The neighbouring principality of Monaco is a stone’s through from the town of Nice on the Côte d’Azur in France. With MrsWT73 never having visited Monaco, our trip through Nice marked a perfect time for us to go and visit the country. Since we didn’t have a vehicle for this portion of the trip, we ended up taking the convenient train from Nice to Monaco for a whole day of exploring.

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This post is one chapter on a trip to the South of France and Cinque Terre, Italy. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For information on how this trip was booked, please see our introduction. For parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Day Trip from Nice – France to Monaco, by Train

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My wife MrsWT73 had never visited the Principality of Monaco in the French Riveria. During our stay at Le Méridien Nice, we opted for a day visit over to Monaco.

Arguably one of the most popular attractions in Nice is the city of Vieux Nice, or old Nice, France. It remains one of the most quaint and popular old cities in France and greater Western Europe. We designed our stay to take advantage of some of the features and attractions of old Nice.

Nice, France holds a special place in my heart. I first visited in the year 2006 when I was attending business school nearby at the Grenoble Graduate School of Business. At the time, I would end up visiting Nice, France on a weekend day trip down from the school. I always knew that I’d return to Nice one day, but I was never sure exactly when that would be. Today’s visit marked my return to Nice some seventeen years after my first visit.

About the Principality of Monaco:

Officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by France to the north, east and west. The principality is home to about 38,682 residents. Monaco is widely recognised as one of the most expensive and wealthiest places in the world.

With an area of 2.02 km² (0.78 sq mi), it is the second-smallest sovereign state in the world, after Vatican City. Its 19,009 inhabitants /km² (49,230/sq mi) make it the most densely-populated sovereign state in the world.

Getting to Monaco:

We set out from our hotel at Le Méridien Nice, and walked up to Nice Ville train station. The Nice Ville train station was located in land off the waterfront, which about a ten minute walk.

We had purchased our Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer (SNCF) tickets on line through the iPhone SNCF app. It was especially easy to pay through Apple Pay and receive tickets directly into your Apple Wallet. Even with international credit cards, it was much more functional than neighbourhin Italy’s TrenItalia app that had limited support for Canadian credit card payments.

There were trains to and from Monaco train station every thirty minutes. With some of the busier frequencies, it was standing room only. However, on our trip to Monaco in the late morning, there were plenty of seats available being a less busy travel period outside of a weekday rush hour.

Visiting the Monte Carlo Casino:

After arriving into Monaco, we walked two blocks over towards the street leading down to the Monte Carlo Casino. Although Monaco is it’s own separate country, it integrates seamlessly with France.

After a few steps, we were at the gardens of the Monte Carlo casino. I had visited the casino about seventeen years ago, but it would mark MrsWT73’s first visit to the place.

Since my last visit, the front of the casino had been tiled over. The place was more of a tourist attraction than an actual a display of wealth and glamour. Perhaps evening visits may be different. . .

At the time of our visit, it cost 18€ for a visit to the casino. The casino advertises free admission for loyalty members of it’s casino loyalty program. However, they seem to batch process membership sign ups. When I signed up that morning at the hotel, the casino had not processed our membership some six hours later when we arrived to the Monte Carlo casino. As a result, we had to pay the entry fee.

The passports were validated in the general hall (which is free to enter). After validation, we were given access to the casino.

I was able to snap just one photograph inside the Monte Carlo casino before getting told to stop by the casino security staff. Despite the rule on “No Photography”, it was neat to take in the environment of the whole old world casino.

Despite the old world casino being a famous place of luxury, it was pretty quiet during our daytime weekday visit. I would imagine that it might be a different scene on a weekend or during an event.

After we took in the casino, we took a walk around the outside of the opulent building. The Monte Carlo casino had beautifully restored it to a world class facility.

The Monte Carlo casino was one of the must see attractions while in Monaco. I could have likely survived without going inside of the casino, but since you only live once, we made sure we actually went in for a visit.

Monte Carlo Hairpin Turn:

After the casino visit, we briefly stopped by the Monte Carlo Raceway Hairpin. Just a short walk away from the Monte Carlo casino was the hairpin turn.

The hairpin turn marked the front entrance to the Fairmont Monte Carlo hotel. It was also the site of many automotive enthusiasts checking out the physics and geography of the area.

ething for everyone to look at and enjoy while walking through Vieux Nice.

Descending to Monte Carlo’s Harbour:

We continued our day of walking by heading down from the casino towards the harbour. The Monte Carlo Yacht shows were just in the process of wrapping up during our visit, with many tents and other exhibitioners in the harbour.

The views around the Monaco Harbour are pretty enjoyable. There aren’t many places in the world where you can see these kinds of boats.

After admiring the hillside views of the Principality of Monaco, we came to the Juan Manuel Fangio Statue. Juan Manuel Fangio was a five-time Formula One world champion. The sculpture depicts Fangio leaning on his Mercedes Benz W196 which earned him one of his victories at the Monaco Grand Prix, with a life-sized bronze statue of the Argentine driver. It was at this location that he won races in 1950 and 1957

Climbing up to Monaco City:

From the statue, we climbed up the hill to Monaco City. On our walk up, we were treated to gorgeous world class Monaco Harbour Views that just got better and better the higher up that we went.

Once we got to the top, we pretty much had the whole of the harbour at our feet. It’s quite an amazing panorama that you can only experience by being on foot due to a lack of parking lots in the area.

Exploring Monaco City:

Once we were at the top of the hill, we set out to Explore Monaco City. The streets of Monaco City are pedestrian only, which made for a quaint and neat change from the streets from back home. Although today’s visit was filled with school children on a field trip, there were a few interesting restaurants hidden around corners.

We passed by the Cathedrale de Monaco. It was an imposing structure and is known for the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Monaco in Monaco-Ville, Monaco, where many of the Grimaldis are buried, including Grace Kelly and Rainier III.

We eventually arrived to the Palace of the Prince of Monaco, which occupied a commanding spot in Monaco City. The Palace of the Prince of Monaco is the primary residence of the Prince of Monaco and provides the necessary palatial surroundings for a royalty figurehead of a wealthy country.

The views from up top by the Palace of Monaco were absolutely stunning.

What a terrific second day for visiting Nice, France.

My Thoughts on Visiting Monaco:

While it wasnt my first time visiting Monaco, it’s still a pretty unique place to visit for a day. Aside from being cut into the side of the hill, and being surrounded by many of riches, and featuring a unique casino, the city and hills are filled with interesting landmarks.

It is a perfect day trip from Nice. I cannot really imagine myself visiting Monaco in any other way, other than a day trip.

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If you’ve visited Monaco, what did you make of the city ?

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