I've always used F1 / budget hotels down this neck of the woods as i've always been on the move the next day, however i'm currently looking at the option of stopping in the Nice / Grasse area for a few days on next years trip. Want somewhere where we can explore the napoleon and region from, biker friendly with Garage etc if possible but also a good location for a couple of beers of an evening. Any places you guys have stayed and would recommend would be appreciated. Cheers folks.
What's your price bracket? There are loads of great places around there ranging from decent campsites with good facilities through to B&Bs and up to cottages, gites, hotels, etc. For F1-money, you're probably looking more to the former. If you're looking for proximity to a town then Castellane is a nice place to stay and should have a good selection of accommodation. It's right on the RN so no doubt you're already familiar with it. When we're down that way we stay at a place called Moustiers-Sainte-Marie which is on the other side of the Gorges du Verdon to Castellane. It's a stunning place to visit as it's nestled on a cliff side with spectacular views, and is a proper little French town with some excellent restaurants and bars. It's smaller, quieter and more idyllic than Castellane but worth a visit even if you don't stay there. There's a fair few hotels, B&Bs and campsites around so something to accommodate most budgets. It's also a good base for the Gorges, the nearby Lac-de-Sainte-Croix (gorgeous blue lake, with watersports and facilities) and the excellent roads south to Draguignan and across to Grasse/Cannes. I'll post some pics up...
You could try Digne les Bains There are several hotels near the centre of the town with places you can park your bike out of the way. The Logis site will help you find a hotel, and before the owner changed Le Coin Fleuri was very good and run by a very good chef who also road a bike, I can't get a link to their site any more tho. Sisteron a bit further north is also worth looking at, or Castelanne further south, tho its a lot quieter. A good ride out from any of these places is down to the coast, along the Motorway to Menton, and back into Monte Carlo, then back up the 220. plenty of good ice cream stops when it gets too hot!
Only got a few at hand so will dig some more out later... Lac-de-Sainte-Croix: Moustiers: Castellane: Google Image search for Moustiers
Dignes les Bains & Sisteron are good shouts. Stayed in a beautiful French farmhouse close to Dignes-les-Bains that was 770m up a hill next to a monastery the owners were restoring. Absolutley stunning place and amazing views across the tops of the hills, and for only €70 per night B&B but unfortunately they only do a minimum of a week's stay now and it's the whole farmhouse rather than individual rooms: Le Vieil Aiglun / Sawdays Vieil Aiglun-Photos-Photos du Vieil Aiglun btw, we use Sawdays a lot for stays in France as you can get authentic, quality B&Bs for around £50 per night. They have books or you can use the web-site to search/browse.
no budget really (within reason) usually just do F1 due to ease and cleanliness etc and stay just outside nice which isnt a problem but going in and out the city and coast roads could be a problemat the start and end of each ride... so thought somewhere at the bottom of the RN with a bit more scenery but still bars and restuarants but close to the decent roads could be a good shout. all of the above sounds great, i'll have a little look. thanks mate.
PS. Sawdays' map-view is pretty decent: Provence - Alps - Riviera / France - Alastair Sawday's Special Places to Stay.
My vote would also be Castellane - good sized town with all you need, but not large enough to have a 'worrying' element of kids at night. Cracking roads in all directions from there.
