Monaco via Nice in 30 minutes
Monaco's airport is heliport-only. Fly into Nice (NCE): direct flights from Moscow, 30-minute taxi transfer or 7-minute helicopter.
Not just a country. A world of its own.
Best fares
Hotels Monaco and the French Riviera
Monaco hotels are the world's most expensive. Nearby Nice and Menton offer 60% savings with easy transfers.
Districts of a tiny country
When to go to Monaco
May — Formula 1 Grand Prix. July–August — yachting season. September — best weather and fewer crowds.
Curated tours to the French Riviera
What you need to know before you go
Monaco visa
Monaco is not in the EU but uses the Schengen Area. You need a French Schengen visa. Apply through VFS Global, processing 5–15 business days. Sales.Travel handles the entire application.
Money
Official currency is the euro. UnionPay cards accepted. Cash for markets and small cafés. Casino: minimum deposit 300 EUR to exchange chips.
How to get there
Nice–Monaco: taxi 40–60 EUR (30 min), bus 100/112 (1 EUR, 45 min), train (22 min, 4 EUR). Hellair helicopter: 7 minutes for 150 EUR. Sales.Travel arranges transfers.
Connectivity
French operators work in Monaco (Orange, SFR). Sales.Travel eSIM — from 4 € per week, QR activation. Current plans on the eSIM page. Europe-wide roaming. Full 5G coverage.
Must-try experiences
Enter the Belle Époque hall with evening dress code. Minimum bet — 5 EUR on roulette. Even just viewing the interior costs 10 EUR.
Built in 1863 to the design of Charles Garnier — the same architect who created the Paris Opera. Gilded halls, crystal chandeliers, ceiling frescoes — the interior alone is worth the 10 EUR entrance without gambling. Dress code required after 20:00: tuxedo or formal suit. Roulette starts at 5 EUR, blackjack from 10. James Bond gambled right here.
Official residence of Monaco's ruling family. Changing of the guard at 11:55 daily. State Apartments — open in summer.
Home of the ruling Grimaldi dynasty since 1297 — one of Europe's oldest continuously occupied royal palaces. Changing of the guard precisely at 11:55 — free and uncrowded if you arrive 10 minutes early. In summer the State Apartments open, with paintings by Rubens, Brueghel and the Prince's private chambers. Nearby — Saint Nicholas Cathedral, where Grace Kelly is buried.
Founded by Prince Albert I in 1910. On a cliff 85 metres above the sea. Vast aquarium, whale skeleton, underwater camera at 400 metres.
One of the world's finest oceanographic museums, literally built into Le Rocher cliff above the sea. Prince Albert I founded it in 1910 — he personally participated in 28 scientific expeditions. Inside: 6,000 marine species in living aquariums, 20-metre whale skeleton, Jacques Cousteau's laboratories and live-feed camera from 400 metres depth. The rooftop terrace view — Monaco's best panorama.
Walk the Formula 1 route on foot — 3.3 km. Saint-Dévote tunnel, viaduct, chicane. Feel the scale of the street circuit from inside.
The only Formula 1 circuit where cars race 30 centimetres from barriers on ordinary city streets. The full lap on foot — 3.3 km in 40 minutes: tunnel under the Fairmont Hotel, steep climb to the Casino, chicane by the pool overlooking yachts. In May, during the Grand Prix, Rocher viewing spots sell out six months ahead.
Restaurant at Hotel Metropole — 2 Michelin stars. Tasting menu — 280 EUR. Book 3–4 weeks ahead. The dinner of a lifetime.
Joël Robuchon Monte-Carlo restaurant at Hotel Metropole — two Michelin stars in the world's most glamorous city. Tasting menu of 8 courses — 280 EUR, à la carte from 120 EUR. Summer terrace overlooks gardens with Monte-Carlo views. Reserve your table strictly 3–4 weeks ahead. Dress code: smart casual or higher. For special occasions — Sales.Travel concierge books the best table.
7,000 cacti and succulents from around the world. Views of all Monaco and the sea. Caves with prehistoric bones beneath the garden. Open until 18:00.
Hanging garden on a sheer cliff since 1933 — 7,000 species of cacti and succulents from African and Mexican deserts. Some specimens reach 10 metres in height. Ticket includes: tour of the Grimaldi Caves beneath the garden with mammoth and Paleolithic human bones. The view from the highest point — Monaco and Riviera's best free (almost) panorama.
Café on Quai Albert I — yachts, sea, Aperol Spritz for 14 EUR. Standard programme before casino or dinner. Best time — 18:00–19:00.
Cafés along Quai Albert I and Quai des États-Unis — Monaco's best golden-hour spot. On the right — yachts worth 100 million EUR, on the left — the Mediterranean Sea in a colour no photograph captures. Aperol Spritz here costs 14 EUR — expensive by Russian standards, pennies for the view. Arrive at 18:00 before sunset, while the best tables are still free.
Monaco is near French châteaux. Tour to Nice — Èze — Menton — Villefranche in one day. Hire a car with driver from the hotel.
From Monaco, reach Nice in 30 minutes, Menton with lemon gardens in 20, medieval Èze on the cliff in 15. Classic one-day route: Nice — Villefranche-sur-Mer — Èze — Menton — return. Best option — rent a car with driver through hotel concierge: costs 350–500 EUR per day, but Grande Corniche with no stops.
Collection des Voitures Anciennes — Prince Albert II's personal collection: vintage cars and Formula 1 racing cars. In Fontvieille quarter.
Collection des Voitures Anciennes — Prince Albert II's personal collection in the industrial Fontvieille quarter. Over 100 automobiles: Formula 1 cars that raced in the Monaco Grand Prix, rare early-20th-century Rolls-Royce and Bugatti, first electric vehicles. Entry — 6 EUR, virtually no queues. Essential for car enthusiasts and anyone wanting to understand why Monaco and F1 are forever linked.