Monaco - A Day Trip from Nice Map
If you ignore the Vatican City, the Principality of Monaco is the smallest country in the world. It's a popular tourist destination due to its proximity to the beautiful French Riviera and tax free status. It's also the place where the rich and famous come - full of luxurious hotels, resorts and casinos.
Monaco could easily be compared to Las Vegas or Dubai, however, on a much smaller scale - the whole area of the Principality is only 2 square kilometers (less than 1 mile)! Click here to view our walking route through Monaco.
How we got to Monaco from Nice
Monaco is 20 kilometers from Nice, and is easily accessible via train. The train is very convenient, but gets very, very busy during the late morning and afternoon, so you should go as early as possible. Ticket acquisition in the Nice Train Station is a bit confusing, so get them ahead of time if possible. Some of the automated ticket machines will not accept U.S. credit cards, which complicated our ticket purchases!
Gare de Nice Ville Train Station: There are high speed trains (TGV) available here for many French (and International) destinations. In addition, there are regional (TER) trains for just about any location up and down the coast. There are also EuroCity services (Thello) trains that utilize this station.
Each of the various train services are roughly equivalent in price, but operate on their own schedules. So preferring one over the other is generally just a matter of when you want to depart versus price differences.
There are usually two French Rail TER trains per hour to Monaco from Nice, and this is exactly what we selected to ride on.
Gare de Monaco Train Station
All trains arrive in the underground area of
this train station. Once you ascend to the exit level, this is what you would see
from the sidewalk in front of the building.
To really demonstrate how small Monaco is, this train station actually resides just
across the French border. Yet when you exit the front of the station building, you
are in Monaco!
For the record, Monaco is approximately 202 hectares (500 acres) in size and is the second smallest
country in the world (the Vatican being the smallest country).
Monaco has a total population of 38,400 (2016 census) and an area of 2.020 square kilometers. This results
in 19,009 inhabitants per square kilometer making Monaco the most densely-populated sovereign state in the world.
NOTE: Image is the property of Smiley.toerist via Wiki
Casino Monte-Carlo
Our "trek plan" was to walk from the train station down to the Casino Monte-Carlo, a distance of approximately 1 kilometer. This was Monaco's first casino, opening in 1863. Famously featured in the James Bond movies Never Say Never Again and Golden Eye, the Monte Carlo Casino opened in a bid to bring tourists and income to Monaco.
Opéra de Monte-Carlo
And as we continued our walk past the Casino Monte-Carlo on Avenue de Monte-Carlo
we walked past the Opéra de Monte-Carlo on our left. A beautiful building!
NOTE: Image is the property of avu-edm via Wikipedia
Casino History:
With the lack of cultural diversions available in Monaco in the 1870s, Prince Charles III, along with the
Société des bains de mer, decided to include a concert hall as part of the casino. The main public entrance
to the hall was from the casino, while Charles III's private entrance was on the western side. It opened in
1879 and became known as the Salle Garnier, after the architect Charles Garnier, who designed it.
The above information was extracted from Wikipedia.
Sun Casino
This is the famous
Sun Casino which
is adjacent to the Fairmont Hotel and is located at the very center of the "Fairmont Hairpin" which
is the Formula 1 racing name for this corner in front of the hotel - the rest of us can just call it Avenue Princess Grace.
If you have ever seen a Formula 1 Race, then you will have seen race cars looping around this
very tight corner as they descend to make the right turn onto Boulevard Louis II.
If you have not ever seen a Formula 1 Race and you want to see what I am talking about, then go
watch this video on YouTube. The camera was on top of the Sun Casino
building pointing down at the
corner as the race cars slow to approximately 30 mph.
Fairmont Hairpin Bend
The Avenue Princess Grace as it approaches the Sun Casino and the
famous Fairmont corner. If you look at the left center area of this image, you can see
how the Avenue makes a 180 degree turn and swings downhill just in front of the
Sun Casino.
This just might be one of the most famous corners in any type of racing! It is officially known as
"turn 6" in Formula 1 Racing also known as "Grand Hotel Hairpin".
East above Princess Grace Avenue
We had stopped for a Starbucks (needed something iced, as it was getting hotter by the minute), in
a shop high above the Avenue Princess Grace.
This is looking east
along the Monaco shoreline as it marches off to the border with France.
Incredible view and we were
able to get some of the off-shore breeze up there!
Construction on the Avenue Princess Grace
The street at the very bottom of
this picture (as seen from Starbucks) is Boulevard Louis II
as it begins it's route into the Larvotto Tunnel. Avenue Princess Grace continues eastward,
the right turn onto Boulevard Louis II takes you to the tunnel.
This Starbucks had a really nice patio where patrons could consume their drinks, relax and
take in the stunning views!
And not only did this patio have
a tremendous view of the east side of Monaco,it had an even better view of the Mediterranean Sea.
