Nice Côte d'Azur Airport
Monaco has no airport of its own, so everyone staying in the principality lands at Nice Côte d'Azur, France's busiest airport outside Paris, about 40 minutes along the coast by road. It has two terminals, free unlimited wifi and the one transfer in Europe that is genuinely an occasion: a seven-minute helicopter hop to the heliport in Fontvieille. Every figure below is checked with the airport, the operators and the lounges themselves.
The 30-second version
Check your terminal before you fly: British Airways, American and United use Terminal 1; easyJet, Air France and Delta Terminal 2. Land in daylight with a hotel inside Monaco and the Monacair helicopter is €195 a person, seven minutes, van to your door included. Otherwise take the €95 fixed-fare taxi from entrance A3, or bus 80 from arrivals for €21.40. Going home, book the €10 fast track and arrive two hours before a European flight.
Book a private transfer
Booked with
A driver meets you in arrivals with your name on a sign, at a fixed price agreed when you book. Booked and paid with Welcome Pickups through our partner Travelpayouts; we may earn a commission.
British Airways, American Airlines, United, Lufthansa, Swiss, ITA Airways, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Ryanair, Jet2.com and Vueling, among 37
The terminal for most UK flights on British Airways, Jet2.com and Ryanair, and for the US carriers. The Library lounge serves Schengen flights, the Canopy non-Schengen. Nice Saint-Augustin station is a 7-minute covered walk from exit A0.
easyJet, Air France, KLM, Delta, Emirates, Air Canada, Aer Lingus, Transavia and Wizz Air, among 27
The bigger terminal, home to easyJet and the Air France group. Its extension opened recently and some gates have moved, so check the screens. The Infinity lounge serves Schengen flights, the Levity non-Schengen.
From inside the Schengen area there is no passport check: you walk straight to baggage. From the UK, the US and anywhere else outside it, non-EU passport holders join the 'all passports' queue, where the EU Entry/Exit System records fingerprints and a photograph at the first crossing; it has been fully operational since 10 April 2026. The airport says self-service kiosks are coming and asks you to allow a few extra minutes for now.
Luggage trolleys are free and self-service in both terminals.
The wifi is free with no time limit: join NiceAirportFreeWifi and accept the terms in the browser.
Monacair's regular line flies to Monaco every 30 minutes from 8.15am until the last flight before nightfall, about seven minutes in the air, from €195 a person. The fare includes an electric van from the heliport in Fontvieille to your address in Monaco. Book a seat before you fly and give your flight number.
Official taxis wait at entrance A3. The fare to Monaco is a flat €95, set by the prefecture for 2026, plus €2 for a fourth suitcase and €4 for a fifth passenger. Keep the roof number, the three digits under the word Taxi, and ask for a receipt.
In Terminal 2 the bus leaves from bay 1 on the arrivals level, by exits A1 and A3; in Terminal 1 from exit A0 at the Shuttle Parking stop, five minutes later. Tap a contactless bank card on the validator for a €21.40 single. It reaches Place d'Armes in 42–55 minutes on the timetable and carries on to the Casino, Larvotto and the Monte-Carlo Bay.
Nice Saint-Augustin station is a 7-minute walk from Terminal 1 exit A0, under 500 metres along a dedicated walkway, and the coast line to Monaco and Menton runs every 15 minutes on weekdays. A free tram links Terminal 2, Terminal 1 and the Grand Arénas stop beside the station; tram 2 also runs into Nice in under 30 minutes.
With Monacair, a chauffeur collects you in Monaco 30 minutes before your helicopter, and at Nice a dedicated VIP security service drops you at your aircraft's boarding area. By bus, line 80 leaves Place d'Armes from 4.40am Tuesday to Sunday and reaches Terminal 2 at 5.15am, in time for the first wave of departures.
The airport asks for two hours before a short or medium-haul flight and at least three for long-haul. Self-service check-in kiosks in both terminals open five hours before take-off. Be at the gate 30 minutes before departure.
