Single travel Paris, Nice, Cannes

[Shreddingbetty]

so I’m in the middle of a divorce. I’m leaving for Paris on Thursday, go pick up my kid Saturday night at the train station and then drop her off with her dad on Sunday and She’s with him for about 9 days before I get her back and we continue travel to see my friends and family . My and her trip were booked before we decided to get divorced hence the unplanned solo time for me. 
So, I have never traveled solo, I’ve done plenty with me and my kid only but never completely solo so that’s gonna be very different. I don’t think I will have too much trouble finding stuff to do in Paris. I’m staying at my aunts place and am pretty familiar with the city and very much at ease there. Wondering about some fun things to do that I might not do if my kid was with me. For example I was  pondering some sort of show at the moulin rouge but have no idea if that’s hard to get tix for etc. Any other ideas would be appreciated too. I will do some shopping of course and might go see a movie. I’ve done a lot of the typical touristy stuff. So just looking for some ideas.

then im gonna go to the south of France in between Nice and Cannes (Juan les pins) for 3.5 days  I’m not planning on renting a car but I’ll be right next to the train station and they’re both a short trip by train. M planning on doing a little beach time but probably don’t want to do that for 3 days straight, although you never know I guess :-) . Looking for some activities to do. I’m horribly unorganized this year due to the whole dirvorce thing hence the last minute planning. I visited Cannes 2 years ago and went to their market and did some shopping and walked around old town with one of my friends who,lives there. Thinking I might want to do some sort of boat tour around there. Nice I know nothing about so if anyone had any thoughts on nice I’d love to hear them as well. 

im not so much afraid to travel solo, just worried it will be weird not having someone there to share things with and getting lonely.  So if anyone has any good ideas for single peeps I’d love to hear that as well. I speak french pretty well so that’s not an issue but I’m not necessarily one to just chat anyone up or go to a club or something by myself...I married too young the first time and went straight from my ex to my now soon to be ex so it’s safe to say I have never really been single in the past 25 years and so I don’t know how « to do single ». I’m gonna have to figure it out though :-)

[mrsukyankee]

In France, I just love to wander around, bring a book and sit at a café. I try new restaurants for lunch and dinner (I use Yelp or something like that to search). I've never felt lonely as I really, really enjoy just being there. I also like going on tours, so I tend to search for them on Viator - I tend toward either food, wine or bike tours. I think you'll do fine as you're not staying in one place for ages and there is plenty to do in all of those areas.

[sakoro]

I’ve been single for a while but that has not stopped me from traveling. Sometimes it’s nice to do exactly what I want and not have to accommodate other people’s preferences or deal with crankiness (thinking of my ex here!)

I second the idea of signing up for a local group activity. Maybe there is a bike tour of a scenic part or a special interest tour of a certain section of town. I’ve also done cooking classes where you learn and then eat as a group. I’m not sure where you’re staying but sometimes you can meet people by lingering at your hotel lobby. I get the impression that French people would not think twice about a solo female traveler.

[majesty318]

I was in Paris solo last November. I did a Secret Food Tour in Montmartre in the evening that I really enjoyed. I can't find the link to the exact one but it must be somewhere on the Secret Food Tours website.

I also really wanted to do this but it was not operating during my evenings there: sightseekersdelight.com/tours/secrets-of-the-night/

I was fascinated by the catacombs if you haven't done that. Definitely buy tickets online ahead of time.

Also, Couchsurfing is an awesome resource. I am never staying on some stranger's couch, but they also do get togethers, language exchanges, etc. I think there is a party every Friday.

[Shreddingbetty]

Jul 24, 2018 7:07:23 GMT -5 sakoro said:

I’ve been single for a while but that has not stopped me from traveling. Sometimes it’s nice to do exactly what I want and not have to accommodate other people’s preferences or deal with crankiness (thinking of my ex here!)

I second the idea of signing up for a local group activity. Maybe there is a bike tour of a scenic part or a special interest tour of a certain section of town. I’ve also done cooking classes where you learn and then eat as a group. I’m not sure where you’re staying but sometimes you can meet people by lingering at your hotel lobby. I get the impression that French people would not think twice about a solo female traveler.

I definitely agree on the doing what I want....it’s been nice when I travel just with my kid. I don’t obviously just do what I want but it’s nice that I don’t have to worry about wat my H thinks. I was in Paris a couple of weeks ago to drop off my kid and my flight back got canceled. I ended up meeting a couple of people in line and the 4 of us went back into Paris to watch the semi finals of the soccer game at a bar. I really wanted to do that and had my H been there he probably would have just wanted to take it easy and stay in the hotel. 
I’ve thought about some sort of cooking or baking class actually. Since it is August not sure how many are available since all of Paris is on vacation :-) (I’d want to do one in french and not English).
im sure I will enjoy myself and it will be a new challenge to do this solo but I can also see the advantàges of it! I am actually kind of looking forward to it.

