The Nice to Monaco helicopter, what you pay and what you get

The helicopter between Nice and Monaco has a reputation as a millionaire’s toy, and to a point it is one. But it has something few luxuries share, because it saves you the best part of an hour on the coast road. Here’s what it really costs once you add luggage, where you land, and when I’d actually pay for it.

How much is the helicopter from Nice to Monaco?

The figure you’ll see everywhere is Monacair’s, Blade’s partner here. A seat on its scheduled service costs from €195 per person, with departures every 30 minutes. From Nice airport they start at 08:15 and from Monaco at 08:00, and the last flight always leaves before nightfall. Visit Monaco talks of around 50 return flights a day between the airport and the Principality.

For a group the maths changes completely. Monacair offers a private flight for up to 6 people at €750 in total, which split six ways comes to €125 each. Héli Air Monaco, the other operator the tourist board lists, advertises private transfers from €700 for up to 5 passengers in the title of its web page. I couldn’t read its full terms, because the site loads them in a way that can’t be consulted, so I’d treat that price as a guide only.

Seven minutes that start at your hotel

What I like most about the scheduled service is what’s included. Monacair sends a driver to collect you in town 30 minutes before the flight and, in Monaco, runs the transfer in electric vans. Visit Monaco confirms it in its own words, saying the booking includes a free minibus from your hotel, home or office on the way out, and from the heliport on the way back.

Blade has its own lounge in each of the two terminals at Nice. And there’s one detail that, for me, justifies the return flight more than the outbound one. If you’re carrying only a cabin bag and have the boarding pass for your onward flight, Monacair takes you straight to the departures area at Nice, bypassing the long security line. Visit Monaco adds that at the heliport terminal some passengers can already check in for their flight.

The luggage small print

This is where the headline price falls short. Monacair’s basic fare includes a single cabin bag. With a proper suitcase you have two choices, pay the Flex fare, €50 more per seat, which includes one cabin bag and one hold bag, or pay €50 for each extra bag. Flex also lets you change your flight.

Two other conditions are worth knowing before you pay. Tickets are non-refundable except for weather, and Monacair requires valid ID for every take-off from and landing in Monaco, so for a British visitor that means the passport. Children aged 2 to 11 have their own fare category and under-2s travel on a lap.

Fontvieille heliport and how to get out of it

The heliport is on avenue des Ligures in Fontvieille, right by the Princess Grace Rose Garden and the Stade Louis II, according to Visit Monaco. It’s the district reclaimed from the sea on the western side of the Principality, and the flight comes in from that side.

To leave, most people use the included minibus to their hotel. If you’d rather make your own way, the heliport has its own stop on the local bus network, called Héliport, which links to the rest of the lines. How the buses work and what they cost is in getting around Monaco. And if you end up taking the train from Nice instead, you’ll arrive at the exits of Monaco-Monte-Carlo station.

When it adds up, and when it doesn’t

Here are the sums with published prices. One person with a backpack pays €195 against roughly €21 on the 80 bus, which takes 50 to 55 minutes. A couple with two large suitcases pays at least €490 once seats and bags are added, while a French taxi from the terminals costs a flat €95 per car according to Visit Monaco. For that couple, the helicopter costs about five times the taxi.

With five or six people, on the other hand, Monacair’s private flight at €750 comes in below the individual seats. That’s where it looks most reasonable to me. Every other way of making the trip, with times, is compared in every way from Nice to Monaco, side by side and, if you’re flying in from the UK, in how to get to Monaco.

My verdict

I’d take it inbound, from the airport, on a clear day and with hand luggage, because those are seven minutes over the coast you won’t forget, and you arrive in Monaco with the whole day ahead. For the return, the train or the bus are enough for me, unless the flight home leaves very early and the departures-area shortcut saves you an hour of queueing. If you’re after more treats with published prices, I’ve ranked them in luxury experiences in Monaco.