Monaco — Travel Tips

Language

The official language of Monaco is French. However, the national language is Monegasque, which is spoken by roughly 20 percent of the principality’s population, and is similar to Italian. Italian is also used by many residents, as well as some German. It is easy to get around Monaco with English, with most people working in the tourism industry speaking English.

Currency

Monaco uses the euro as its official currency, despite the fact that it is not part of the EU. Until 2002, Monaco was making their own Monegasque coins and using French francs. On January 1, 2002, Monaco adopted the euro with the rest of the Europe and mints its own Euro coins with Monegasque designs on them. Euro bills come in 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10, and 5 denominations. Generally, the 500 bill is difficult to change, so it is better to have smaller bills on hand. The euro is divided into 100 cents and coins come in 2 and 1 euro, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1 cent pieces.

Money is easily changed at airports, hotels, banks, and currency exchange kiosks. There are also currency exchange ATMs, which allows visitors to exchange money, as well as regular ATMs throughout the principality.

Time

The principality is in the Central European Time zone, which is one or two hours ahead of GMT (GMT +1 or GMT +2), depending on daylight savings time.

Electricity

Monaco uses electricity at 127-230 V/50H z. Two types of plugs are generally used in Monaco, one with three round prongs (in a triangle shape) and two round prongs. It is a good idea to travel with both a converter and a plug adapter just in case.

Communications

The dialing code for Monaco is +377. There is only one telecommunications provider, Monaco Telecom. Visitors can purchase pay-as-you-go SIM cards, although French ones work equally well.

Duty-free

Duty-free allowances vary depending on whether you're coming from inside or outside the EU. Generally, when traveling from the EU, there are no restrictions, but visitors should probably not exceed the following limits just to be safe: 800 cigarettes, 200 cigars and 10 liters of alcohol. The following limits exist for entering Monaco from outside the EU: 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars and one liter of alcohol. It is prohibited to bring in milk and meat products from outside the EU.

Tourist Office

Monaco Government Tourist & Convention Authority: +377-92-16-61-16 or http://www.visitmonaco.com.

Consulates in Monaco

Monaco only has a limited number of embassies and consulates. Visitors will find many more embassies and consulates in Paris.

Austrian Consulate, Monaco: +377-93-30-23-00
British Consulate, Monaco: +377-93-50-99-54
Canadian Consulate, Monaco: +377-97-70-62-72
Danish Consulate, Monaco: +377-93-50-02-03
French Embassy, Monaco: +377-92-16-54-60
German Consulate, Monaco: +377-97-97-49-65
Italian Embassy, Monaco: +377-93-50-22-71
Swiss Consulate, Monaco: +377-93-15-58-82

Emergency

Emergency services: 112
Fire, Accident & Emergency: 18 (+377-93-30-19-45)
Police: 17 (+377-93-15-30-15)