Nice to Monte Carlo by taxi?
 

My husband and I will be traveling to Monaco next week. Our agent has a car to take us from our hotel in Nice to Monte Carlo and the charge is going to be $290 (not euros) Does that sound about right? We will have 2 med. size suitcases and 2 carry ons so I'm not sure about the train. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

$290 is pretty exorbitant for the distance covered. I understand that you are dealing with more luggage than you can easily carry yourselves, so here's another suggestion - have your hotel in Nice arrange a taxi to the bus station in Nice, take the bus to Monacco, take a taxi to your hotel in Monte Carlo. You can probably get the Monte Carlo hotel to prearrange a taxi to meet you at the bus station. Between the taxi drivers and the bus driver, you shouldn't have to do much luggage shifting. Even with generous tips to drivers, you should be able to do the trip for less than $100.

julia1 wrote: "$290 is pretty exorbitant..."

I like people to express opinions in a temperate way, but that is more temperate than the price merits. I'd say extortionate.

Outrageous.

How about a taxi to the train station in Nice, then another taxi from the station in Monte Carlo? The train ride is only about 20 minutes!

Suppose you are going to Paris instead of Monte Carlo. Would you still not use a train?

If it is ok to use a train to go to Paris, then it should be ok to take a train to Monte Carlo.

Bus ride from Nice to Main stn (Gare Routier)costs 4 euro, one every 20 mins, takes about half hour.
Bus from Nice to Monte Carlo costs 1 euro, one every 15 mins - I have seen people with lge cases on these buses. trip takes about 45 mins.

If you don't want to haul your luggage on and off the train, then julia1's suggestion of taxi-bus-taxi sounds good to me. The bus fare is only €1.00.

Thanks for the info... I think we will take a train. Is it difficult to get a taxi from the train station in Monaco?

I usually take the train myself when travelling in and out of Nice, but do be aware you may have to trundle your luggage up and down some stairs, and you almost surely will not find a porter to help. They're a vanishing breed in France, as elsewhere. I suggested the bus because access is usually level and taxi drivers will usually help with luggage.

Franky it sounds ridiculous.

If you have too much luggge to be comfortble on the train - just rent a car - will be WAY less than that. And you can even stop and see things on the way.

We had our travel agent arrange transfers for us from Nice to Villefranche-sur-mer with a hire car company there - cost us 116 Euro total for the two trips - at the beginning and end of our stay.
The company she contracted through is World Airport Transfer.

My wife and I had our hotel in Nice arrange a car service to take us from there to our hotel in Juan Les Pins because we had too much baggage to comfortably schlep to the train station. It was about 70 euros. Monte Carlo is farther than JLP but it shouldn't be much more than that. definitely book through your hotel to get a better rate.

This is why I have not used a Travel Agent in 25 years. This charge is borderline criminal. For that amount you could probably travel to Paris, let alone Monaco.

No, it s not difficult to get a cab in Monaco train station. Let me know in which area you are going to in Monaco, i'll write you the easiest way to go.

Monaco is rather a small city. For instance, you would'not walk longer than 1/4h to reach Hôtel de Paris from the station.

Another option is taking the helicopter service to Monaco from the airport directly. It used to be 55 euro per person but the prices crept up to 99 euro now, it's still cheaper than 290 euro. There is a certain excitement in arriving by helicopter just from the view of the Rivieara from the air. The price includes transportation from the Monaco heli stop to your hotel by a white van.

You can reserve on line , but it's not necessary unless there is a special event in Monaco. www.heliairmonaco.com/home.html

I would seriously question all the other advice this travel agent has given you! $290 would be such a waste.

What hotel in Nice did this agent recommend, just out of curiosity?