Rainier III’s personal collection of about a hundred vehicles, from a 1903 De Dion Bouton to Formula 1 cars that raced the circuit outside — reopened in a purpose-built Fontvieille space.
Rainier III collected cars seriously for fifty years, and the result is far better than a rich man’s garage. It runs from early motoring — an 1903 De Dion Bouton, pre-war Bugattis — through the Rolls-Royces and Lancias used by the family, to Formula 1 machinery that actually raced through the streets a few hundred metres away.
There are specific pieces worth going for: the Lexus that carried Albert and Charlene at their 2011 wedding, Prince Rainier’s Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, and a set of Monaco Grand Prix cars that make the circuit’s history tangible.
It reopened in a new, much larger space on the Terrasses de Fontvieille, and pairs naturally with the Princess Grace Rose Garden and the Rock just above.
| Where | Terrasses de Fontvieille |
|---|---|
| How long | About an hour |
| Tip | Combine with the rose garden and the walk up to Monaco-Ville |
Everything in Monaco is within a twenty-minute walk, but the country climbs from sea level to about 160 metres — use the network of roughly 80 free public lifts and escalators rather than the streets. Buses 1, 2 and 6 cover the whole Principality for a couple of euros. Full detail in the Monaco travel guide, and transfers from Nice airport in getting to Monaco.
The building that paid for a country
The most famous gaming room on earth, opened in 1863 to save the Grimaldis from bankruptcy — and successful enough that Monegasque citizens have paid no income tax since. Charles Garnier, architect of the Paris Opera, designed the concert hall attached to it.
A prince, a cliff and Jacques Cousteau
Better than almost any aquarium, because it was never meant to be one. Prince Albert I built it into the cliff face in 1910 as a serious research institution, and Jacques Cousteau ran it for thirty years.
Taken by a monk with a sword, 1297
A working royal residence on the site of a Genoese fortress. François Grimaldi took it in 1297 disguised as a Franciscan monk — which is why two sword-carrying monks still stand on the Monegasque coat of arms.
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