Things to do in Monte Carlo
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Monte Carlo
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Quiet and mild, museums and coastal walks at their calmest, with hotel prices at their annual floor.
Palace apartments reopen in late March, gardens flower, and tennis and historic racing can fill hotels.
Grand Prix month closes streets and multiplies prices. Avoid this week unless you are coming for the race.
Best overall month, with warm sea, long evenings and everything open at high but sane prices.
Peak summer. Beaches fill early, sights crowd by mid morning and midday hiking is a mistake.
Warm sea and thinner crowds, except Yacht Show week when the port closes and hotels spike.
Palace apartments close mid month, the sea stays swimmable and prices and crowds fall together.
Local Monaco, with some seasonal closures. Good for museums and markets, poor for a beach plan.
What's on
- Monaco Grand Prix late May
Streets close, grandstands wall the harbour and prices multiply. Book the previous autumn or avoid the week.
- Monte-Carlo Masters April
Tennis at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, filling hotels in its week.
- Monte-Carlo Television Festival June
Fills some hotels mid month in an otherwise ideal month to visit.
- Monaco Yacht Show Usually four days in late September
Takes over Port Hercule with high ticket prices and port closures for non ticket holders.
- Christmas Village December to early January
Christmas market and illuminations on Port Hercule restore atmosphere in the quiet season.
Best things to do in Monte Carlo
Place du Casino
The free spectacle at Monaco's heart, with the Casino, palace hotels and a constant parade of supercars.
Casino de Monte-Carlo
Garnier's Belle Epoque casino, best seen on the morning heritage visit before gaming starts.
Oceanographic Museum of Monaco
Monaco's one unmissable paid sight, an aquarium and ocean museum built into the cliff on the Rock.
Prince's Palace of Monaco
The Grimaldi palace on the Rock, with State Apartments open seasonally and a daily guard change.
Monaco-Ville
The old town on the Rock, with narrow lanes, rampart views and gardens one street back from the souvenirs.
Monaco Cathedral
The white stone cathedral on the Rock where Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace are buried.
Jardin Exotique de Monaco
A cliffside cactus garden with a cave below and the definitive panorama over the whole principality.
Larvotto Beach
Monaco's only public beach, free with calm clear water and a marine reserve offshore for snorkelling.
Where to stay in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
splurge and occasion stays
Casino Square on your doorstep, with the palace hotels and the Fairmont and Novotel nearby.
Fontvieille
quieter base inside Monaco
Residential quarter by the second harbour, good for the Rock and coastal walks, quiet at night.
Beausoleil
budget base within walking distance
French town directly above Monaco, walkable from its lower streets and cheaper than the principality.
Nice
Riviera trips longer than two nights
Full range of hotels at roughly half Monaco money, the airport, and a 20 minute train to Monaco.
Think twice about
- Upper Beausoleil
Safe and residential but so steep that the daily walk to and from Monaco stops being a pleasure. Book lower Beausoleil instead.
- Monaco station quarter as a doorstep
Functional, tunnelled and charmless to linger in. Fine for hotel convenience, not a neighbourhood to base an evening around.
Best restaurants in Monte Carlo
Le Louis XV - Alain Ducasse à l'Hôtel de Paris
Ducasse's three star flagship in the Hôtel de Paris, with lunch the connoisseur's value move.
Blue Bay Marcel Ravin
Two star Caribbean inflected cooking by the sea in Larvotto, unlike anything else in Monaco.
Les Perles de Monte-Carlo
Oysters, shellfish and fish by the harbour in Fontvieille at merely Riviera normal prices.
La Montgolfière Henri Geraci
A tiny chef run restaurant on the Rock, the exception to the rule against eating up there.
Café de Paris Monte-Carlo
The Casino Square brasserie terrace, worth one visit for the people watching, not every meal.
Marché de la Condamine
The market hall where Monaco workers eat, with socca, barbagiuan and fresh pasta for a few euros.
U Cavagnetu
Monegasque home cooking on the Rock at prices the old town otherwise does not offer.
Il Terrazzino
Family run Italian cooking in the Condamine, the useful everyday dinner when the budget runs out.
Outdoor things to do in Monte Carlo
Sentier du Littoral de Cap d'Ail
An easy paved coastal path from Fontvieille past Cap d'Ail marina to Plage Mala, all sea views.
Plage Mala
A sheltered cliff cove with clear water at the end of the Cap d'Ail path, built around beach clubs.
Sentier du Cap Martin
A 4.7 km family coastal path around Cap Martin past pine groves, coves and Le Corbusier's Cabanon.
Jardin Exotique d'Èze
The garden on the castle ruins above Èze village, with arguably the finest view on this coast.
Chemin de Nietzsche
The steep rocky path Nietzsche climbed between Èze-sur-Mer station and the hilltop village.
Tête de Chien
The rock plateau above Monaco giving the definitive aerial view of the harbour and the Rock.
Château de Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
A medieval castle above a hill village ten minutes east, the calm anti Monaco half day.
Monte Carlo Golf Club
Monaco's golf club at 900 m on Mont Agel, 18 holes facing the sea one way and the Alps the other.
Best hotels in Monte Carlo
Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo
The palace hotel on Casino Square since 1864, Monaco's defining splurge stay if you stay once.
Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo
The quieter Belle Epoque palace behind Casino Square, a splurge that still lets you sleep.
Fairmont Monte Carlo
A large resort hotel by the hairpin with a rooftop pool, the least theatrical full service stay.
Novotel Monte Carlo
A reliable chain hotel by the station, the normal priced way to sleep inside the principality.
Columbus Hotel Monte-Carlo, Curio Collection by Hilton
A calmer Fontvieille base by the second harbour, good for walks and the Rock, quiet at night.
Hôtel Forum
A plain hotel in lower Beausoleil, minutes on foot from the Casino at below Monaco prices.
Is Monte Carlo expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €75 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €250 a person |
| Splurge | €850 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Casino de Monte-Carlo: a few days ahead
- Oceanographic Museum of Monaco: a few days ahead
- Prince's Palace of Monaco: a few days ahead
- Plage Mala: a few days ahead
- Monte Carlo Golf Club: a few days ahead
- Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo: months ahead
- Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo: weeks ahead
- Fairmont Monte Carlo: weeks ahead
- Book Le Louis XV weeks to months ahead, and Blue Bay and La Montgolfière days to weeks ahead.
- Book Larvotto beach clubs in season and the Casino morning visit on peak days.
- Book anything during Grand Prix week and Yacht Show week months ahead if it is bookable at all.
Is Monte Carlo safe?
- Monaco is exceptionally safe and heavily policed, with petty theft rare rather than routine.
- Carry a physical passport or EU ID card for the Casino, as licences and copies are refused.
- Watch sun and heat on the Nietzsche Path and Exotic Garden steps, and expect coastal paths to close in rough seas. Emergency number 112.
Monte Carlo travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Restaurants facing Casino Square and on the Palace souvenir lanes, one terrace coffee excepted.
- Monaco taxis for in town hops, which start at a fare that punishes short rides.
- Grand Prix hospitality not sold through the Automobile Club de Monaco or a named hotel.
Getting around Monte Carlo: public transport and more
- Take the coastal train from Nice, about 20 minutes to Monaco-Monte-Carlo station for a few euros.
- The helicopter from Nice Airport takes about 7 minutes but saves little door to door over the train.
- Walk inside Monaco and use the public lifts, or take city buses instead of Monaco taxis for short hops.
Who Monte Carlo suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Monte Carlo your trip
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