+377, the dialling code that proves Monaco isn't France

Few things make it clearer that Monaco is another country than its dialling code. You’re a step from France, you cross without a border, and suddenly the phone numbers start with +377 and your mobile switches network. Here’s how to dial both ways, which numbers to keep handy and where the catch is, which isn’t the code but the bill.

+377, Monaco’s own code

Monaco has its own telephone network and its own international code, +377, which you dial to reach a Monegasque number from abroad. It isn’t France’s +33, however invisible the border. The network is run by Monaco Telecom, the national operator, which provides landlines, mobiles, internet and television, and offers 5G across the entire country.

The numbers published by the tourist board have eight digits after the code. The police, for instance, are on +377 93 15 30 15, and A&E at the Princess Grace Hospital on +377 97 98 97 69. I find it useful to know, so a number doesn’t look suspiciously short. British mobile numbers run to eleven digits with the leading 0, so a Monaco number can look incomplete at first glance, but it isn’t.

Calling from the UK, and calling home

From the UK, dial 00 377 from a landline, or +377 from a mobile, then the eight digits. If you save numbers in your contacts with +377 in front, they work the same from Britain as from Monaco and you don’t have to think about it.

To call the UK from Monaco, the tourist board keeps it simple, you use the + sign, the country code and the number. For Britain that’s +44 and the number without its first 0, so a London number starting 020 becomes +44 20.

The catch isn’t the code, it’s roaming

This is where people get caught out. Brussels leaves Monaco off its roam-like-at-home list, and after Brexit that list doesn’t bind British operators in any case, each of which prices Europe its own way. I haven’t checked every network’s terms, so the only reliable answer is your own tariff.

On top of that, your phone latches onto Monaco’s network without you noticing, sometimes before you arrive, on the train from Nice. What I’ve found on this, and how to avoid a shock, is in using your phone in Monaco.

The numbers I’d keep to hand

There’s a short list worth having ready. 112, the European emergency number, works from a mobile. The police answer on 17 as well as on their long number, +377 93 15 30 15, and the fire brigade on 18. At night, between 19:00 and 07:00, the out-of-hours doctor answers on 116 117, and sea rescue is 196. For lost property, +377 93 15 30 18. They’re all in the table.

One more thing for British travellers. Gov.uk says your EHIC or GHIC won’t be accepted in Monaco, so I wouldn’t cross the border without a policy that pays for a doctor. The local rules that catch visitors out, and the tricks to watch for, are gathered in scams and safety in Monaco.

The apps I’d install before going

A lot of the calls on a trip can be avoided with a well-prepared phone. The tourist board recommends several apps, and I’d keep three. Monapass lets you pay for buses, parking or a MonaBike and sells tickets for the Oceanographic Museum, the palace and the car collection. Taxi Monaco lets you order, track and pay for a cab, with a fare estimate up front. And Monaco Bus shows real-time arrivals at your stop.

Add Citymapper, which the tourist board says covers Monaco’s buses, trains, bikes and even the helicopter link, and you have the whole Principality in your pocket. With those and a bit of data you’ll barely need to dial +377 all trip, except to book a table or in an emergency. How to get around with all this is in getting around Monaco.

Monaco’s other codes

Monaco’s internet domain is .mc, and according to the IANA registry it’s managed by a department of the government itself. You’ll see it on every official website, from the government to the town hall, so you’ll soon get used to it while planning.

A code, a domain and a phone network all of its own come down to one thing, Monaco being a sovereign state, and I set out what that means in practice in Monaco’s status as a country.