Travel Review – French Riviera – Day 2 – Monaco

On Day 2 of my short adventure to France I decided to take the train to Monaco seeing that the main train station from Nice was just around the corner from my accommodation. I can recommend booking a return day ticket beforehand on the app from OUI.sncf. Tickets only cost a few Euro and it saves time at the train station as there is no need to get physical tickets from the machine. Trains run very frequently and it only takes about 25 minutes. Also, the train line goes all the way along the waterfront, so you have a nice view included in the train ride 😊

When I arrived in Monte-Carlo I went outside on the terrace of the train station (little door in the corner next to the small café stand). As the train station is quiet high up on the mountain, this gave an awesome first impression of the city and all the yachts in the Port. I made my way through small alleys until I reached the main yacht Port. Unfortunately, most of the area was barricaded as they were working on setting up all the seating for the Formula One race which was due a month later. But it was still very nice to walk along it and even recognizing some parts from the TV when watching that race.

I pass the port as on the other side of it you can walk up the hill to reach the palace from the Prince of Monaco (there also seem to go busses up there as it is quite a hike). I arrived around midday while the guard change took place. On the way is the Maritime Museum and a nice little green park. I would say that from the palace you get the best view of Monte-Carlo. On one side you see down to the main city and the famous big port with all the yachts. However, on the other side of it they set up a few demonstrative cannons and a view over the second smaller port with just as pretty yachts.

I went down to the smaller port (Port de Fontvieille) to have a lunch break sitting at the water. It is a very nice area and I assume also less busy than the main city area. It was really nice and very hot. Back on the move, I walked back in the direction of Monte-Carlo city. I walked along a shopping street with a lot of cute little shops just behind Port Hercule.

I decided to take a walk along the Grand Prix race track. So, I took the J.F. Kennedy Avenue along the water towards the Sun Casino. The track is going through a tunnel at this point but it was also possible to walk through this tunnel as pedestrian. I walked until the Japanese Garden before going up the hill to reach the Casino de Monte-Carlo which is the most famous Casino of the 3 big ones that are in this area. And a lot of people presented their sport or special cars here. From here I walked along some more smaller alleys until I got back to the train station to head back to Nice.

Few pictures: