Best way to get to St Paul De Vence from Monaco

[gam888]

Will dock in Monaco, have pretty well the whole day. We visited Monaco and Nice before so this time would like to visit St Paul De Vence. What is the best way to get there by bus or train? If we feel like visiting more than one town and decide to hire a private tour operator, any recommendations for someone reasonable? I presume once you try to go from A to B, B to C....etc sometimes it's too time consuming if you were to try to catch the bus/train connections to these small towns. Is it possible to do St Paul and one more place that is easy to get to given the fact we have until 7pm. Thanks in advance.

[Hlitner]

You have a few options and I will lay it all out. The easiest way would be to simply rent a car and drive. Now that we got that out of the way lets talk about public transit. The key to getting to St Paul de Vence is getting yourself onto the Lignes d'Azur (regional bus company) #400 bus. This bus starts its run at the Nice bus station, makes a few stops as it moves through Nice, travels along the coast until it gets to Cagnes sur Mer at which point it turns inland and goes by St Paul de Vence. So the only real queston is how you get from Monte Carlo to that #400 bus. The easiest way is to simply catch the #100 towards Nice and ride it to the end which happens to be the same bus station in Nice where you can get the #400. You other option is to take the train from Monte Carlo through Nice and get off at the Cagnes sur Mer Station where you can catch the #400 bus (just ask at the station for the exact bus stop outside the train station).

 

Now lets talk about the time involved (which is why I suggest renting a car). The #100 bus runs about every 15 min and take approximately 40 min to get from Monte Carlo (it has several stops in MC) to the Nice Bermond bus station. The 400 bus leaves about every 45 min (this varies a bit throughout the day) from that same bus station and takes about 1 hour to get to the St Paul de Vence stop. So if you do the math it can take anywhere from about 1 1/2 hours to over 2 hours each way. Using the train probably wont save you much time since its further to the train station (in MC) and the trains do not run as often as the bus. And the trains cost quite a bit more then the 1 Euros bargain bus fare.

 

If you rent a car you can drive from MC to St Paul de Vence in about 45 min (using the fast autostrade) or an hour (very dependent on traffic) if you take the slower Corniche route to Nice.

 

Hank

[gam888]

Thanks for the detail reply Hank! I have to reconsider if it takes 1.5 - 2 hours each way to get to St Paul De Vence from Monaco. Do you know if there are any local tour operators that offer excursions to St Paul plus other charming medieval towns?

[Hlitner]

Thanks for the detail reply Hank! I have to reconsider if it takes 1.5 - 2 hours each way to get to St Paul De Vence from Monaco. Do you know if there are any local tour operators that offer excursions to St Paul plus other charming medieval towns?

 

I do know that there are local tour operators and they are pretty expensive. But since my expertise is helping folks with DIY I cannot give you any specific recommendations. But its funny you bring it up because the last time we were in St Paul de Vence we had rented a car in Cannes (we were there on a cruise) and drove to the village to shop and have lunch. We met another couple during lunch who had hired their own driver/guide who they then asked to join them for lunch. Later on the ship they told me they had paid 500 Euros for that driver/guide plus the cost of lunch and her tip. They told us they had a terrific day and my own thought was that for that amount of money it should have been terrific. Ironically they did exactly what we did (went to St Paul de Vence and Antibes) but our cost was only 80 Euros (for the car) which is why we remember that day. As to their guide it was an attractive female (probably in her 40s) who spoke perfect English but I do not remember her name :(

 

Hank

[Pamulla]

I know we talked before about renting a car; seems like the most reasonable option but on a Sunday? Also, how to get to the rental car from the port? A long walk? I can't go too far on foot.

We've driven around and found it fine for getting around. Then, we were based in Nice and not on a cruise.

[Hlitner]

We have learned not to push the rental car option even though its still our favorite way of getting around most countries (except in major cities). It is possible to get a rental car on Sunday in Monte Carlo (both Hertz and Europcar are open until 12:30 and you can arrange to drop after hours) but you can use pubic transit. However its still a bit of a hike to the nearest bus stop and finding a taxi for a short haul can be problamatic. In your case perhaps its best to just book a cruise line excursion or pay the big bucks for a private driver/guide. Keep in mind that its a bit of a walk to get from the Monte Carlo pier to anywhere in town since you must first walk off the pier and through the small port shopping area before you reach anything.

 

Hank

[sippican]

Thanks for the detail reply Hank! I have to reconsider if it takes 1.5 - 2 hours each way to get to St Paul De Vence from Monaco. Do you know if there are any local tour operators that offer excursions to St Paul plus other charming medieval towns?

 

We had originally planned to rent a car to visit Eze and St Paul de Vence, but DH had a change of heart and we booked a half day private tour. It ended up being the very best your of our entire 12 day trip.

Exclusive Riviers Tours:

http://frenchrivierasightseeing-tourguide.com/services.html

Michel, the owner, is a local and he will plan your time completely around your needs. We found the cost o be reasonable in comparison with our other tours, but certainly a lot more than a DIY. DH was glad he was able to enjoy the gorgeous views instead of concentrating on the twisty, hilly roads of the area.

One of our favorite days!