Nice to Monaco

Depends on how fast you go! 1/2 hr to 40 min. if I remember correctly. Town of Eze is in between. Actual distance is about 22 miles.

 

via the highway/autoroute (whatever they call it in france) or the coast road?

30 minutes via the highway is about right. toll road

about an hour via the coast road but a pretty hour it is! some of it was used during the filming of Ronin.

(Edit: you might want to move to the Europe regional section)

 

Exit the Nice Airport (I assume that is where you are starting), take the A8 (blue sign, white markings) indicated to Menton or Genoa. It should take about 45 minutes (up to 3 hours during GP week!). After climbing a long hill, watch for the Monaco sign on the right (you can miss it quite easily unless watching carefully). I believe it's exit 56. You'll then go through a long downhill tunnel, and once exiting you will drive about another 2 miles to Monaco. Don't forget to have a credit card ready to pay the tolls along the way(cc in the slot, it will then release it and raise the barrier...dont' forget your card!). Hope this is of help.

 

When you arrive in Nice, stay in the baggage claim terminal and go to the stand that says Heli Air Monaco. It is a helicopter ride from Nice to Monaco. The cab ride, last time I paid was about 60 Euro, and Heli Air Monaco was 95 Euro. But, they take off from the Nice airport and fly along the Cote d'Azur at a height of about 1,000 feet. It is BREATHTAKING. You see everything in between, including Eze and Cap Ferrat. If you look close you can see armed guards toward the point on Cap Ferrat. Then you come into Monaco near the Aquarium. You actually land at the Seaside Plaza (condo towers)

The cab ride is about 40 minutes. The Heli flight is 15 to 20 minutes.

From there, take a cab to the Casino and have a coffee sitting outside the Cafe de Paris. You will see a dozen Ferraris, exotic Porsches, maybe a McLaren or two, a couple of Lambos, possibly a Zonda, I actually saw a NAZCA (looked like a Jaguar XJ 220) (I think this had a BMW badge on it.) After going there, walk across Casino Square and go inside the lobby of the Hotel de Paris. Look up at the ceiling and you will see half a dozen giant sea turtle shells on the ceiling (Current price--if you could get one--about $250K)

But the real secret is as you are heading from the Cafe de Paris toward the Hotel de Paris, make a U-turn to the left and walk down the walkway to the Monaco Grand Hotel (formerly Loews) At the bottom of the walkway, about 50 yards are a few steps up. Take these to the roof of the Grand Hotel. There is a rooftop bar and the view is spectacular.

If you get to the port on the Avenue Albert 1st (premier), near turn 1 of the F1 Circuit, you can enter the Rue Grimaldi. There is a shop there with all the F1 merchandise--models, shirts, jackets, cylinder heads, posters, etc. For a Ferrari fan, it is Christmas. Keep walking and turn left on Rue Princess Florestine (or maybe Florentine) and you will hit Cavallari--which is the Ferrari dealer. If it is daytime, go around to the side and look in the service shop--you will see lots of exotics--Enzo, F-50, etc.

If you have time for dinner, I recommend Mas Provencale. It is at the bottom of the hill in Eze. (There may be a website for it.) It may very well be the best dining experience of your life. The food is 9+ but the restaurant itself is a 10+. Last year, my wife and I spent 2 weeks in Italy with our sons (their first time in Europe) and we detoured back through Monaco so we could have dinner there. It was worth the trip a day out of our way getting back to the states.

If you get homesick and want casual American Food, visit Stars and Bars on the Port. Get the Teriyaki chicken sandwich and a Dr. Pepper. The owner is Kate and she is from Cincinnati, I think.

 

^^^^ +1 to everything he said.

 

http://www.mas-provencal.fr/

Despite the formal nature of the pictures, you can go to the restaurant in casual clothes.

Those flowers in the picture are real and are replaced every day. It is my favorite restaurant on earth.

 

Highly reccomend choppering in to Monaco from Nice airport. the fastest way