Getting from Monaco port to Nice

In April, we took a cruise that had a stop in Monaco.

Getting to Nice from the Monaco port is quite easy.

To get either the train or the bus, you will go to the same spot away from where the ship is docked.

http://mappery.com/map-of/Monaco-Tourist-Map

The port of Monaco where the ship docks looks like a horseshoe on the map. The ship docks at the southern end of the port right below the high rocks where you will find Oceanographic Museum, Cathedral and Palace.

When you get off the ship, you want to walk all along the edge of the port going to your right. If you look at the map, you are starting at 6:00 and you will be walking around to 12:00. You will walk along Quai Antoine and go right on Quai Albert. At some spots along Quai Albert, you want to move over to Boulevard Albert (it runs parallel to Quai Albert). At the end of Boulevard Albert, there is a three way intersection where Boulevard Albert, Rue Grimaldi and Avenue D'Ostende all meet. Both, the bus stop and the entrance to the train station is on the other side of this intersection. To get across the intersection, you need to take the underground pedestrian tunnel. Follow the signs to the Gare (train station) as you go through the tunnels underneath the intersection.

When you come up to the street level, you should see a small church called "Place St. Devote". Looking at the church, you want to walk to the left and you will see the bus stop and elevators to take you to the train station after only a few steps.

http://www.visitmonaco.com/us/Places-to-visit/Monuments

I recommend taking the bus. The bus you want to take is the bus #100 which comes by every 15-20 minutes. It will cost 1 euro each way. The ride to the Nice "Gare Routiere Bus Station" which is the last stop for the bus is about 30-40 minutes long and the bus station is on the edge of the old city part of Nice. If you do take the bus, be sure to pay attention to the streets immediately after you get on to get your bearings for the return trip to know when to get off the bus as the bus continues through Monaco before it turns around.

http://www.lignedazur.com/

The best part of taking the bus is that the road goes along the coast and you have spectacular views of the ocean and mountain side.

Coming back from Nice, go back to the bus station and look up at the monitors looking for times of the #100 bus and which stall it will leave from. As you approach Monaco, you can get off the bus at a few spots. Depending on the time and what you want to do, you can get off at the same spot where the Church and entrance to the train station is located. Or, you could get off earlier and walk through the top of the rock by the palace, cathedral and Oceanographic museum. Look for signs of the palace and museum. Just past the museum, is a park and foot path that will take you down to where the ship is docked. Look for signs that say Fort Antoine. This way is a much longer walk and very steep at some points.

If you want to take the train, just take the elevators near the bus stop up to the train station. You will have to go through a series of tunnels and escalators to get to the ticket windows. The train is faster, but it does not run as often as the bus lines does. Plus, the main train station in Nice is not near the old city. Depending on what you want to do in Nice may dictate which way you would want to go.

Here is a link to pictures I took during our cruise which includes Monaco and Nice:

A great resource is to find a travel book like Rick Steve's or Frommers which will have maps and recommendations for Monaco, Nice, and other sites. I just went to the local libraries and then made copies of the pages I needed for maps and info.

I hope this helps.

Thanks so much for your response, CTCruisers. I had actually read your post before I posted mine, but we don't want to take a bus or train because we will have all of our luggage with us. Do you know anything about the cabs?

Thanks so much!

Very nice to see this type of post that can be very helpful to others.

Nice job.

Keith

Thanks so much for your response, CTCruisers. I had actually read your post before I posted mine, but we don't want to take a bus or train because we will have all of our luggage with us. Do you know anything about the cabs?

 

Thanks so much!

I am afraid I do not know about the cabs there.

Taxis in the south of France and Monte Carlo are quite expensive so be prepared to pay somewhere between 70 and 100 Euros. Whether there will be any taxis at the pier is like rolling the dice but you can always call for a taxi if you have a cell phone that works in France (look up phone numbers on the internet).

Hank

CTcruisers ... great info! Would it cut down on walking to take the Bateau Bus across the port to get to the bus stop? It mentions that for the 1 euro fee, you can transfer to a bus within 30 minutes.

ETfromNY, I responded with some links that might be of help on the thread that you started.

CTcruisers ... great info! Would it cut down on walking to take the Bateau Bus across the port to get to the bus stop? It mentions that for the 1 euro fee, you can transfer to a bus within 30 minutes.

 

ETfromNY, I responded with some links that might be of help on the thread that you started.

To be honest, we did not think it was a long walk. When we got off the ship, the tourist info people in the terminal said to take the water taxi to get across. But, once we got out and saw how close the other side of the port was, we just walked.

If you look at the pictures I took (via the link), you can get a sense of the distance to be covered.

Taking the water taxi will reduce the amount of steps to walk, but I think it takes longer.

I wonder if the 1 euro fee can be transferred to use the bus that goes to Nice which is a different bus line than the Monaco Bus system?

Just wanted to mark this fabulous post for reference in case I decide to book a Med cruise.

Thanks so much. Excellent information.

all the bus in this department (county) are 1 euro including monaco.

the bus from monaco to nice goes past the port here google streetview:

http://maps.google.fr/maps?q=Monaco&hl=fr&ll=43.73677,7.421308&spn=0.00219,0.003449&sll=46.75984,1.738281&sspn=8.505268,14.128418&z=18&layer=c&cbll=43.73677,7.421308&panoid=kTg4CUq4ZmrmQEQsTQqg3A&cbp=12,343.32,,0,0

you get it at the stop called eglise saint devote.

this is the bus website it is in english and you need to check route 100 direction Nice: http://www.lignesdazur.com/

there is also a bus direct to the Nice airport from Monaco, this is more than 1 euro (something like 20).

if you by a 4 euro day pass on the Monaco to Nice bus you can connect to the airport bus in Nice.

if you are flush take a cab 70 to 100 sounds correct, it might be more if they charge for bags. also try to get an agreement on the general price before you set of in the cab.

are you going to the airport with the bags. if you are two or 1 person the best is to take the helicopter taxi which can be cheaper than a normal taxi.

We will be in Monaco Sept 4th - and I originally planned to rent a car to travel around the coast and get to Nice, Eze, etc - now I am thinking we will try the bus to Nice instead... BUT we arrive on a Sunday... any chance the bus schedule changes? How easy is the round trip back to tender area - AND how much time should we give ourselves for the transpo on the bus? I also heard there was a train... trying to read up on that too

Yo

We will be in Monaco Sept 4th - and I originally planned to rent a car to travel around the coast and get to Nice, Eze, etc - now I am thinking we will try the bus to Nice instead... BUT we arrive on a Sunday... any chance the bus schedule changes? How easy is the round trip back to tender area - AND how much time should we give ourselves for the transpo on the bus? I also heard there was a train... trying to read up on that too

 

Yo

In post #1, I listed a link for the bus company. You can check there for the schedules.

The trip by bus takes about 40 minutes each way. Give yourself about a half hour walking to/from the tender area.

The train station is mentioned in post #1. They do not run as frequently as the buses and the train station is at a different part of Nice. Refer to the tourist books with maps to show the locations of the train and bus stations.