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Monaco’s Transportation Options
In this Iconic Riviera guide, we will give you a run-down of the different modes of transportation you can take as you travel to and around the Principality of Monaco. Situated along the Riviera francese at the foot of the Maritime Alps, Monaco is about 30-minutes from the Nice airport.
We’re not going to sugar-coat it: Monaco is a tough and confusing place to get around. It’s like a multi-level maze, and even locals have trouble finding the elevators and getting around by foot. To make matters (much, much) worse, it’s not possible to hail an Uber while in Monaco.
Here’s everything you need to know:
Ascensori pubblici e passeggiate a Monaco
It’s a confusing maze for walking, but so long as you’re staying in the Condamine, Monte-Carlo or Larvato areas, you can walk pretty much anywhere you’re going within 20 to 30 minutes. Note that staying in Fontvieille or a the far east border of Larvato typically adds about 20 minutes to your walk when going to Monte Carlo.
Since Monaco is so steep, there are many “ascenceurs publiques” to help make it easier to get around. In fact, the Principality has 79 elevators, 35 escalators, and 8 travelators. Knowing where the public elevators are will save you some sweat and get you to your destination faster.
Sono un po' nascosti e un po' labirintici, ma puoi farlo scarica e stampa la mappa di ogni “Ascenseur Public” qui or vedi tutti gli ascensori su questa mappa. Se rimani a Monaco per un certo periodo di tempo, varrebbe la pena di conoscere le loro posizioni e destinazioni.
Monaco in aereo
Nice Airport
The closest airport is the Nice-Côte-d’Azur airport, which is a 30-minute drive.
To get to Monaco from the airport, you can catch an Uber (for around €70 for up to 4 passengers), take a train (per circa € 12 a persona, ma dovrai camminare o Uber fino alla stazione ferroviaria più vicina ) o il autobus n. 100 per l'aeroporto (per circa € 25 a persona).
Uber is what locals normally take, as it’s usually the fastest and easiest. That said, if you arrive during rush hour, definitely opt for the train or helicopter, as traffic getting into Monaco in the mornings and coming out in the early evenings can create sometimes serious delays (and I mean serious — up to two hours!)
Elicottero
L'Eliporto di Monaco offre servizi navetta via Monacair to and from Nice airport. The price per person is about €160 but depends on the timing, and includes a taxi shuttle within Monaco.
Opzioni auto/giro di Monaco
If you have a car, then the main highway is the fastest way to arrive. However, we recommend you take the scenic route closest to the water, as it is much more picturesque.
Che tipo di auto noleggiare
There is a Hertz, Budget, Sixt and Avis in Monaco, so if you’d prefer to pick up your rental in Monaco, you can. If you decide to drive, we recommend renting a small car. Top-to-down is the way to go, if you can score a convertible Fiat 500 (after all, it’s the city of the Grand Prix and where some of the James Bond movies were filmed). Smaller cars are much easier to maneuver and park on the narrow and windy streets –and parking garages– of the French Riviera. If you’re going to go on day trips to some of the French resort towns, then you’ll definitely need a small car to get through the tiny medieval roads.
Tuttavia, a meno che tu non abbia un'esigenza specifica per un'auto - ad esempio, problemi di mobilità/disabilità, noleggio in una remota località rurale o pianificazione di un tour nell'entroterra - generalmente è un errore noleggiare un'auto a Monaco per viaggi locali. . La Costa Azzurra ha il traffico peggiore e uno dei più alti tassi di incidenti stradali in Francia, e il mix tossico di entusiasmo per la guida automobilistica francese con molte motociclette potenti e giovani su piccoli scooter rende le vacanze automobilistiche spesso un'esperienza poco gratificante.
Ci sono molti posti meravigliosi da visitare nella zona circostante (come Èze, Villefranche, Antibes, Nice, etc.), so having a car can be useful. That said, the roads can be narrow, dangerous, and intimidating to many drivers, and the train can get you to most places.
Parking
Once you’re in Monaco, you can park in any of the “Monaco Parking” lots for one hour for free (after that, the rates are posted, but reasonable – about €25 max if you lose your ticket).
This is a really useful map of Monaco — la sezione parcheggi permette di verificare in tempo reale la disponibilità dei posti auto per ciascun parcheggio.
Be aware that parking a car in many areas of Monaco is notoriously difficult, and equally so in many surrounding towns. Along the French Riviera, people park everywhere, between trees, poles and sometimes even on sidewalks. They routinely bump each other in order to get in and out of tight spaces.
