Monaco Transportation

Though Monaco is small enough to get around easily on foot, but you might need to get from one point to another quickly. The cheapest option for that is to get on a local bus.

Monaco has a bus network of 5 lines that cover the entire principality. The lines are the following:

1 : Monaco Ville - Harbour - Casino - Saint Roman
2 : Monaco Ville - Harbour - Casino - Pont Ste Devote - Jardin Exotique
4 : Condamine - Pont Ste Devote - Place des Moulins
5 : Condamine - Fontvieille - Harbour - Hôpital - Condamine
6 : Fontvieille - Harbour - Casino - Larvotto (beaches)

Buses go on a circular route around La Condamine, with buses going north along the harbour, and going south on Rue Grimaldi. The best interchange points are at Place d'Armes and Stade Nautique, where most bus lines meet. If you're arriving or leaving by train, exits of the station are at the Pont Ste Devote, Place Ste Devote and Condamine bus stops.

Buses run every 8-11 minutes on weekdays and every 11-18 minutes on weekends. They start at around 7:00 in the morning, and run until around 21:00. After that there is an evening bus until midnight every day, and a night service until 4:00 on Friday and Saturday nights.

A single ticket costs 1.00 euro, a card for 10 trips cost 6.00 euros and a daily ticket costs 3.00 euros. Get your ticket at the driver when boarding the bus.

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I couldn't believe the fares to several places from Nice. It only costs 1EUR to Monaco, one-way!! (Incidentally, same fare to Cannes, Grasse!!)

Since you're on the road, sharing it with other road-users, and bearing in mind this is the sought-after Cote d'Azur, you are very much at the mercy of traffic.

With this in mind, journey time is between 1 to 1.45 hours. Mostly it takes 1.25 hours to reach Monaco, Place d'Armes (by Esplanade Ranier III), the first stop in the city.

There are 2 other stops, the third one being near the Casino, and after that the buses continue east towards Menton.

Timings are stated at the stops, and locals can assist in case you want any clarification. The city is very cosmopolitan, so you do meet others who know English (though French is the language of choice here!)

I have included the photos of the 1st & 3rd stop, for easy identification.

(*** you can use these same stops for local movement, within Monaco itself)

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Monte Carlo, Monaco station (Gare de Monaco) is well located to reach the casinos & the marina. The train stops in an underground tunnel.

The building is big, with a massive front arch. The area immediately in front is quieter than most of Monaco, where, when getting out, you pass a little church on your left.

Journey time from Nice is a mere 25 minutes, with great coastal views to match. You'll really enjoy looking out over the sea, boats, little villages, etc on the way.

There are signposts to get there: 'Gare de Monaco'.

Fasre from Monaco to Nice is 6 EUR (May 2009).

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In case you can't afford the helicopter ride from Nice to Monaco, don't worry, you still have some options to get there. Trains and buses also run frequently to/from Monaco. Trains are faster, but as they go from tunnel to tunnel, there is not too much to see. Buses are slower, but they go on scenic roads along the sea.

* By train
The train ride from Nice Ville station to Monaco takes just 21 minutes, with trains leaving about every 30 minutes. A ticket for the train costs 3.30 euros one-way.

You can also get here by train from Ventimiglia, Italy on the French-Italian border. The trip takes 23 minutes and costs 3.70 euros.

The train station is in the centre of Monaco, in a tunnel under the city, with multiple exits to different areas of the city. One exit leads downstairs towards the port and another upstairs towards Pont Sainte-Dévote. Access for handicapped is from the old station building on Avenue Prince Pierre through an underground passage.

The train timetables can be found here.

* By bus from central Nice
There are three bus lines connecting Nice with Monaco.

The fastest one is line 100 Xpress that goes on the motorway, and gets to Monaco in 35 minutes. It runs once every hour, but only on weekdays.

Line 100 is not much slower, runs more frequently and goes right along the sea on the road called Basse Corniche. The trip takes 45 minutes with buses leaving every 15 minutes from Monday to Saturday, and every 20 minutes on Sundays and holidays.
The same line also gets you to Monaco from Menton, in 40 minutes.

