HOHO between Villefranche and Nice?

[BOGOman]

I found two HOHO lines operating in Nice, and one of them claims that their route extends to Villefranche. That one, Cityexplora, shows on its downloadable map that it has stops in Villefranche at the Citadelle and at Octroi where Buses 81 and 100 normally stop. That could be a great way to travel between the two cities as well as take in the highlights for those arriving at Villefranche by sea, but it's not clear to me that those two stops actually exist. 

Has anyone had any experience with that company, that particular HOHO, and those Villefranche stops? My reason for asking is that they also provide instructions on the same website for taking regional Bus 81 to a Nice stop and at that point joining the HOHO bus. But if they have stops in Villefranche, why would it be necessary, or even desirable, to take the regional bus as part of that route? Things aren't yet adding up.  I sent an Cityexplora in an attempt to clarify this question but so far have not received a response. The response might be slow coming or unclear because the email address is to the company, yet the company operates HOHO buses in many cities and might not get to somebody who knows for sure. ~ Bill

[Hlitner]

First we heard of this bus route but can certainly see it might work for some cruisers.  The Citadelle stop is only a few minute walk (up hill) from the tender pier.  .  The route map certainly shows it going to most of the major tourist spots in Nice and their advertised 30 minute frequency would work for many HoHo fans.  Simply taking the regular city bus into Nice will only cost you a couple of dollars whereas the HoHo will cost you over $30 (per person).  On the other hand, if you are planning to go off on your own (our norm) then you can make your decision on the spot.  If the HoHo doesn't come along you could simply take the regular bus into Nice :).  Personally we would not use that HoHo bus because we love to walk in Nice and never spend an entire port day in Nice (we have other places we enjoy in the region).   But for those who want to spend their entire day in Nice and limit their walking it seems like a terrific option.

 

Looking on the Internet there does appear to be two different HoHo routes (they look like two different companies).  One of the routes stays within Nice so using the regular public bus to get to that HoHo makes sense.  But the bus line that comes out to Villefranche (assuming it actually exists) would seem to negate the need for using the #100.

 

Hank

[True Romance]

On 8/15/2019 at 9:27 PM, Hlitner said:

 On the other hand, if you are planning to go off on your own (our norm) then you can make your decision on the spot.  If the HoHo doesn't come along you could simply take the regular bus into Nice :).  Personally we would not use that HoHo bus because we love to walk in Nice and never spend an entire port day in Nice (we have other places we enjoy in the region).   But for those who want to spend their entire day in Nice and limit their walking it seems like a terrific option.

 

Hank

Hank,  I would love to hear your suggestions of places you enjoy in the region. We will be in port on Nov. 1st from 7am to 5pm, I know not too much time. Planning on doing our own walking tour of Villefranche and taking the city bus into Nice to explore and walk around.    

 

We visit Monte Carlo the day before, so we will hit up Monaco and Eze on that port day. 

[Hlitner]

I hesitate to give much advice because Nov 1, 2019 is "All Saints Day" which is a National Holiday throughout France.  And to make matters worse, Nov 1 happens to fall on a Friday which means you are dealing with a 3 day holiday weekend (the French do love their holidays and they seem to have many).  This will mean that public transit (buses and trains) will run on a holiday/Sunday schedule which will impact frequency.  So you will want to do some pre-cruise research to find out if holiday closures will impact your personal plans.

 

Normally we would suggest getting ashore relatively early (remember that this is a tender port) and heading to Nice via the public bus (we normally use the #100 bus).  In the morning we always like to walk over to the Flower Market which is located on sea side of Nice's old town in the Cours Selaya.  But I have no clue as to whether this market will function on Nov 1.  It is an outdoor market that is fun to browse (you learn a lot about the regional culture from these outdoor markets) and perhaps grab something to eat.  We also love to visit St Paul de Vence, but this involves a pretty long bus ride (the #400 bus) if using public transit.  Again, I do not know the impact the holiday will have on St Paul de Vence but suspect that this popular tourist town (even with the French) might be quite busy that day.  It normally is a place to go on Sundays but I have no first hand experience on holidays.  There are also some excellent museums in Nice and of course there is the pretty famous walkway called the Promanade des Anglais.

 

In your situation I might actually try to contact the Nice Tourist Office (via phone or e-mail) and inquire what is open and happening on All Saints Day.  I would expect that many stores/shops will be closed and restaurants (for lunch) will be hit/miss.