Ride-Share
Uber
Uber is easy, safer, more affordable, and better in every way than regular taxis, but unfortunately (and this is many residents and tourists biggest annoyance with living in or visiting Monaco) Uber is banned from operating in Monaco (due to the local taxi lobby).
Keep in mind that currently you’ll need to go to France in Cap d’Ail or Beausoleil to catch an Uber, and it can sometimes take a while to get an Uber as there are not many Uber cars in the rural areas of the French Riviera, so you’ll need to wait until a car coming from Nice is dropping someone off in Monaco. If you know the day and time when you’re leaving, you can schedule a pickup in the app in advance.
It’s worth the walk to the border though, as if you find yourself in a situation where you miss the last bus or train in Monaco, taking a taxi back can be quite expensive, costing around €100. By opting for Uber instead, you can expect to pay around €40 for the same trip.
Taxi di Monaco
Monaco’s taxis are a headache. They are very expensive (expect about €100 to get to Nice, as opposed to €35 via Uber). They usually only accept cash. Service is inconsistent. Wait times are inconsistent (they are often late when scheduled or hailed via the Monaco Taxi app). That said, they can be hailed from hotels and at taxi stands in places like casino square. But we prefer walking.
Free Late-Night Taxi
IL Be Safe association is organizing a free night bus for partygoers who’ve had too much to drink. Be Safe Monaco provides breathalyzer self-testing kits and gives a free ride home to night-owls in Monaco who find they’ve exceeded the drink-drive limit.
In July and August, it will operate seven nights a week from midnight until 5am. The on-demand service can pick people up from nightclubs and other venues in Monaco, free of charge, and drop them off anywhere in the principality or the neighboring communes of Beausoleil, Cap d’Ail and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (from there you can hail an Uber to take you to other areas, if needed).
Phone +377640627624 for more information or for a pickup.
Mobee
Se rimani per più di qualche giorno, hai anche la possibilità di noleggiare un'auto per una persona chiamata aMobee. These one-seater cars are based on the principle of “free-floating”, allowing you to pick up and return the vehicles anywhere in Monaco. You’ll also get free parking on-street and in the 14 partnering parking lots. You can find cars and parking through their app.
Monaco in autobus
Airport Bus
Dall'aeroporto, prendi l'autobus n. 100, che puoi prendere all'aeroporto e in diversi luoghi di Monaco, incluso Place d'Armes, la piazza del mercato degli agricoltori nella Condamine. Ecco i Sito web e orari degli autobus per l'aeroporto.
Autobus locale di Monaco
All'interno di Monaco, l'autobus è il modo migliore per spostarsi.
Monaco’s public bus line is not only budget-friendly (€2 per trip) but also very accessible and perfectly clean. It operates from 7am to 12:20am every day. On Fridays and Saturdays, the service extends from 12:20am to 4am.
You can buy yourself a ticket when you get on the bus, but it’s slightly cheaper to buy the ticket from strategically placed ticket machines where a single journey will be at a discount, or you can buy 12 journeys for the price of 6. When boarding the bus you pass the ticket over the electronic reader. It’s as simple as that. If you have to change lines, you do not need to use up another ticket as long as the changeover takes no longer than 30 minutes.
There are maps, live arrival time screens, and automated ticket machines are at each stop, and the buses stop at all major tourist destinations. The Monopass app is the best way to get tickets, schedules and maps, but you can also check out this useful map of Monaco that shows all the bus stops and places to buy tickets.
Tourist Bus
A hop-on-hop-off red tourist bus called Le Grand Tour is also available and loops around the major tourist attractions in the Principality. Using your €23 day pass, you’ll be free to hop on and off the bus at any of the twelve 30-minute stops to explore the many places of interest along the route, which travels along the water and up the Rock. The tour lasts approximately one hour not including stops (which are 30 minutes each).
Monaco in treno
Il treno è il modo migliore, più veloce e più semplice per viaggiare lungo la Costa Azzurra. Con fermate in ogni città di mare e panorami incantevoli lungo il percorso, è il mezzo di trasporto preferito della zona. Tutti i treni in Francia e Monaco sono gestiti da compagnie di proprietà francese SNCF.
The Local Train
La stazione centrale di Monaco è Gare de Monaco , nel centro di Monaco, con uscita a Port Hercule.
IL Regional Express Train, or TER, connects most towns, including Grasse, Cannes, Nice, Monaco, to Ventimiglia, San Remo and Turin in Italy. In the other direction, you can take this train to Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Lyon, and other destinations in France. Here’s a map of the destinations.
Trains run about every 30 minutes and most of the stations sit within walking distance of the town center, or offer a bus service from the station. Tickets are cheap and you can purchase them from machines at each station, just be sure to stamp your ticket in one of the validation machines before hopping on board.
