Antibes

Introduction

Antibes Cathedral

© gsnowdon

Anbites is the second largest city in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur after Nice and experiences significant tourist activity. It is connected to Juan-les-Pins , which is a typical seaside resort, unlike Antibes. In fact, the latter continues to live in winter, when its many tourists have deserted its beaches.

Neighbourhoods

There are mainly 2 neighbourhoods of interest in Antibes. The Antibes Old Town which is a well preserved medieval quarter perched on the edge of the Mediterranean with narrow alleyways lined with souvenir shops and eateries. The second being Juan-les-Pins famous for it's long white sand beaches.

Sights and Activities

• Antibes Old Town - Stroll through the narrow streets full of history. Also visit the market open every day in summer except Monday from 7:00am to 1:00pm.
• Cap d'Antibes - This peninsula is one of the natural sites of the Mediterranean coast famous for its luxury villas. Walk along the shore edge on a well maintained path from Garoupe Beach for the best views.
• Marineland - A marine animal park with dolphin, orca and sea lion shows and has several other animals on show including polar bears, penguins and sharks.

Weather

Antibes is famous for its year round sunshine but it can be quite wet during January and February. The summer months in July and August can be very hot with temperatures reaching up to 35 °C or slightly more.

Getting There

By Plane

The nearest airport is Nice Cote d'Azur airport and is about 20 kilometres from Antibes. Antibes can be reached directly from the airport bus bus and the journey takes 40 to 60 minutes. Alternatively you can take the train but the Airport does not have it own train station and you will have to go the nearest station called Saint-Augustin which is about a 10-minute walk form terminal 1.

By Train

Antibes can be easily reached by train from Nice Central Station with train going every 20 minutes during the day.

By Car

The best way to reach Antibes is via the A8 motorway. This road has a toll of €1.50. You might be tempted to take the road along the coast to avoid this toll. This is not advised as the traffic can be terrible at times on this road.

By Bus

From the Airport you can take the express bus (bus 250) which costs €10 and stops right outside terminal 1 and 2. Or if your on a budget you can take bus 200 which stops on the main road outside terminal 1 and cost €1.50.

Sleep

Upscale

You can use the form below to search for availability (Travellerspoint receives a commission for bookings made through the form)

Keep Connected

Internet

France is one of the best connected countries in the world, with data speed for upload/download ranked among the top 5 in the world. Most hotels and hostels would have in-house facilities to provide free internet access. Many major cities also have initiatives put in place to provide free wi-fi connection in public spaces. Alternatively there are internet cafés available in most cities/towns at a reasonable rate. Some private businesses, such as local cafés (or even the Starbuck's chain), may also provide wi-fi connectivity - keep an eye out for the signs by the shop windows/doors. Also look for the @ symbol prominently displayed, which indicates internet availability. However, with most homes now wired for the internet, cyber cafés are increasingly hard to find, especially outside the major cities.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

To dial an international number from France, the IDD is 00, followed by the country code that you wish to dial, the area code and the phone number.
To call France from abroad, start with the international direct dialing (IDD) code from the country you're in, followed by French country code 33, the area code (drop the first zero in front of the area code), and the phone number. French telephone numbers are rarely given without the area code. The telephone number, including the area code, is made up of 10 digits. They are written in a set of 5 pairs of digits (i.e. 01 xx xx xx xx xx).
In France, the area code designations are: 01 - Paris Area ("Région Ile-de-France"), 02 - northwest, 03 - northeast, 04 - southeast, 05 - southwest, 06 - mobile phone providers. From 2010 onwards, 07 will also be assigned to mobile phone providers in order to cater for the surging demands for mobile phones.

Emergency numbers are 15 (medical aid), 17 (police station) and 18 (fire/rescue). You can also use the European emergency number 112 (perhaps a better choice if you don't speak French). These calls are free and accessible from virtually any phone, including locked cellphones.

France uses the GSM standard of cellular phones (900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands) used in most of the world outside of the U.S. There are several companies (Orange, SFR, Free, Bouygues Télécom and some others MVNOs like Virgin Mobile) offering wireless service. The country is almost totally covered but you may have difficulties using your mobile phone in rural or mountainous areas. If you stay for some time, it may be advisable to buy a pre-paid cell phone card that you can use in any phone that supports the GSM standard on the 900/1800 MHz bands. Then incoming calls and SMSes are free.

Post

La Poste in France is also referred to as the PTT (short for postes, télégraphes et téléphones). The mailboxes are painted bright yellow and often there is a slot for local city mail and another slot for "outside mail". Normally there is a queue in the post office, but most of the post offices have the self service machine installed which is quite easy to operate. Nowadays many of the tabac and even some of the souvenir shops also sell postage stamps. Normally an overseas postcard costs almost as much as sending a letter. Mails sent in France also have a zip code. The first two numbers represent the administrative department (e.g. in Paris' case that would be 75).

Post offices are generally open from 8:00am to 7:00pm Monday through Friday, and 8:00am to noon on Saturdays. Apart from the basic job of mailing letters, most of the post offices do some banking activities also and some even have photocopy machines and cyber cafes for internet access.

For international package services, you might also check options with companies like DHL, UPS or TNT, which have competitive services and prices and might be faster in most cases.

External Links

• Official Website