Nice Access costs €10 booked online for either terminal, with children under three free in your arms. At security, use the machine farthest to the left with the Nice Access logo: scan the QR code, then your boarding pass. The airport asks you to be through security at least an hour before the gate closes.
The 100 ml rule still applies here: liquids in one transparent bag of up to a litre, laptops and large devices in their own tray. Families get a dedicated checkpoint, with self-service pushchairs for children under 25 kg waiting on the other side.
Schengen flights have none. Flights to the UK, the US and other non-Schengen destinations leave from the B halls after passport control, where the Entry/Exit System records your exit; give it a few minutes more than you think.
Each terminal has a Schengen lounge and a non-Schengen lounge, and the wrong one turns you away. Booked online they cost €40 to €56; entry opens two hours before a Schengen flight and three before a non-Schengen one.
Passes marked Book a pass are sold through GetYourGuide, which shows the price, hours and terms before you pay; we may earn a commission.
Every lounge in detail
The quiet room for Schengen flights from Terminal 1, with self-service wine and spirits from 11am and a proper breakfast until 11.
The one for British Airways and other UK flights from Terminal 1: buffets through the day, a wine bar from 11am, changing table and toys for children.
The one with a pool table, plus high chairs and toys for small children and buffets from breakfast to the evening.
The lounge for easyJet's UK flights and the long-haul carriers from Terminal 2, with a relaxing room by boarding and duty free delivered to your seat.
A pass for one of the airport’s lounges after security. GetYourGuide shows which lounge, its hours and the price before you pay.
Book a passJamie Oliver's PizzeriaTerminal 2, airside
Italian plates and pizza with a view of the runways from the departure lounge: the sit-down meal of Terminal 2.
La PailloteTerminal 2, airside
Niçois cooking in the boarding area, the last chance at the food of the coast before you fly.
Bottega Prosecco BarTerminal 2, airside, hall B
Prosecco, Italian wines and filled ciabatta by the Levity lounge, for UK and long-haul flights.
Pizz'AriaTerminal 2, arrivals
Wood-fired pizza in the public area, no boarding pass needed: useful while you wait for bus 80 or a delayed arrival.
La PlageTerminal 1
A Michelin-starred French chef's sit-down restaurant on a beach theme, with a slide for small children.
Pan GarniTerminal 1
Nice specialities reworked by the chef behind La Plage, quick enough for a short connection.
Chez PipoTerminal 1
Old Nice specialities with table service or to take away; Priority Pass members can use their dining voucher here.
Bread & CoTerminal 2, landside
Bakery and coffee in the check-in hall, for the 5am bus arrivals before security.
The hotel at Nice Côte d'Azur
For an early flight, a late landing or a long wait: the one we would book.
The closest proper four-star to Terminal 1, and an easy walk with a bag. There is a pool, a gym and a decent bistro, which makes it the best place at Nice airport to sleep before an early flight or to wait out a long gap.
Terminal 2 is about a kilometre away: take the free tram to Terminal 1, then it is a 5-minute walk.
Getting to the terminal
A few hundred metres from Terminal 1 on foot: follow the red line on the ground to car park P8, about 5 minutes
The helicopter flies in daylight only. Monacair's first departure from Nice is at 8.15am and the last leaves before nightfall, so an evening arrival in winter means the road. The van that comes with the fare covers addresses in the principality: Monte-Carlo Beach and the Maybourne Riviera are in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and Cap Estel is in Èze, all three in France, so plan the last stretch with the hotel.
The €95 taxi fare is a flat rate to Monaco only. Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and Èze are on the meter, and the airport's own 2026 list gives only indicative ranges for nearby towns: Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Villefranche at €55–60 by day, Menton at €100–110. For those three hotels, a private transfer at a price fixed when you book is the cleaner answer.
Book the helicopter with Monacair rather than a hotel concierge. The Société des Bains de Mer hotels list a shared flight from €245 a person and an S-Class at €250 one way; Monacair sells the same seven minutes from €195, and a private helicopter for up to six at €750.