The train is not available late at night and in the very early morning, so check the schedule online if you’re a night owl. Tickets are cheap and you can buy them online, at the console in the station, or (usually) on the train.
The airport is not served by a specific train station, but the Nice St Augustin Train Station è a soli 10 minuti a piedi e dispone di treni frequenti e diretti direttamente a Monaco.
High-speed TGV Train
IL high-speed TGV train connects Marseille to Paris in only 3 hours for as little as €50 (but the average ticket price is €84) each way. Take the local train to St. Charles station in Marseille (che impiega circa 3 ore e 15 minuti), dove potrete prendere il TGV e portarlo a Parigi. L'intero viaggio durerà meno di 7 ore.
Le bici di Monaco
Monaco ‘s mode of transportation includes an electric bicycle rental system called MonaBike. You can grab a bike at any of the many stations around the Principality and with a fully charged battery.
La bici ha 60 km di autonomia e viaggia fino a 25 km/h senza rumore né vibrazioni. Ne avrai bisogno iscriviti on-line per utilizzarlo poi utilizza l'app Monopass per gestire il tuo account e trovare le bici disponibili.
Monaco via mare
Il sistema dei trasporti a Monaco prevede anche l'accesso via mare. I due porti sono Port Hercule e il porto marittimo di Fontvieille, dove traghetti stagionali forniscono servizi diretti alle città vicine come St-Tropez e Nice.
L'autobus in barca
A shuttle ferry known as the ‘Bateau Bus’ is also available and runs from one side of Port Hercule to the other. It is a solar-powered ferry making rounds between Quai Antoine 1er in Monaco-Ville (by The Rock) and Quai des États-Unis in Monte Carlo (by the Yacht Club).
Maritime Shuttle
Scheduled to be operational soon: The Maritime Shuttle goes between Nice and Cap d’Ail / Monaco, linking Port Lympia in Nice to the port of Cap-d’Ail , on the border of Monaco (Fontvieille). Covering a distance of around 15km, on a sunny day in good conditions, the journey only takes 35 minutes. At peak times, there is a shuttle every half hour. It transports up to 1,200 people every hour with 34 rotations each day.
Monaco One (per la gente del posto)
Questa opzione è solo per quei pochi fortunati che hanno una barca nel porto di Monaco, o nel porto di Ventimiglia (gestito da Monaco). IL Monaco Un catamarano collega Port Hercule a Monaco al porto di Cala del Forte a Ventimiglia, in Italia in soli 15 minuti a 45 nodi. Può ospitare fino a 12 passeggeri a bordo in perfetto comfort. I viaggi devono essere prenotati in anticipo chiamando +37797773009. È disponibile tutti i giorni della settimana e la prenotazione può essere cancellata fino a due ore prima dell'orario di partenza prenotato.
L'app 'Monopass' dei trasporti di Monaco
Scarica l'app Monopass (su i phone e Androide) per rendere gli spostamenti molto più facili. Autobus, biciclette elettriche e parcheggi stradali pubblici sono coperti dall'app, che ti consente di trovare mappe, scelte di abbonamento e opzioni di pagamento, nonché informazioni sul traffico in tempo reale e suggerimenti di percorso.
L'app è gratuita per tutti e ora gli utenti possono utilizzarla per accedere al proprio account MonaBike (bike sharing) e ai biglietti attuali, nonché convertire il proprio abbonamento CAM (autobus) in un pass digitale. Tramite app è possibile pagare anche i biglietti singoli.
Sono disponibili informazioni aggiornate che indirizzano gli utenti al mezzo di trasporto più vicino, inclusi gli orari dei trasporti e le stazioni di biciclette più vicine, nonché i mezzi per pagare in loco il parcheggio su strada.
Per CAMERA (autobus), questa app consente loro di integrarsi perfettamente nel nuovo sistema di biglietteria CAM. Oltre a poter effettuare pagamenti tramite app, il nuovo sistema permette di effettuare pagamenti con carta di debito contactless sull'autobus, offre i prezzi migliori in base ai viaggi precedenti effettuati e Passare Sud Azur titolari, un “abbonamento multimodale zonale” per la Costa Azzurra e Monaco, lanciato nel 2020, per acquistare e convalidare facilmente il proprio biglietto nel Principato.
Altre destinazioni: Se hai intenzione di andare verso altre destinazioni, assicurati di leggere la guida ai trasporti per quella città/città (clicca sulla città nel menu e la vedrai elencata). Buon viaggio a Monaco!
