Monaco Beyond the Grand Prix: What to See, Eat and Do on the Riviera
Monaco built its name on glamour. The Belle Époque Casino de Monte-Carlo, made famous by James Bond, opened more than 150 years ago, and the principality has drawn royalty and jetsetters ever since. Add a fresco-covered clifftop palace, a harbor lined with super yachts, and the Monaco Grand Prix, and the appeal is obvious.
Wedged between the Mediterranean and the French Alps, Monaco is the world's second-smallest state, but it keeps expanding. The Mareterra land project quickly picked up the nickname "world's most expensive neighborhood." There are also grande dame hotels, a redesigned seaside promenade, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters tennis tournament, and the Monaco Yacht Show, which often claims the world's priciest super yacht. Direct seasonal flights have made the principality easier to reach than many travelers assume.
Nice airport is the gateway to the French Riviera, with year-round business-class-only service from New York and Newark on La Compagnie, seasonal flights from Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, and connections from major European cities. Trains from elsewhere in France or Italy connect through Nice or Ventimiglia. From Nice, it's a 25-minute drive or a seven-minute helicopter ride. Once there, walking and buses are easiest; Uber and Bolt can drop you in Monaco but cannot pick you up for trips out.
Monaco's rocky shore lacks the sandy beaches of its neighbors, so pools matter. There's an open-air Olympic-sized saltwater pool on the port, and half-day whale-watching safaris run along the coast. Larvotto, the main beachside stretch, recently got a modern makeover led by Renzo Piano, with beach clubs and restaurants along a palm-lined promenade. La Rose des Vents runs a seasonal Gucci-themed beach club with floral sunbeds, a nod to a 1960s motif designed for Princess Grace, where caviar and king crab tacos can be delivered to your lounger.
Across the bay, chef Simone Zanoni's cliffside La Vigie Zanoni serves al fresco Italian food with sweeping views and its own private dock. Nikki Beach Monte Carlo brings cabana-clad pool parties, while La Môme Riviera's rose-striped parasols hover over the rocks in nearby Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, reachable by shuttle boat from Port Hercule. Nearby Loulou Pirate keeps the barefoot-chic spirit of a spruced-up fisherman's hut.
In the One Monte-Carlo fashion district, shoppers can browse Cartier and Saint Laurent or sip champagne at Le Jardin Belle Epoque by Perrier Jouët outside Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo. Le Dressing's two boutiques in La Condamine sell vintage and second-hand luxury. On Fridays, a 30-minute train reaches Ventimiglia for one of Italy's largest open-air markets. Evenings bring the Monte-Carlo Summer Festival, classical concerts and opera at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and open-air cinema beneath the Oceanographic Museum.
Dining spans Michelin-starred kitchens and casual counters. In the Condamine market hall, Mauro Colagreco's Mitron Bakery sells sourdough milled and baked daily in Menton. In Fontvieille, Les Perles de Monte-Carlo plates oysters and sea bass, and the original Beefbar draws locals for lunch. Zeffirino's terrace is known for Genovese pesto on mandilli pasta. At Mareterra, London transplant zēphyr opened with its Naked & Famous cocktail bar.
At Blue Bay Marcel Ravin, Martinique-born chef Marcel Ravin blends Caribbean spices into artisanal plates, served in a dining room with an open kitchen and a seaside terrace. For see-and-be-seen spots, La Môme Monte-Carlo pairs a singer with views over the port and Prince's Palace, while Amazónico overlooks the casino with Bossa Nova, Cuban music and DJs. Greek-Mediterranean GAIA draws a fashionable crowd to its foliage-filled terrace. Nightlife runs from SASS CAFE and COYA Monte-Carlo to Twiga and Jimmy'z. For something quieter, Gustave at Hôtel Hermitage and Le Bar Américain at Hôtel de Paris serve apéro and nightcaps with live jazz, swing, blues and soul.
Five-star Belle Époque hotels cluster around the Carré d'Or. Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo, designed by Jacques Garcia, offers the Spa Métropole by Guerlain, the Karl Lagerfeld-designed Odyssey rooftop with a heated saltwater pool, and two-Michelin-starred Les Ambassadeurs by Christophe Cussac, where bread and dessert trolleys return alongside a cigar lounge and works by Picasso, Bacon and Warhol. Facing the casino, Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo emerged from a multi-year renovation with Art Deco rotunda rooms over the harbor and the Prince Rainier III Suite, while three-star Le Louis XV - Alain Ducasse keeps its gilded dining room and wine cellar of more than 350,000 bottles.
Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort suits families with a sand-bottom lagoon, Balinese-style beds and water sports off its pontoon. The terracotta-colored Monte Carlo Beach leans into 1930s Art Deco charm with an Olympic-sized saltwater pool. Guests at Monte-Carlo Beach, Hôtel de Paris and Hôtel Hermitage get access to the Monte-Carlo Beach Club pool and private plage. Across the peninsula in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, The Maybourne Riviera offers sky-high rooms, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's abc kitchens riviera, and an infinity pool suspended nearly a thousand feet above the sea.