Villefranche-sur-Mer does anyone have Viking experience with this port?

[Podgieree]

We have booked our first Viking cruise after years of cruises with Princess. It’s time for a change. We are so looking forward to our Mediterranean Antiquities tour!  On our cruise, Monte Carlo has been changed to Villefranche-sur-Mer, which is great. We have been to both when not cruising. While I tried to look up this question before posting here, I didn’t find an answer. Does anyone have experience with this port as experienced on a Viking cruise and was there an excursion that you found was particularly interesting or memorable? Thank you so much in advance for any and all advice.  

[millybess]

We docked in Monaco last year — actually, we tendered and it wasn’t calm that day.  We took the train to Nice and had a lovely walk around, had lunch at a cafe and then took the train back to Monaco and were fortunate to be able to tour around the Grand Prix track with lots of photo ops.  Having said that, we also considered the Viking Villa Rothschild excursions.  They did offer a walking tour of Nice which included a museum, but we did our own walking tour.

 

I know many here have done the Nice, Èze & Monte Carlo excursion and enjoyed that.

 

Do you know what excursions are offered by Viking in Villefranche-sur-Mer?

[Kountess]

Unfortunately, we missed Villefranche-sur-Mer last December due to high winds.  I had planned to take the Grasse Perfumery Visit & St. Paul excursion, mostly because I wanted to visit Saint Paul de Vence.

[SantaFe1]

We were there in March, 2023.  We found it to be a charming town.

[Podgieree]

5 hours ago, Kountess said:

Unfortunately, we missed Villefranche-sur-Mer last December due to high winds.  I had planned to take the Grasse Perfumery Visit & St. Paul excursion, mostly because I wanted to visit Saint Paul de Vence.

Saint Paul de Vence is definitely worth a visit. Hopefully you’ll make it there on another trip. 

[Podgieree]

4 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

We were there in March, 2023.  We found it to be a charming town.

 

 

It is a charming town. We especially enjoyed the cafes on the waterfront. 

[Hobson1754]

We’ve been to VilleFranche a few times & it is a nice, picturesque little town, although not a lot there. Last time we were there in February we took the included morning Viking tour to Monaco (again we’ve been before) and saw the changing of the guards at the Palace. When we got back we just wandered around VilleFranche & really enjoyed the day.  It didn’t hurt that it was a beautiful day for February.

[LindaS272]

We visited Ville Franche sur Mer on a DIY trip many years. You can walk from there to the small peninsula of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat & visit the Villa et Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild quite easily. I think Bono has a place on the Cap, too. Beautiful area.

[Podgieree]

8 hours ago, Hobson1754 said:

We’ve been to VilleFranche a few times & it is a nice, picturesque little town, although not a lot there. Last time we were there in February we took the included morning Viking tour to Monaco (again we’ve been before) and saw the changing of the guards at the Palace. When we got back we just wandered around VilleFranche & really enjoyed the day.  It didn’t hurt that it was a beautiful day for February.

Yes, I was wondering about the included tour. I’ll keep checking to see what else might be offered. As it will be a port intensive cruise, it may be a good day to walk around for a bit then head back to the ship. 

[OneSixtyToOne]

44 minutes ago, Podgieree said:

Yes, I was wondering about the included tour. I’ll keep checking to see what else might be offered. As it will be a port intensive cruise, it may be a good day to walk around for a bit then head back to the ship. 

We did the included tour of Monaco last year, however we docked there and were able to continue to explore the city, palace, and Oceanographic Institute until we sailed. Here is my review starting at post 49

Edited June 23 by OneSixtyToOne

[Podgieree]

3 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

We did the included tour of Monaco last year, however we docked there and were able to continue to explore the city, palace, and Oceanographic Institute until we sailed. Here is my review starting at post 49

Thank you SO much. I’m going to read this right now. 😀

[Redtravel]

Villefrance is a lovely small port along the French Riviera.  There are a few cafes, shops, and a small beach.  We took a train to Nice.  It is also close to Monaco.  

[Podgieree]

On 6/23/2024 at 3:57 PM, Redtravel said:

Villefrance is a lovely small port along the French Riviera.  There are a few cafes, shops, and a small beach.  We took a train to Nice.  It is also close to Monaco.  

Yes, it’s lovely and conveniently located.