[Shreddingbetty]

Jul 24, 2018 8:00:02 GMT -5 majesty318 said:

I was in Paris solo last November. I did a Secret Food Tour in Montmartre in the evening that I really enjoyed. I can't find the link to the exact one but it must be somewhere on the Secret Food Tours website.

I also really wanted to do this but it was not operating during my evenings there: sightseekersdelight.com/tours/secrets-of-the-night/

I was fascinated by the catacombs if you haven't done that. Definitely buy tickets online ahead of time.

Also, Couchsurfing is an awesome resource. I am never staying on some stranger's couch, but they also do get togethers, language exchanges, etc. I think there is a party every Friday.

That sounds interesting I will definitely have to check that out! 
And I’ve done the catacombs with my kiddo a couple of years ago, she loved it. And I was so glad we bought the tix ahead of time
the couch surfing things sounds intriguing as well. Is there an app for that I take it? I won’t need a couch luckily but it might be fun to meet people that way. 

[majesty318]

Jul 24, 2018 8:32:27 GMT -5 Shreddingbetty said:

Jul 24, 2018 8:00:02 GMT -5 majesty318 said:

I was in Paris solo last November. I did a Secret Food Tour in Montmartre in the evening that I really enjoyed. I can't find the link to the exact one but it must be somewhere on the Secret Food Tours website.

I also really wanted to do this but it was not operating during my evenings there: sightseekersdelight.com/tours/secrets-of-the-night/

I was fascinated by the catacombs if you haven't done that. Definitely buy tickets online ahead of time.

Also, Couchsurfing is an awesome resource. I am never staying on some stranger's couch, but they also do get togethers, language exchanges, etc. I think there is a party every Friday.

That sounds interesting I will definitely have to check that out! 
And I’ve done the catacombs with my kiddo a couple of years ago, she loved it. And I was so glad we bought the tix ahead of time
the couch surfing things sounds intriguing as well. Is there an app for that I take it? I won’t need a couch luckily but it might be fun to meet people that way. 

Yes, download the free Couchsurfing app

[sakoro]

I’ve gone to meetup events too when traveling. They were intended for locals but they didn’t mind an out-of-town tourist tagging along.

[majesty318]

I forgot one other thing. Not sure if this is your style, but I am a partier/ drinker and did a bar crawl. I am in my late 30's and was probably on the older side of the group, but not at all to the point of feeling awkward. I made friends and would never have gone to clubs alone.

www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187147-d5018956-Reviews-Paris_Bar_Crawl-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

[Shreddingbetty]

Jul 24, 2018 10:51:51 GMT -5 majesty318 said:

I forgot one other thing. Not sure if this is your style, but I am a partier/ drinker and did a bar crawl. I am in my late 30's and was probably on the older side of the group, but not at all to the point of feeling awkward. I made friends and would never have gone to clubs alone.

www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187147-d5018956-Reviews-Paris_Bar_Crawl-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

Thanks! That's sounds like it could be fun. I'm 45 and I would not exactly describe myself as a partier per se but I like to drink and have a good time .  So I would definitely be open to giving this a try. Was it mostly English speakers?? I'd love it if there would be French speakers too but it sounds like a good time either way

When I got stuck in Paris after my canceled flight and we went to watch the soccer game at a bar the people I was with were 30 and under and we had a good time (I was actually the one that had suggested doing this and they were all thankful as they would have otherwise just hung out at the hotel) 

[majesty318]

Jul 24, 2018 12:26:36 GMT -5 Shreddingbetty said:

Jul 24, 2018 10:51:51 GMT -5 majesty318 said:

I forgot one other thing. Not sure if this is your style, but I am a partier/ drinker and did a bar crawl. I am in my late 30's and was probably on the older side of the group, but not at all to the point of feeling awkward. I made friends and would never have gone to clubs alone.

www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187147-d5018956-Reviews-Paris_Bar_Crawl-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

Thanks! That's sounds like it could be fun. I'm 45 and I would not exactly describe myself as a partier per se but I like to drink and have a good time .  So I would definitely be open to giving this a try. Was it mostly English speakers?? I'd love it if there would be French speakers too but it sounds like a good time either way

When I got stuck in Paris after my canceled flight and we went to watch the soccer game at a bar the people I was with were 30 and under and we had a good time (I was actually the one that had suggested doing this and they were all thankful as they would have otherwise just hung out at the hotel) 

I can't remember now if it was the Couchsurfing party or the bar crawl, but one of them had a ton of locals who apparently do that often to practice their English. Both definitely had a mix of languages.

