Monaco-Ville

This is where Monaco began. In 1297 François Grimaldi took the fortress on this rock disguised as a Franciscan monk — the reason two sword-carrying monks still stand on the Monegasque coat of arms — and his family has held it, with interruptions, ever since. The Prince’s Palace is still a working residence, which is why the changing of the guard at 11:55am is a real ceremony rather than a re-enactment.

The quarter on top of the Rock is a compact grid of pale-stone lanes containing Saint Nicholas Cathedral, where Rainier III and Grace Kelly are buried, and the Oceanographic Museum, which Prince Albert I built into the cliff face in 1910 and which Jacques Cousteau directed for thirty years. The views from the Rue des Remparts down over Fontvieille are the best in the country.

Almost nobody stays here — there are only a couple of small hotels — and by seven in the evening the cruise crowds have gone and the lanes are essentially empty. If you want Monaco without the noise, come up for dinner.

Best for

• History and the Palace
• Quiet evenings
• The Oceanographic Museum

Getting around from here

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.