The eastern end of the Principality and the only place with real beach: a rebuilt public strand, a row of beach clubs, and the Monte-Carlo Bay and Méridien hotels on the water. Ten minutes from the Casino on foot, and noticeably calmer.
Larvotto is Monaco’s beach, and like most of the country’s flat ground it was built rather than found — the shoreline here was reclaimed and the beach itself is imported. It was rebuilt again between 2020 and 2023, widening the sand, adding a promenade and replanting the seabed with posidonia, so it is in better shape now than it has been in decades.
The quarter is residential and low-key by Monaco standards: apartment towers, a handful of beach clubs, the Grimaldi Forum conference centre and the Japanese Garden. The two hotels on the water — Monte-Carlo Bay on its own peninsula and Le Méridien Beach Plaza with the only private hotel beach in the country — are both noticeably cheaper than the Place du Casino palaces.
The trade-off is a ten to fifteen minute walk to the Casino, or a two-stop bus ride. In July and August, when the Casino quarter is solid with day-trippers, plenty of people consider that a feature rather than a cost.
Monaco’s public lifts and escalators — around 80 of them — do most of the climbing between quarters, and they are free. Bus lines 1, 2 and 6 connect the whole country for a couple of euros, and nothing on this site is more than a twenty-minute walk from anything else. Full detail in the Monaco travel guide.
Resort ★★★★
Monaco’s resort option: four hectares on its own peninsula at Larvotto, with a lagoon pool that has a real sandy bottom — the closest thing in the Principality to a beach holiday.
Beachfront hotel ★★★★
The only hotel in Monaco with its own private beach. Sea-view balconies over Larvotto, a big seasonal beach club, and a genuinely good-value entry into Monaco’s waterfront.
The Casino, the palaces, the postcode
The quarter everyone means when they say Monaco: the Casino, the Opera, the Hôtel de Paris and the Hermitage around one square, with the Jardins des Boulingrins below. Stay here for the address and for being able to walk everywhere worth walking to.
The Rock and the old town
The original Monaco, on a limestone headland 60 metres above the sea — the Prince’s Palace, the cathedral, the Oceanographic Museum and a knot of lanes that empty out completely after the day-trippers leave.
Yachts, the market, the circuit
The working heart of the country: the deep-water harbour where the superyachts moor, the Condamine market where residents actually shop, and the quays that become the Grand Prix’s fastest section each May.
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