Monaco has no airport, so every arrival starts at Nice Côte d'Azur, about 40 minutes along the coast. The choice is unusually good: a seven-minute helicopter, a taxi at a fixed price, an express bus and the coast train. Below is each one with the operator's own time and price, and the way we would get to each of the ten hotels in our Monaco edit, three of which are just over the border in France.
The short answer
In daylight the Monacair helicopter is from €195 a person, about seven minutes to the heliport in Fontvieille, with an electric van to your door in Monaco included. At any hour, the official taxi is a fixed €95 to Monaco from entrance A3, and the drive to our hotels is typically 30–45 minutes. Bus 80 costs €21.40 and reaches Place d'Armes in 42–55 minutes.
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.
The arrival people remember, and for one traveller cheaper than the hotels' own limousine. It flies in daylight only, and the van covers addresses inside the principality.
The simplest answer for two or more with luggage, at any hour, to any of our seven hotels in Monaco. The flat rate stops at the border: Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and Èze are on the meter.
The right call for the three hotels in France, where no flat taxi fare applies, and for late or delayed flights, families who need child seats and anyone who wants the car waiting rather than the queue.
Good value for one person with a light bag, especially to Larvotto and the Monte-Carlo Bay, where the stops carry the hotels' names. Two people pay €42.80 against the taxi's €95.
The cheapest way, and quick, but Monaco-Monte-Carlo station leaves you a walk or a taxi from most of our hotels. Best for a light traveller arriving at Terminal 1.
Monte-Carlo
The €95 fixed fare pulls up at the door one terrace below the Place du Casino; land before dusk and the helicopter with its van to the hotel is the better story for one or two.
Monte-Carlo
The hotel is on the Place du Casino, so the fixed fare is the easy arrival with luggage, and €155 cheaper than the hotel's own €250 limousine.
Monte-Carlo
The hotel is a short walk above the casino, inside the flat-rate zone, so the €95 taxi takes you and the cases to the door.
Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
The hotel is in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, past the end of the €95 flat-rate zone, so a transfer at a price fixed when you book avoids the meter.
Larvotto
The fixed €95 taxi takes you to the door in about 45 minutes; travelling light, bus 80 stops at Sporting (Bay Hôtel) for €21.40.
Fontvieille
The hotel is in Fontvieille, the same district as the heliport, so by day the helicopter and its van make the shortest possible last stretch; after dark, the fixed-fare taxi.
Monte-Carlo
The Fairmont sits on the Grand Prix hairpin above the sea, well inside the flat-rate zone, so the €95 fare is the whole cost of arriving.
Larvotto
The fixed €95 taxi is the easy way in, about 45 minutes; for one person with a carry-on, bus 80 stops at Larvotto (Hôtel Méridien) for €21.40.
Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
The hotel is high on the Grande Corniche in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, with no flat taxi fare and no bus or train near the door, so book the car.
Èze
Cap Estel sits on its own private peninsula at Èze-Bord-de-Mer, outside Monaco and its fixed fare, and a pre-booked driver takes you to the door.
Monacair runs the regular line between Nice Côte d'Azur and the Monaco heliport in Fontvieille, every 30 minutes, about seven minutes in the air. The first departure from Nice is at 8.15am and the last leaves before nightfall, which in winter means a late-afternoon cut-off. Seats are from €195 a person one way, and the fare includes a 100% electric van from the heliport to your address in the principality.
Book the operator directly. The Société des Bains de Mer hotels list a shared flight from €245 a person through their concierges, and Monacair sells a private helicopter for up to six at €750, which for a family of four works out cheaper per head than the shared seats.
The prefecture sets a flat fare from the airport to Monaco: €95 in 2026, from the official rank at entrance A3. Supplements are €2 for the fourth suitcase and €4 for a fifth passenger, and the price list must be displayed in the car. Note the three digits under the word Taxi on the roof and keep the receipt, which the driver must give for any fare of €25 or more.
The flat rate does not cover the French side. For Monte-Carlo Beach, the Maybourne Riviera and Cap Estel the meter runs; the airport's indicative 2026 fares show €55–60 by day to Beaulieu-sur-Mer and €100–110 to Menton, either side of them.
Line 80, the Nice Airport Xpress, leaves Terminal 2 from bay 1 on the arrivals level, by exits A1 and A3, and calls at Terminal 1 exit A0 five minutes later. On the timetable valid from 29 September 2026 it leaves the airport from 8.30am to 10pm, reaches Place d'Armes in 42–55 minutes and the Sporting stop by the Monte-Carlo Bay in about an hour; some departures also stop at the Office de Tourisme by the casino gardens. The coaches are electric, with wifi and USB charging. Older hotel pages still call it line 110.
Monte-Carlo Beach and the Maybourne Riviera are in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, east of the principality, and Cap Estel is at Èze-Bord-de-Mer to the west. All three are outside the €95 flat-rate zone and outside the area the helicopter's van covers. A transfer with its price fixed at booking is the tidy answer, and the Maybourne, up on the Grande Corniche, is the one where we would not consider anything else.
After dark the helicopter is not an option, and the last bus 80 leaves Terminal 2 at 10pm. A late or delayed flight is when a pre-booked driver earns the money: the flight is tracked and the car is there whatever time you land. The fixed-fare taxi from entrance A3 is the alternative for hotels inside Monaco.
Bus 80 leaves Monaco Place d'Armes at 4.40am Tuesday to Sunday and reaches Terminal 2 at 5.15am, then runs through the day until the last airport departure in the evening. Monacair's 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. The airport asks for two hours before a European flight and three before long-haul.
Questions people ask
In daylight, the Monacair helicopter: about seven minutes, from €195 a person, van to your door in Monaco included. Otherwise the €95 fixed-fare taxi, typically 30–45 minutes to our hotels.
€95 flat in 2026 from the official rank at entrance A3, plus €2 for a fourth suitcase and €4 for a fifth passenger.
From €195 a person one way on Monacair's regular line, or €750 for a private helicopter for up to six.
Bus 80 takes 42–55 minutes from Terminal 2 to Place d'Armes and about an hour to the Monte-Carlo Bay, about every 30 minutes until 10pm, for €21.40.
Yes. Walk 7 minutes from Terminal 1 to Nice Saint-Augustin station; coast-line trains run every 15 minutes on weekdays, and Nice to Monaco is sold from €7 and takes about 22 minutes.
About 31 km by road, typically 30–45 minutes to our ten hotels, or seven minutes by helicopter.
No. Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and Èze, where Monte-Carlo Beach, the Maybourne Riviera and Cap Estel are, go on the meter, so a transfer at a price fixed in advance is simpler.
Image credits: Snoopy 31 (CC BY-SA 4.0)