Line 112 has the most scenic route but is the least frequent of them all. It goes via the small village of Eze and along the Moyenne Corniche, which is a road carved into the cliff, above the coast, with wonderful views of the area. The trip takes 40-50 minutes with buses leaving once every 2 hours from Monday to Saturday. This line does not operate on Sundays and holidays.

A single ticket costs 1.00 euro for any of the above services.

All buses leave from Gare Routiere (bus terminal) in Nice. Lines 100 and 100 Xpress stop at Place d'Armes, at the Casino and at Place des Moulins in Monaco, while line 112 stops at the Monaco train station on Pont Sainte-Dévote, and terminates at Roqueville / La Crémaillère.

Timetables and detailed route maps for the buses can be found here.

* By bus from Nice airport
There is also an express bus directly from Nice - Côte d'Azur airport to Monaco and Menton (line 110) with special tariffs. On this bus, tickets costs 16.10 euros one-way and 26.00 euros return. The trip takes 50 minutes with buses leaving once every hour.

The timetable for the airport express can be found here.

Since we were arriving at Nice Airport in the evening, we decided to use Riviera Premium Tours for transfers to Monaco. This is the same tour operator we would use the next day for an enjoyable private 8 hour tour of the French Riviera + Quick trip to Ventemiglia, Italy for 8 people, which included transportation to our Nice hotel from Monaco. It was 85 Euros for 4 people to Monaco, and the van was new, roomy and could easily sit 8 people with their luggage. I was relieved that my sister in law, brother in law + 2 nephews who were arriving 3 hours behind us in Monaco, used the same service, because their flight arrived at 2 am ( 3 1/2 hours late!) and Jerome, owner of RPT, was there to pick them up and take them to the hotel with no issues.

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Getting to and especially around is for me very simple - by plane to Nice and than by bus
to Monaco
For others, relatively only a few ones there are others transport facilities.
Dream cars, dream boats and cruisers - but maybe my time will come. (lol)
But almost everybody is driving a Ferrari !!! so what's new and exclusive (lol)

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From Bxl to Nice at comfortable price, low ratings (Brussels Airlines)
The flight from BXL takes about 1.40 hrs
From Nice to Monaco you have several transport possibilties
- By taking a bus (takes about 30 minutes if the driver knows the hotel destination)
- By renting a car ( keep standard high an rent a Ferrari or HONDA)
- By driving your personal car or Camping Car ( take care of parking space)
- Or simply by renting a Helicopter ( Heli Air Monaco has many turnkey for the most demanding customers)
A dream transportation tip, arriving in Nice, get a helicopter and strand directly on deck of your yacht anchored in Hercule bay, located in Monte Carlo (Luc keep on dreaming)

Monaco is a very small place - no more than a mile from end to end - so most visitors to the Principality simply opt for leg power to get themselves around. A good solution, especially if combined with the the many lifts [elevators] scattered across the Principality. However, as coastal towns go, Monaco is exceptionally hilly. One of its unusual geographical qualities is that it is located at the precise point where the Alps meet the Mediterranean. So if you plan to make a lot of tourist stops you might consider taking a bus or at least making full use of the free lifts.

Lifts - Elevators

The most convenient thing about getting around Monaco is all the public lifts and escalators they've built into the hillside. It's well worth studying a map - pick one up at the Tourist Office - and locating the useful ones. My favourite shortcuts are:

From the Larvotto to the Casino
In the summer when coming back from the Larvotto, cross the sea road and start walking towards the Casino and you will see a lift on your right (opposite the green roofed Grimaldi Forum). It'll take you up to the Place des Moulins. Follow the Boulevard des Moulins past all the shops to get to the Tourist Office and the top of the Casino Gardens.

From the Port to the Casino
Instead of walking up the hill, walk along the quayside and then the port road to the tunnel. You will pass crowds of people getting on and off coaches. This is the Loews Hotel/Grand Hotel/Centre de Congres tunnel. Just on the right, follow the people disappearing underground. It'll lead you to a lift which takes you up a few floors to the roof of the Loews Hotel, just below the Casino.

From the Port to the Station
There's an entrance just to the left of the Eglise de la Sainte Devote, which is in the north-east corner of the port. There's a pedestrian underpass under the road from the quayside.