How to get to Monaco, from the plane to the pavement

The first thing to know about getting to Monaco is that you won’t land in Monaco. The Principality has no airport, so every search for a «Monaco airport» ends in the same place, Nice Côte d’Azur. From there it all comes down to how you cover the last 30 kilometres, and that’s where people spend more than they need to or lose an hour they didn’t have to lose.

Does Monaco have an airport?

No, which makes sense in a country you can cross on foot in under an hour. Visit Monaco puts Nice airport, with its two terminals, 30 kilometres away by road. The only things that land inside the Principality are helicopters, which is why you’ll see 7-minute transfers advertised at the airport itself.

From the UK I’d simply look for a direct flight to Nice. The airports, airlines and weekly frequencies I checked on the Nice airport website are all in my page on flights to Monaco. What I can promise is that once you’re in Nice there are four very different ways to do the last stretch, and each one suits a different kind of traveller.

Four ways from Nice airport into the Principality

The express bus is ZOU! line 80, formerly the 110. It leaves from Terminal 2 and Terminal 1, stops in Monaco at Place d’Armes, the tourist office and the Sporting Bay Hôtel, and carries on to Menton. According to the June 2026 timetable it takes 50 to 55 minutes to reach Place d’Armes, with departures every half hour on average between 07:00 and 21:00 and a last bus from T2 at 22:00. Bought in the app, online or by tapping a bank card on board, it’s €21.40; paying the driver in cash costs €21.80. With a big suitcase this is what I’d take, because it drops you in the street with no changes at all.

The cheap alternative is the train. From Terminal 1 you take tram line 2 or B, or walk a 7-minute footbridge, to Nice Saint-Augustin station, and catch the regional train to Monaco’s underground station. It means one change, but with a backpack it’s the most sensible choice to me.

Then there are the two extremes. Into the Principality you’ll be in a French taxi, at a flat €95 from either terminal according to Visit Monaco; on the way back, a Monaco taxi charges €110 per car under the September 2026 table. The helicopter from Nice to Monaco, on the Monacair and BLADE scheduled service, costs from €195 a seat and takes about 7 minutes. Times, prices and the train from central Nice are all laid out in my side-by-side of every Nice to Monaco option.

Passport, GHIC and the rules that change for Brits

Since Brexit, a British passport works to Schengen rules here, and I go through them properly in Monaco entry requirements. Gov.uk says you can visit the Schengen area, which includes Monaco, without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180. Your passport must have been issued less than 10 years before the day you arrive and still be valid 3 months after the day you leave. Gov.uk also asks you to make sure it’s stamped on the way in and out, which in practice happens at Nice airport, not at the Monaco border.

The border itself you won’t notice. Visit Monaco calls it imperceptible, and I haven’t found an official source mentioning any fixed check or a Monaco stamp. Why such a small country runs to Schengen rules without having signed up to Schengen is explained in whether Monaco is a country.

The one rule I’d underline is about health cover. The FCDO says the EHIC and the GHIC aren’t recognised in Monaco, so I wouldn’t travel without insurance that includes medical treatment and repatriation. Emergency numbers and what to watch for are in scams and safety in Monaco.

By train from Paris, or from London via Paris

Coming by rail is perfectly civilised if you’re already in France. The Monaco government says its station has TGV links with Paris and that around 100 trains a day stop there, counting regional, TGV and long-distance services. The combination most people recommend is the TGV Duplex from Paris Gare de Lyon to Nice Ville, from 5 hours 40 on the fastest trains, then the regional train to Monaco-Monte-Carlo.

From London that means getting to Paris first. I haven’t checked a timetable for that leg for this page, so I won’t give you a door-to-door time, but the Paris part is covered in Paris to Monaco by train, plane or car. If you’re already on the Riviera, the direct regional train is in Cannes to Monaco.

Driving in, and why I’d rather not

On the road you arrive on the A8, La Provençale. Exit 56 (signed Monaco and Cap d’Ail) and exit 57 (La Turbie) are the handy ones, leading to the A500 and a tunnel that comes out by the Princess Grace hospital, while exit 58, Beausoleil, brings you in from the north near Larvotto. Once inside, you can’t exceed 50 km/h, and the drink-drive threshold is 0.5 g/l.

If you hire a car in Nice, the FCDO says British licence holders also need a 1968 International Driving Permit. To me a car only pays off if you’re touring several Riviera towns. For Monaco alone, parking is charged by the quarter hour after the first free hour, and cars registered outside Monaco and the Alpes-Maritimes can’t drive up to the Rock. Every car park and its price is in where to park in Monaco. Where to collect a hire car and what changes behind the wheel is in car hire for Monaco.

What I’d do, depending on where you start

Flying from the UK, I’d land in Nice and take the 80 with a suitcase or the train with a backpack. If the flight lands late or there are three or four of you with luggage, the fixed-fare taxi or a pre-booked transfer is worth it. From Paris, the train strikes me as nicer than a short flight. And if I wanted to arrive in style, the helicopter is the only transport treat I’d pay for here.

Two last things before you pack. Monaco sits outside the EU’s roam-like-at-home rules, and since Brexit your UK network decides what Europe costs you anyway, so read your tariff for Monaco specifically in phone and roaming in Monaco. And if your dates clash with the Monaco Grand Prix, forget the car, because the circuit closes streets for weeks before and after the race.