Line 80 leaves Monaco at 4.40am Tuesday to Sunday and is at Terminal 2 by 5.15am. Some hotel pages still call it line 110.
Lounge choice follows passport control, not your airline. A London flight is non-Schengen, so you want the Canopy in Terminal 1 or the Levity in Terminal 2; the Library and the Infinity will turn you away.
Both terminals have baby care rooms with changing tables and small children's toilets in most restrooms, and restaurants will warm bottles and jars. There is a foosball table and the slide at La Plage in Terminal 1 hall A, an interactive game wall in hall B, a foosball table and game wall in Terminal 2 hall A and arcade machines in hall B. A family security checkpoint has around ten self-service pushchairs on the airside for children under 25 kg. Children under three are free in every lounge and on the fast track.
On bus 80, children aged 4 to 11 pay €11.10 on board and folded pushchairs travel free.
Assistance is free under the EU regulation on passengers with reduced mobility: ask your airline at least 48 hours before you fly, then use the call points outside, the information desk or your airline's check-in desk. Sunflower lanyards for hidden disabilities are at each terminal's information desk. Bus 80's coaches are all wheelchair accessible, but book with the operator at least 36 hours ahead.
Flights from Nice, and EU airlines' flights into it from outside the EU, fall under the EU rules: arrive three hours or more late and you can claim €250 for flights up to 1,500 km, €400 for longer flights within the EU and others up to 3,500 km, and €600 beyond (€300 if you arrive three to four hours late), unless the cause was extraordinary. Meals and refreshments are due after two to four hours depending on distance, and a hotel if the flight moves to the next day.
For a first-wave departure without a 4am start in Monaco, sleep by the runway: the airport lists free shuttles to the Radisson Nice Aéroport, Novotel Aéroport Cap 3000, Ibis Styles Nice Cap 3000 Aéroport, Okko Hotel, Crowne Plaza and Sheraton Nice, among others. The Schengen lounges in both terminals open at 5am.
Seven of our hotels are inside Monaco: the helicopter by day or the €95 taxi at any hour, with bus 80 for a light traveller bound for Larvotto or the Monte-Carlo Bay. The three in France, Monte-Carlo Beach, the Maybourne Riviera and Cap Estel, are best reached by a private transfer at a fixed price. Our transfers page has the typical drive to each.
Questions people ask
No. The nearest airport is Nice Côte d'Azur, about 40 minutes by road, and Monaco's own heliport in Fontvieille is seven minutes away by helicopter.
Monacair's regular line is from €195 a person one way, about seven minutes, every 30 minutes from 8.15am until nightfall, with an electric van to your address in Monaco included. A private helicopter for up to six is €750.
A flat €95 in 2026, before supplements of €2 for a fourth suitcase and €4 for a fifth passenger. Take it from the official rank at entrance A3.
Yes, line 80, the Nice Airport Xpress, from Terminal 2 bay 1 and Terminal 1 exit A0, about every 30 minutes until 10pm. A single is €21.40 by contactless card and it reaches Place d'Armes in 42–55 minutes.
Terminal 1, with American, United, Jet2.com and Ryanair. easyJet, Air France and Delta use Terminal 2.
Four, open to any passenger: the Library and Canopy in Terminal 1, the Infinity and Levity in Terminal 2, from €40 booked online. Priority Pass lists the Library, Canopy and Infinity.
Two hours before a short or medium-haul flight and three before long-haul, says the airport, and through security at least an hour before the gate closes.
Yes. Nice Saint-Augustin station is a 7-minute walk from Terminal 1, and trains on the coast line to Monaco run every 15 minutes on weekdays; Nice to Monaco is sold from €7 and takes about 22 minutes.
Image credits: Le Sharkoïste (CC BY 4.0) · Snoopy 31 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Kyah117 (CC BY 4.0) · Olivier Cleynen (CC BY 4.0) · kitmasterbloke (CC BY 2.0)