 

Hank

[True Romance]

3 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I hesitate to give much advice because Nov 1, 2019 is "All Saints Day" which is a National Holiday throughout France.  And to make matters worse, Nov 1 happens to fall on a Friday which means you are dealing with a 3 day holiday weekend (the French do love their holidays and they seem to have many).  This will mean that public transit (buses and trains) will run on a holiday/Sunday schedule which will impact frequency.  So you will want to do some pre-cruise research to find out if holiday closures will impact your personal plans.

 

Normally we would suggest getting ashore relatively early (remember that this is a tender port) and heading to Nice via the public bus (we normally use the #100 bus).  In the morning we always like to walk over to the Flower Market which is located on sea side of Nice's old town in the Cours Selaya.  But I have no clue as to whether this market will function on Nov 1.  It is an outdoor market that is fun to browse (you learn a lot about the regional culture from these outdoor markets) and perhaps grab something to eat.  We also love to visit St Paul de Vence, but this involves a pretty long bus ride (the #400 bus) if using public transit.  Again, I do not know the impact the holiday will have on St Paul de Vence but suspect that this popular tourist town (even with the French) might be quite busy that day.  It normally is a place to go on Sundays but I have no first hand experience on holidays.  There are also some excellent museums in Nice and of course there is the pretty famous walkway called the Promanade des Anglais.

 

In your situation I might actually try to contact the Nice Tourist Office (via phone or e-mail) and inquire what is open and happening on All Saints Day.  I would expect that many stores/shops will be closed and restaurants (for lunch) will be hit/miss.

 

Hank

Ahhh,  very informative, thank you Hank. It did not even dawn on me that Nov. 1st would be a holiday in France. I know we are going to be in Monte Carlo for Halloween night, so I was poking around to see if anything special was going on for the 31st.   

 

Great idea about contacting the Nice Tourist Office, I will work on that right now.  Appreciate your insight and alerting me to the holiday. 

 

Kristi 

[BarbinMich]

Another place we like to visit in the Nice area is Saint Paul de Vence.  Considered "One of the oldest medieval towns on the French Rivriera" [or rather "above" it--it's a mountain town].  Ships usually have an excursion to it.  Lots of art galleries, views, etc.  Picasso had a home there.

[BOGOman]

3 hours ago, True Romance said:

Hank,  I would love to hear your suggestions of places you enjoy in the region. We will be in port on Nov. 1st from 7am to 5pm, I know not too much time. Planning on doing our own walking tour of Villefranche and taking the city bus into Nice to explore and walk around.    

 

We visit Monte Carlo the day before, so we will hit up Monaco and Eze on that port day. 

You got the attention of a very helpful, and apparently well traveled, guy, at least in that section of France. I started this thread and a former one related to DIY excursions from two French Riviera ports. With regard to that earlier one, I was trying to determine the feasibility of getting from the Marseilles port to the downtown Hertz rental office for a motor trip to two villages north of Marseilles. Hank gave me some very good responses to the questions I raised, but also some additional information about other French villages in that region to consider. 

 

On my latest general topic, unrelated to a particular cruise, Hank commented on a discovery I made that there is a HOHO bus operating in the Nice area that goes to the Villefranche port. It's operated by CityXplora. I've been communcating with them to verify that it does, indeed, go all the way to the port and they assured me that it does. The bad news, however, is that they failed to inform me that they reserve the right not to include those Villefranche stops in what they called the "low season." But they didn't define what they meant by the low season or how they determine when to service those ports and when not, nor have they been able to assure me their so-called low season falls OUTSIDE the date when we will need them. That's October 19 when our ship, the Celebrity Reflection gets to Villefranche. Hence, I hesitate to recommend to anyone that they plan on taking the CityXplora if there's a sense that they might be in a low, or lesser visited, time of the year. Wish they would be more specific so that we could count on that helpful service, but so far they have been unwilling to do so.

My interest in the HOHO from Villefranche relates to our need to minimize climbing, and as most know there is a relatively formidable hill to climb from the port to get to the regional bus route. Hank wrote that he believes that the CityXplora HOHO also requires a climb up and down that hill, but I disagree with that. I have studied that route to what they call stop #4 and it seems clear to me that the ground from the port to that stop is relatively level, and the distance is on the order of 200m and takes about 3-4 minutes to cover on foot. But that convenience is all for naught, of course,  if the bus doesn't come that day.