Tunnel Larvotto
You can see why there is a tunnel here, the Fairmont Hotel is immediately above
above the tunnel entrance. When you exit the western end of the
Tunnel, you will find yourself in front of the Monaco Harbor.
Formula 1 race cars are generally hitting speeds of 160 mph as they enter this tunnel. And
if you recall, the race cars slowed to approximately 30 mph on the Grand Hotel Hairpin, then they had
to make a sharp right turn onto Boulevard Louis II from Avenue Princess Grace and then they
accelerate again!
Looking for the Water Taxi
This is the scene as we walked down the stairs from the Larvotto Tunnel looking for
the harbor water taxi (bateau bus) to get to the
Musée Océanographique. You can see the water taxi dock area in the lower center
of this picture.
Our travel research had made us aware that the water taxi was inexpensive and would
save us from having to walk completely around the harbor to reach the
Musée Océanographique.
Inside Monaco Harbor
The harbor was filled with beautiful motor yachts, and as we were taken by water taxi to the other side of the harbor, every direction we looked at was filled with more & more beautiful motor yachts.
Looking north from the Harbor
The border with France is just beyond that set of hills in the distance - remember that Monaco is just a tick larger than two square kilometers.
Monaco from the Harbor
You can see how the city marches up the surrounding hills and some buildings & hills disappear into the clouds.
The 'Lady Moura'
This spectacular four-level yacht, 344 feet long by 62 feet wide, boasts a state-of-the-art leveling system to avoid lateral tilts as it turns or accelerates. Its hull was built with a combination of steel and high-strength aluminum and is powered by two 6,868 horsepower diesel engines, which allow it to reach a top speed of 20 knots.
The Lady Moura is owned by Saudi Arabian businessman, Nasser Al-Rashid.
Musée Océanographique de Monaco
After our water taxi ride across the Monaco Harbor, we decided to visit the Musée Océanographique de Monaco. The water taxi dropped us off at a point where we could walk alongside the Mediterranean Sea.
The Oceanographic Museum (rear view)
The Musée Océanographique de Monaco, as we approached it from
the harbor area.
The Oceanographic Museum was inaugurated in 1910 by Monaco's modernist reformer,
Prince Albert I. Jacques-Yves Cousteau was director from 1957 to 1988.
The Oceanographic Museum aquariums area contains a set of pools with more than 200 species
of invertebrates.
The Oceanographic Museum area contains the largest cabinet of marine world curiosities, created by artist
Mark Dion. More than 1,000 objects from the Oceanographic Museum’s collections are displayed
in a 180-square-metre space: fossils, chimaeras, diving gear, valuable books etc.
The Oceanographic Museum (front view)
This monumental example of Baroque Revival architecture has an impressive façade
above the sea, towering over
the sheer cliff face to a height of 279 feet (85.04 m). It took 11 years to build, using
100,000 tons of stone from La Turbie (a village in France in the hills above Monaco).
During construction, the names of twenty well-known oceanographic research vessels
personally selected by Prince Albert I were inscribed into the frieze of the museum's façade.
NOTE: Image is the property of
Larry Koester via Flickr
The Beach below the Oceanographic Museum
Looking down at the beach as we approached the Musée Océanographique. See the
steps in the lower center of this picture? That is the only way down to this
beach and those stairs are very steep!
The parking building for the Musée Océanographique is at the top center of this picture, pedestrians
(like us) are required to walk around the parking building to the left.
Back to the Train Station
After our visit to the Musée Océanographique was finished, we decided that we
should catch a bus and visit the Formula One race starting point before we
began our walk back to the train station. The starting line is on Boulevard Albert 1st, next
to the Monaco Automobile Club building, so the walk back to the train station
would take us through some of Monaco that we knew would be scenic.
For a more complete discussion of the Monaco Race Circuit, visit the
Formula One
Website.
2018 Europe Trip Overview & Guide
We started in Paris and it has been called many things, but we like to think of it as one of
our favorite cities in Europe,
click here to read more.
Mont Saint-Michel, France: We did this as a day trip from Paris,
there is a lot of mis-information on the Internet about how to do exactly that, so
click here to view our Mont Saint-Michel page and see how we did it.
Nice, France: The capital of the French Riviera along the Cote
d’Azure. A city of rich culture and history with a laid back vibe - a vibe very
different than Paris. Click here to view our Nice France page.
Principality of Monaco: Monaco is only a short train ride (~20 kilometers) from Nice and is more scenic
than the images we took could possibly capture.
Click here to view our Monaco page.
Madrid Spain: The capital of Spain, and neither of us had ever been
there so we were anxious to see what it was all about.
Click here to view our Madrid page.
A Week in Portugal: This destination was the centerpiece of this trip to Europe.,
click here to view our Portugal page.
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Note: All images on this page are the property of Just Traveling Thru, LLC unless otherwise noted.
Note: If you are interested in our European Tips & Warnings, Click here. Or to take a look at our methods for Trip Planning click here.
To view our entire set of images from our Monaco visit, click here 
