Forget Cannes. Get on a train and head beyond Monte Carlo to Menton. It's where the old people go to live! Very sensible. Decent beach, pleasant atmosphere. Fabulous old town, which can be explored in an hour or so. Well worth a day trip.

If you get fed up, come back to Monte Carlo, forget all the usual rubbish about the Casino and Royal Palace and visit the Botanical Gardens. A brilliant collection of cacti and other succulents (far better than it sounds!). It costs an entrance fee but it is well worth it. Also, a superb cave system which you can go down. Very strange; the temperature underground is warm, not cold.

The view from the Gardens over Monaco and out to the Mediterranean is excellent.

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Great, free collection of plants from all over the world. If you are fed up with the relentless drinking of lager and trips to the Tivoli Gardens, try this. Perfect for a family and great for a simply relaxing couple of hours without having to spend vast amounts of money.

www.botanic-garden.ku.dk/eng/

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Most people arrive at Pisa for Florence. Be advised that if you are catching a train to Florence, the booking office (it's the Information Office) is to the right of the Arrivals Hall. Do not follow the signs for the trains, which take you way out of the airport building far left. Trains are not so frequent so don't get caught without a ticket if you are a hurry! Also, remember that your ticket needs to be validated before you travel by sticking it in one of the yellow machines on the platform. This is essential as you can be fined for travelling with an unvalidated ticket.

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Italy's premier art gallery. Pre-book your timed tickets at the pre-booking office or get your hotel to do it in advance. Sunday is the busiest day. Closed on Mondays. Be advised, it does not have a lot of really well known art, so if you are a phillistine head straight to Room 10 and gaze at Botticelli's Birth of Venus. The rest of the place is, honestly, not so memorable unless you are a true art buff.

The toilets are a disgrace. Avoid if at all possible, especially if you are a woman. The cafe is well worth a visit, if the sun is shining. Sit outside at one of the tables high above the city.

Piazzale degli Iffizi 6
Tel: 055 23885
www.uffizi.firenze.it

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The place that houses Michelangelo's statue of David. There is other stuff in the building but this is the reason for going. Now he has been cleaned he looks great. The kids will like it - he has no clothes on!

The real tip is to book your tickets before you begin to queue. Get your hotel to do it, for a specific time or you can do it on the internet before you leave home. If you don't you will queue for hours along with a load of Americans who have not read their guide book info properly. There is a separate - and much shorter - queue for pre-booked tickets. Yes, it costs you 3 euros more per person but it saves hours of queuing.

Via Ricasoli 58-60
Tel: 055 2388609

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This is the big Dome on the cathedral. You can go up to the top and look out from the viewing platform, over Florence. Simply the best sight in the city. It takes a fair amount of queuing - check times and make sure you don't leave it too late - and the climb to the top can take up to 20 minutes, but it is brilliant. Not only do you get a 360 degree view of the city but you see the inside of the Dome in close up, on the way up and way down. The one unmissable sight in Florence, in my opinion.

Ufficio del Duomo
Tel: 055 2302885
www.duomofirenze.it/index-eng.htm

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