Monaco in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Monaco covers 15 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Monaco rewards a detour.

Day 1

Morning

1. Monte Carlo Casino: The Monte Carlo Casino, whose present building was designed by Charles Garnier (architect of the Paris Opéra) in 1878, is the world's most famous gambling establishment, a Beaux-Arts masterpiece of gilded excess, and by law, forbidden to citizens of Monaco.
2. Prince's Palace (Palais Princier): The Prince's Palace, the official residence of the Grimaldi family since the 13th century, is a former Genoese fortress dramatically perched on the Rock of Monaco above the sea, where the daily Changing of the Guard ceremony takes place at 11:55 every morning.
3. Oceanographic Museum: The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, founded by Prince Albert I in 1910 and directed by Jacques Cousteau from 1957 to 1988, is one of the world's great marine science institutions, built dramatically into the cliff face of the Rock with its foundations in the sea.
4. Monaco Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Nicolas): The Monaco Cathedral, built between 1875 and 1903 in Romanesque-Byzantine style, is the burial place of the Grimaldi princes and their consorts, including Princess Grace Kelly (who died in 1982) and Prince Rainier III.

Afternoon

1. Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix: The Monaco Grand Prix, held on the streets of Monte Carlo since 1929, is the most prestigious race in Formula 1, where the tight, unforgiving street circuit and the grandeur of the setting combine to make it the defining event in world motorsport.
2. Casino Square (Place du Casino): Place du Casino is Monaco's most famous public space, a grand square flanked by the Casino, the Hôtel de Paris (1864), and the Café de Paris terraces, where supercars permanently line the kerb and the spectacle of extreme wealth is Monaco's most accessible performance.
3. Jardin Exotique: The Jardin Exotique is Monaco's spectacular cliff-side succulent garden, perched on a steep rock face overlooking the entire principality, with one of the world's finest collections of cacti and succulents, and a prehistoric cave with stalagmites and stalactites accessible from below.
4. Monaco Ville / Le Rocher (The Rock): Monaco Ville, the original medieval old town on the Rock of Monaco, is a dense cluster of narrow streets, the Prince's Palace, Monaco Cathedral, the Oceanographic Museum, and all of Monaco's oldest history, perched on a promontory 60 metres above the sea.

Day 2

Morning

1. La Condamine Market: The Marché de la Condamine is Monaco's best daily morning market, a covered market in the La Condamine district offering fresh fruit, vegetables, flowers, and local produce, where Monegasque residents do their everyday shopping and the authentic daily life of the principality is briefly visible.
2. Port Hercule: Port Hercule is Monaco's historic main harbour, the only deep-water port on the Monaco coast, sheltered by a curved breakwater, and home to the principality's superyacht culture, the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix harbour section, and the Stade Nautique de Monaco.
3. Fontvieille: Monaco's Industrial District: Fontvieille is Monaco's westernmost district, land reclaimed from the sea in the 1960s and 1970s, home to the principality's light industrial zone, a marina, the Princess Stéphanie sports complex, and a more ordinary, workaday side of Monaco that most visitors never see.
4. Larvotto Beach: Larvotto is Monaco's only public beach, an artificial pebble beach to the east of Monte Carlo, created with imported sand and pebbles, where Monaco's residents and visitors swim in the Mediterranean, overlooked by the towers of the principality.

Afternoon

1. Grimaldi Dynasty: 700 Years on the Rock: The Grimaldi dynasty is the world's longest-ruling ruling dynasty still in power, François Grimaldi disguised as a Franciscan monk captured the Rock of Monaco in 1297, and his descendants have ruled the principality ever since, making Monaco one of the oldest sovereign states in Europe.
2. Grace Kelly: Princess of Monaco: Grace Kelly, Philadelphia-born Hollywood actress, Academy Award winner, and Alfred Hitchcock's favourite lead, married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956 in one of the most-watched events of the decade, becoming Princess Grace and transforming Monaco's international image and glamour.
3. Monaco: Tax Haven and World's Second Smallest Country: Monaco is the world's second smallest country (2.02 km²), has the world's highest per-capita GDP, levies no income tax on its residents, and has more millionaires and billionaires per capita than any other country, making it the most concentrated example of tax-advantaged luxury living in the world.

Full Monaco guide and all stops →