dallen03

Does anyone know if transportation is available from nice to monte carlo and back late on a saturday night? We will leave at about 3pm and return as late as possible maybe between 10-12midnight.

lemidi

Here's the link to the sncf site for local trains:

http://www.ter-sncf.com/paca/index.asp

I put in Sat April 19 as a guess and the latest train from Monaco to Nice is at 23:57 and is a 24 minute ride. The previous train is at 22:19 and is a 24 minute ride. If you spend all night partying in Monaco the earliest morning train back to Nice is at 5:12.

SeaUrchin

You can take a taxi too or a private driver.

dallen03

Thanks so much. The link was very helpful.

ira

Hi d,

> late on a saturday night? ...maybe between 10-12midnight.

Why do I get the feeling that you are no longer in your twenties?

Weadles

Just be careful of the area around the train station in Nice at night. If it weren't so expensive, I'd suggest taking a cab back from Monaco.

dallen03

I do appreciate the feedback. My itinerary is still open. If anyone has any suggestions of the best way for us to handle our stay I would love your feedback. We fly into nice at 2pm. We hope to visit the monte carlo casino which is our main reason for the one night visit. I would like to do a little shopping and get the overall french riviera experience , what ever that is, before we head back to the airport which will be at around 3pm the next day.
thanks

lemidi

Is staying the night in Monte Carlo out of the question?

Ira, funny you should mention the age factor. Since I did not know dallen's age or partying stamina I mentioned the 5:12AM train just in case. When I was in my 20's and going out at night in the South of France we would always take that 5AM or so train home since the clubs were open pretty much all night. Nowawadays I'm in the 10-12 o'clock camp.

ira

Hi D,

With a one night stop-over you aren't going to get much of the Riviera experience.

What is the rest of your itinerary?

dallen03

Ira your right I am no longer in my twenties and I'm not sure how the 6 hour time change and jet lag is going to effect us.
Monte Carlo hotels are not out of the question at all. There was so much talk of how nice old town NICE is I thought it would be fun to stroll around. The main focus though is Monte Carlo casino and a little shopping.

dallen03

Okay. My complete intinerary is we :
-fly to zurich airport where we have a 5 hour layover
-on to Nice we arrive at 2pm stay over night
- catch the 5pm flight to paris, we'll be in paris for 3 days
- then we'll catch a late flight into rome stay for 3 nights.
-The last day will be spent getting ready to catch the 11am flight to london where there will be a 3 hour layover
-then we head home.
Just a little taste of Europe. But I chose to do it this way so we can pick and choose where we would like to revisit for a longer stay. And we could only get a week off from work, this time.

lemidi

Since Monte Carlo is the focus of this one night I would definitely recommend staying there for the night.

Nice is a fairly large city and by staying just the one night you would not even scratch the surface and would not see it in the right light with all the rushing you'd be doing. Stay in Monte Carlo, relax, wander, enjoy the casino. It is a beautiful town set in a spectacular location and will give you a taste of one perspective of the Riviera.

dallen03

thanks lemidi.
Now, where to stay in Monte Carlo? I'm looking for moderately priced and close to the casino so we won't have to worry about traveling until we leave for the airport. Is that doable without spending $600 for one hotel night? I have searched hotels in monte carlo and don't seem to get many responses. The other concern I have is traffic and getting to the airport the next day. Which way would be best to travel between the airport and monte carlo?

lemidi

HI
I am not familiar with a wide variety of hotels in Mote Carlo as I've never needed to stay there in a hotel. I know the obvious ones which are very expensive. I just did a quick search on hotels.com just to see if I recognized any reasonable hotels and there seem to be quite a few under $300.00. Novotel is usually a safe choice for a moderate hotel. And, even if you need to take a short taxi ride back to your hotel after the casino it won't be as bad as going all the way back to Nice at night. Traffic should not be a problem on a Sunday going to the Nice airport.

For better hotel advice you should probably post another question asking for Monte Carlo hotel ideas.

dallen03

Thanks again lemidi, you've been very helpful. I will repost that question.

dallen03

No responses to my question about Monte Carlo hotels that will allow us to walk to the casino, sigh. Maybe I had better stick with my original plan and stay in nice, go to monte carlo for the first day and check out nice in the morning before leaving for the airport.

lemidi

Again, since the Casino in Monte Carlo is the highlight of this part of your trip I would definitely stay in Monte Carlo for the one night. Just do a little more research. You don't only need to rely on this board.
I checked for you and the Novotel is available, a reliable, reasonably priced hotel and within walking distance of the casino. All you need to do is take a taxi (or shuttle which the hotel could probably advise on) from Nice airport to hotel and back the next day. This would afford you a full relaxing day to explore Monte Carlo in depth and there certainly is enough to fill the day time hours besides the casino.
http://www.novotel.com/novotel/fiche...he_hotel.shtml


Sure if you had more than the one night you might be better off staying somewhere else to see a lot more of the Riviera but you only have the one night. Make it easy on yourself.

Just a thought, when comparing the cost of the Monte Carlo hotel to a Nice hotel don't forget to factor in the round trip transportation from the airport in Nice to the hotel in Nice in addition to the transportation to Monte Carlo Casino and back at night.

Hope you have a great trip whatever you decide.