~ Bill    

[Hlitner]

Bill, after my last post I did some more online research on that HoHo and did see a map that seemed to show the bus had a stop much closer to the tender port.  But was not convinced that the map is accurate or that a HoHo would even be allowed at that location.  If they do have a pick-up down near sea level, and turn out to be reliable, we could see that HoHo as a very popular alternative for the many cruisers who love HoHo's.  We are looking forward to your report and would love to see some other posts from folks who have either used this bus or at least have seen it near the port.   I am somewhat puzzled as to why we have noticed any posts about that HoHo bus since we are well into the main tourist season and many ships call at Villefranche. It is doubtful that DW and I would ever you use that HoHo…..but the info would be very helpful when we help others.

 

As you are probably aware, just about everything from the tender port is uphill (except along the Quai).  Transportation from that flat area would sure be welcomed by many cruisers who have mobility issues.

 

Hank

[BOGOman]

35 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Bill, after my last post I did some more online research on that HoHo and did see a map that seemed to show the bus had a stop much closer to the tender port.  But was not convinced that the map is accurate or that a HoHo would even be allowed at that location.  If they do have a pick-up down near sea level, and turn out to be reliable, we could see that HoHo as a very popular alternative for the many cruisers who love HoHo's.  We are looking forward to your report and would love to see some other posts from folks who have either used this bus or at least have seen it near the port.   I am somewhat puzzled as to why we have noticed any posts about that HoHo bus since we are well into the main tourist season and many ships call at Villefranche. It is doubtful that DW and I would ever you use that HoHo…..but the info would be very helpful when we help others.

 

As you are probably aware, just about everything from the tender port is uphill (except along the Quai).  Transportation from that flat area would sure be welcomed by many cruisers who have mobility issues.

 

Hank

I'm on it Hank. It works best for us because we have reduced mobility. We would spend our time in Villefranche, which we understand to be a very pleasant and beautiful place but because we have never been to these two cities we would like to have an opportunity to spend a little time in Nice as well. I hope this CityXplora comes through, but I'm holding my breath .~ Bill

[Hlitner]

18 minutes ago, BOGOman said:

I'm on it Hank. It works best for us because we have reduced mobility. We would spend our time in Villefranche, which we understand to be a very pleasant and beautiful place but because we have never been to these two cities we would like to have an opportunity to spend a little time in Nice as well. I hope this CityXplora comes through, but I'm holding my breath .~ Bill

I hope it all works out for you and that you post how it goes :).  Nothing wrong with staying in Villefranche, but with a full port day you really should try to get yourself to Nice.  Nice is truly nice and there are some decent walks for those who need frequent rests (such as along the Promanade des Anglais) where it is flat and there are benches.   The downside to staying in Villefranche is that you will be limited by hills.  But the good news is that there are some cafes/restaurants within easy (flat) walking distance of the tender pier and there is much to say for eating and drinking in France :).

 

Hank

[BOGOman]

12 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I hope it all works out for you and that you post how it goes :).  Nothing wrong with staying in Villefranche, but with a full port day you really should try to get yourself to Nice.  Nice is truly nice and there are some decent walks for those who need frequent rests (such as along the Promanade des Anglais) where it is flat and there are benches.   The downside to staying in Villefranche is that you will be limited by hills.  But the good news is that there are some cafes/restaurants within easy (flat) walking distance of the tender pier and there is much to say for eating and drinking in France :).

 

Hank

Thanks Hank. I'm sure we'll enjoy Villefranche if CityXplora doesn't show up. And we'll make mention of that after we get back, with due note of what we expected and didn't get from that company. Good companies that treat people right are usually recognized here, and those that don't are ALWAYS identified here. ~ Bill

[alcpa1]

There are many of us with future cruises with Villefrance stops that will appreciate your update.

The last time we were there we were subject to a transportation strike after Hertz messed up our car reservation. Needless to say there are still places to see.

Thanks in advance.

[BOGOman]

11 hours ago, alcpa1 said:

There are many of us with future cruises with Villefrance stops that will appreciate your update.

The last time we were there we were subject to a transportation strike after Hertz messed up our car reservation. Needless to say there are still places to see.

Thanks in advance.

Glad to help. You don't have to avoid the CityXplora bus at Villefranche, only be aware that it doesn't always make those stops. So the prudent choice is to pay the bus driver if it's there when you arrive. Alternatively, you can still use the prepaid bus tickets at that company's Nice stops even if you can't use them to get to Nice because the Villefranche stops were not serviced the day you arrived in port. ~ Bill

Edited August 22, 2019 by BOGOman
clarification