[Shreddingbetty]

majesty318, for the couch surfing app they want you to become a verified member by connecting to Paypal. Have you done that? IN the reviews someone said they got charged. Not even sure why they would need some sort of payment info?? Any idea?

[majesty318]

Jul 24, 2018 15:06:02 GMT -5 Shreddingbetty said:

majesty318 , for the couch surfing app they want you to become a verified member by connecting to Paypal. Have you done that? IN the reviews someone said they got charged. Not even sure why they would need some sort of payment info?? Any idea?

I don't think I did. That is more so people trust you if you are going to be sleeping on their couches. I am pretty sure I didn't have to do this just to sign up and use the app.

[ESF]

Here's a few suggestions of things that are not usually the main attractions for tourists, would be easy to do solo, and maybe not things a kid would care about --

1. Sainte Chapelle has 6 pm concerts most nights of the week. H and I went to one in October and it was beautiful.

2. Walk the Promenade Plantee

3. Fragonard perfume museum (H booked me a perfume making class as a surprise, which was interesting)

4. Tour of the opera house (or see an opera or ballet there)

5. day trip to Giverny (Monet's home)

Enjoy!

[rupertpenny]

I just got back from Nice and Paris on Sunday. I actually don't have great recommendations for solo because I was with my H, my kids, and my sister but we had a great time.

My H and I had a really nice dinner at Franchin in Nice. The best beach we went to was Plage Macé in Cannes. It is a public beach and has one area that is just completely open, and one area that you can rent loungers and umbrellas for about 6 euro, so way cheaper than the private beaches. And in Paris it is still soldes season, so you can always go shopping! We only had 36 hours there this time and that's pretty much all we did.

And on another note, all the men in the south were smoking hot. Seriously, everywhere I looked I saw another beautiful man. So maybe you won't get lonely after all?

[Shreddingbetty]

Jul 24, 2018 15:23:17 GMT -5 majesty318 said:

Jul 24, 2018 15:06:02 GMT -5 Shreddingbetty said:

majesty318 , for the couch surfing app they want you to become a verified member by connecting to Paypal. Have you done that? IN the reviews someone said they got charged. Not even sure why they would need some sort of payment info?? Any idea?

I don't think I did. That is more so people trust you if you are going to be sleeping on their couches. I am pretty sure I didn't have to do this just to sign up and use the app.

That’s good to know. I won’t do it since I don’t actually plan on using it for finding a couch :-)
i looked at some of the events. Looks like there might a be couple of fun things, except only 2-3 people have rsvp’d though. Anyway, I will probably give it a try. Got nothing to lose, right :-)

[Shreddingbetty]

Jul 24, 2018 15:51:09 GMT -5 ESF said:

Here's a few suggestions of things that are not usually the main attractions for tourists, would be easy to do solo, and maybe not things a kid would care about --

1. Sainte Chapelle has 6 pm concerts most nights of the week. H and I went to one in October and it was beautiful.

2. Walk the Promenade Plantee

3. Fragonard perfume museum (H booked me a perfume making class as a surprise, which was interesting)

4. Tour of the opera house (or see an opera or ballet there)

5. day trip to Giverny (Monet's home)

Enjoy!

I actually did the promenade plantée last year with my kid and it was kind of fun, we did end up getting stuck at a park at some point where she played for 3 hours with her new found friends. Haven’t done the other stuff so I will think about it.i walked by Sté Chapelle a couple of weeks ago and there was a huge line, although that was during the day. I’m assuming you have to buy tix in advance? 
I’m not a real perfume person but that sounds interesting too. 
Im açtually starting to look forward more to doing this on my own :-)

[Shreddingbetty]

Jul 24, 2018 20:08:48 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

I just got back from Nice and Paris on Sunday. I actually don't have great recommendations for solo because I was with my H, my kids, and my sister but we had a great time.

My H and I had a really nice dinner at Franchin in Nice. The best beach we went to was Plage Macé in Cannes. It is a public beach and has one area that is just completely open, and one area that you can rent loungers and umbrellas for about 6 euro, so way cheaper than the private beaches. And in Paris it is still soldes season, so you can always go shopping! We only had 36 hours there this time and that's pretty much all we did.

