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Nice to Monaco Train (8 posts)

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Alex Kendrick said 1 year, 2 months ago:

You can buy train tickets in advance from the SNCF website but only trains at the exact times – can you buy an open return so I can get any train in the morning and any train back in the evening?

Many Thanks!

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Caroline Miles said 1 year, 2 months ago:

We have always bought the tickets at the station rather than in advance. The tickets have always been for each day and are open. Make sure you validate them as they check your tickets when you get into Monaco. Just need to factor in the time to queue, but they have specific ticket booths for Monaco only – watch out for the queue jumpers though!

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NewGirl said 1 year, 2 months ago:

Hi guys, sorry to jump in but I too am interested to know about the trains. How often do they travel to Monaco from Nice? What time would you recommend leaving Nice/ getting to Monaco? Are the queues hours long in both directions on race days? Thanks :)

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Alex Kendrick said 1 year, 2 months ago:

Thanks Caroline! When you say you bought them at the station did you buy them on the day for each day or for example on the Wednesday and buy 3 days worth of open returns? Did you buy them from machines or a manned office? Is the language barrier at the station an issue as my French is good but not great!

Do you validate the tickets on the train or at Monaco station when you get off?

Thanks again and I’m so sorry for all the questions! Just hoping my trip goes as smoothly as possible :)

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Caroline Miles said 1 year, 2 months ago:

Hi Alex/New Girl

Off the top of my head I cannot remember the frequency of the trains but they are pretty regular and they do have a lot of staff on to make sure you get on the right train. Qualifying and race day are very busy and race day is very bad for getting back as everyone tends to be leaving at the same time so it takes patience. It is probably better to spend some time in Monaco after the race rather than planning to go back straight away. Be careful as well when coming back as you need to ensure you catch a train that is stopping in Nice – we met a couple who didn’t check and got on a train that didn’t stop in Nice – the boards at the station show you which stations the train is stopping at.

Alex, to be honest I am not sure if you can buy your tickets in one block on the Wednesday or not, someone else in the forum may pick up on this and be able to confirm but I would imagine if you are sorting on Wednesday will possibly be able to do so – they tend to sell day returns on Thursday but that may be because people are just going in for the day and not for the rest of the race weekend. They do have machines but everyone we saw, even the locals, seemed to have issues with them. They have manned ticket offices and they were very efficient and spoke English very well. My French is rusty school French and we managed OK. You need to validate your ticket as you go through at Nice and then the same again coming back at Monaco station – the tickets we had were 2 x single tickets, one for each way.
Don’t wait until you get off as if the inspector checks your ticket on the train and you haven’t validated it they will deem you to be fare doging as you could re-use your ticket again and you will be fined!

I am sure you will be fine it is very easy to get to Monaco from Nice and there are loads of fans going in at the same time, so just follow everyone else.

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mclarentastic said 1 year, 2 months ago:

I’ve just come back from Nice, and getting to Monaco is a doddle. Probably easier to buy each return ticket on the day from the machines, although I think you can probably buy in advance, specifying the date of intended travel. The ticket machines are fairly easy to use if you have a bit of basic French, but there will be people who can help I’m sure. I was told by our tour rep that tickets bought from a machine do not need validating as they are too small to fit in the validating machines, and in any case, they have the date of travel on them so are effectively only valid on that day anyway…..but I would double check this……

Trains normally run roughly every 20 minutes in both directions, but they may put extra services on on race weekend. The journey takes about 20 minutes if it stops at every stop….about 15 minutes direct.

Not sure how people will be “herded” once in Monaco station, but generally, if you are heading for Rocher (GA) or grandstands that side of the course, you need to head for the back end of the train when you get off and follow the signs for the exit in that direction.

Almost all trains going west stop at Nice for your return journey. The only trains that your ticket may not be valid for are the Inter City TGV type trains, but I’m sure there will be plenty of people around to help.

Cost was 7.20 Euros return, I think, or maybe slightly more. A very cheap alternative is to take the bus which takes longer but only cost 1 Euro each way. Tickets can be bought from the driver or in advance from tabacs. Buses run from various places along Ave Felix Faure….there is no bus station as such.

Hope this helps….but just go with the crowds and you’ll be fine.

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faz khan said 1 year, 2 months ago:

When is the earliest and latest trains roughly about?

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ShivyF1 said 1 year ago:

Mclarentastic, thanks for that, answered all my traveling questions!!

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