they'll see their fair share or churches and historical sites. Maybe just a taste of french life and natural scenery or beaches. One idea was the cable car up to Mt Farron in Toulon? Other than that are there any recommended beaches you can think of? Or even a day of wandering around a scenic french town, snacking on french pastries or something? Im open for ideas, was just limiting ourselves to not taking tours to some of the more popular sites like Marseilles, Cannes, Monaco or Nice if we could find something more leisurely to do close to the port in either TOulon or Villefranche. Thanks.

[ollienbertsmum]

We will be doing a med cruise this summer with our teens and I get so many good ideas from these boards that I thought I'd throw this out for suggestions. Our Italy stops are already planned and will be more involved but we thought we'd take it easy on the two French Mediterranean stops of Toulon and Villefranche. For one thing Toulon will be Sunday and I've heard some of the towns close up on Sunday and the other Italian days we'll be taking trains and public transit I was hoping to see the french riviera area leisurely without too much planned. I really dont want to venture too far out of these two port towns unless there's a must-see. I figured with Italy and Barcelona they'll see their fair share or churches and historical sites. Maybe just a taste of french life and natural scenery or beaches. One idea was the cable car up to Mt Farron in Toulon? Other than that are there any recommended beaches you can think of? Or even a day of wandering around a scenic french town, snacking on french pastries or something? Im open for ideas, was just limiting ourselves to not taking tours to some of the more popular sites like Marseilles, Cannes, Monaco or Nice if we could find something more leisurely to do close to the port in either TOulon or Villefranche. Thanks.

 

We did the same cruise as you last year with an 18 and 20 year old. Now I am not sure where you live, but we live within walking distance of the Med so going to the beach was not really important.

 

We also called in at Cannes rather than Villefranche.

 

Toulon - I found that the transport options all seemed complex and expensive so we opted for a simple half day ship tour to Aix en Provence. It gave us shopping and photo ops for the girls. It was not a *highlight* for them, but it was a nice enough family trip. I have no idea what we would have found in Toulon on a Sunday (this topic does seem to come up repeatedly). I think that there was a ship tour to a local beach which your teens might enjoy. Staying on the ship itself might be attractive to them, especially as it is the first day and they are still exploring what the ship has to offer.

 

We enjoyed Cannes, but I would also like to comment that friends who have got to Villefranche have told me it is a lovely destination in itself - quaint and suitable for sampling french life/food/shopping. I am pretty sure that there will be beach options too. It is also very easy to get to Monte Carlo by train from there - which was enjoyed by young male teens belonging to another friend.

 

When you go to the Italian ports there will be italian ice cream and pizza to keep them happy.