And on another note, all the men in the south were smoking hot. Seriously, everywhere I looked I saw another beautiful man. So maybe you won't get lonely after all?

I might have to check out the beach in Cannes, I think that’s gonna be easier to get to from Juan les Pins. I have a friend that lives there who works for a tour boat company and she sent me links so I am thinking about doing a day trip to St Tropez. And definitely some beach time too!
And I like your last statement

[ESF]

Jul 24, 2018 23:11:05 GMT -5 Shreddingbetty said:

Jul 24, 2018 15:51:09 GMT -5 ESF said:

Here's a few suggestions of things that are not usually the main attractions for tourists, would be easy to do solo, and maybe not things a kid would care about --

1. Sainte Chapelle has 6 pm concerts most nights of the week. H and I went to one in October and it was beautiful.

2. Walk the Promenade Plantee

3. Fragonard perfume museum (H booked me a perfume making class as a surprise, which was interesting)

4. Tour of the opera house (or see an opera or ballet there)

5. day trip to Giverny (Monet's home)

Enjoy!

I actually did the promenade plantée last year with my kid and it was kind of fun, we did end up getting stuck at a park at some point where she played for 3 hours with her new found friends. Haven’t done the other stuff so I will think about it.i walked by Sté Chapelle a couple of weeks ago and there was a huge line, although that was during the day. I’m assuming you have to buy tix in advance? 
I’m not a real perfume person but that sounds interesting too. 
Im açtually starting to look forward more to doing this on my own :-)

Yes, we got our tickets in advance online and there was a special line to get in that was pretty easy. We also went separately during the day with one of those museum passes. I recall that there was a wait, but it wasn't too bad. It's worth it though, it is an absolutely stunning church. 

Another idea -- look into group tours that would take you out to Reims to do the champagne houses. 

[GilliC]

I’ve traveled solo, but I definitely get lonely, so I try to limit it to around 5 days unless I’m on a group tour (I’ve discovered that small group tours with companies like GAdventures can be really cool and not at all like big bus tours). I definitely prefer to stay active, and I like museums, since even if I wasn’t alone, I probably wouldn’t be talking much.

However, in reading through the previous posts, I remembered that technically I saw most of Paris solo. I did a summer internship, so I spent most of my weekends and evenings out exploring on my own. I was a poor student at the time, so I did a lot of wa seeing around gardens and visiting churches and self-guided walking tours. I’d also buy a Pariscope every week and thumb through it looking for things to do. (I remember I used to go to classic (American) films every so often and thought it was funny because the crowd was similar to what you’d expect at a showing of classic French films in the US!)

And the meetups suggestion is a good one. Maybe less in Paris, where there’s a large international community, but when I was in Montpellier for work, my friend forced me to come to his language exchange, because everyone was excited to have someone new to talk to!

[Shreddingbetty]

Jul 26, 2018 10:01:36 GMT -5 GilliC said:

I’ve traveled solo, but I definitely get lonely, so I try to limit it to around 5 days unless I’m on a group tour (I’ve discovered that small group tours with companies like GAdventures can be really cool and not at all like big bus tours). I definitely prefer to stay active, and I like museums, since even if I wasn’t alone, I probably wouldn’t be talking much.

However, in reading through the previous posts, I remembered that technically I saw most of Paris solo. I did a summer internship, so I spent most of my weekends and evenings out exploring on my own. I was a poor student at the time, so I did a lot of wa seeing around gardens and visiting churches and self-guided walking tours. I’d also buy a Pariscope every week and thumb through it looking for things to do. (I remember I used to go to classic (American) films every so often and thought it was funny because the crowd was similar to what you’d expect at a showing of classic French films in the US!)

And the meetups suggestion is a good one. Maybe less in Paris, where there’s a large international community, but when I was in Montpellier for work, my friend forced me to come to his language exchange, because everyone was excited to have someone new to talk to!

Thanks, I remember you did a fair amount of solo travel. I might have to check out some sort of meet up group. I’d actually be more interested in meeting french speakers than English speakers but I realize that in Paris in August that might be tough! I have a friend that lives in Cannes and another one that lives in Paris and will likely see them as well. Plus in Paris I am staying at my aunt’s apartment which beats staying in a hotel all alone I thinks. I’m not stuck sitting on a bed watching Tv when I’m home
i tend to be timid until I get to know someone (and then watch out haha) but I’m just gonna have to get over that a bit and put myself out there. Like I said, now that I’ve gotten some more ideas I’m really looking forward to it (ask me again in 2 weeks haha)