Duty free cigarettes

We have been told that the airport is poor for duty free. Where in Nice can you stock up on the fags to bring home.

They are for the mother in law.

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You can buy duty free only if you fly outside the EC anyway.

I don%26#39;t know how much a pack of cigarettes is in the UK, but over here it is €5,30.

I believe they are a bit cheaper in Italy.

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They are cheaper in Italy - I bought 200 B%26amp;H last week, in the buffet on Vintimille Station, for 37eu. My bank statement tells me that with the exchange rate at that time they worked out at £31.46.

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The €12 return train fare to Ventimiglia could be worth paying if you are buying a lot of cigarettes, which you can do in the station as above or in any tobacconist in town as they are used to the French buying in bulk. If you have a car, the Conad supermarket at Latte on the coast beyond Menton has an absolutely massive turnover of cigarettes for cross-border transfer.

But be warned that there is a French law that prevents you from transporting more than 200 cigarettes at a time (the law is designed precisely to stop people popping over the border for masses of cheap fags). You can of course ignore this law, as many French people routinely do.

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Now I don%26#39;t know how fussy you are about time, but the 12 euro trainfare is a bit of a disincentive to us penny-pinching credit-crunched Euro-exchangerate-ripped-off Brits. Just for fun we tried the ONE euro trip by 100 bus from Nice to Menton (hour and a quarter) then took the train from Menton to Ventimiglia and back (six euro return, fifteen minutes each way)

We weren%26#39;t busy, its always fun watching all the cheapskates tourists pouring out the bus at Monaco, it halved the cost of travel to Italy and the saving over the railfare paid for a free bottle of Bacardi. And had a free wander around Menton.

Both cigarettes and spirits are considerably cheaper in Italy (but of course you can%26#39;t take liquids through security,so drink before you fly!)

French cars seem to me the subject of interest at the border crossing, but I have yet to have anyone ask to see if I have a valid train ticket, let alone how many ciggies I have.

(The Italians seem to have the right attitude to pleasures of the flesh - they should be cheap so all can enjoy them. Unlike the dour Anglo-saxon %26quot;if it%26#39;s a pleasure, tax it%26quot;)

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NiceLife, ciggies are not as cheap as they used to be (half price a few years ago but now a pack is roughly one euro or so cheaper as taxes on tobacco have been increased even in Italy). About control at the border, booths have long been deserted and you just drive through. The only occasions when they stop and search cars are on Fridays (market day in Ventimiglia) but it%26#39;s counterfeited goods they%26#39;re after and one of their favourite spots is actually on the motorway (the toll at La Turbie).

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I stopped smoking thirty years ago but was pestered for cheap cigarettes from Italy by workmates. My last purchase was around two years ago, so I am sure I am no longer up to date. Italys loss. My workmates apparently switched source to Gibralter. I tell anyone who will listen to give them up - that%26#39;s the cheapest by far.

Alcohol still seem to me a lot cheaper? - My favourite Italian pink is 2.90e in Ventimiglia%26#39;s Eurodrink and 4.50e in Nice (in Gusti Italiani) so the shopping trolley goes with me. Twelve bottles seem to fit quite snugly. Room for the cheese and the pasta. And chocolates.