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above.guideMonaco Grand Prix
Monaco seen from the Jardin Exotique, the principality stacked against the hillside above the sea

Where to stay

Choose the area
before
the hotel.

For the Monaco Grand Prix the base decides the weekend. Inside the circuit you walk everywhere and cannot escape it; along the rail corridor you get value and choice, and a journey home each night.

Photo by Tangopaso · Public domain

The decision

Distance is the wrong measure.

A property a few hundred metres from the track can be separated from it by a live circuit, a national border and a steep climb. These zones are grouped by how you would actually reach the racing and get back afterwards, not by how close they look on a map.

Compare

12 zones, honestly.

MonacoMonte-CarloInside the circuiton foot5 places to stayMonacoLa CondamineInside the circuiton footrail5 places to stayMonacoFontvieilleIn Monaco, off the circuiton footbus1 place to stayMonacoLarvottoBeside the circuiton footbus2 places to stayFranceBeausoleilOutside Monaco, on footon foot3 places to stayFranceCap-d’AilOutside Monaco, by railrailon foot2 places to stayFranceRoquebrune-Cap-MartinOutside Monaco, by railrailroad2 places to stayFranceBeaulieu, Villefranche & Cap-FerratRail corridorrailroad7 places to stayFranceÈzeRail corridorroadrail4 places to stayFranceMentonRail corridorrailroad4 places to stayFranceNiceRail corridorrailroadair7 places to stayFranceAntibes & Cap d’AntibesRail corridorrailroad1 place to stay

No journey times appear in this table. None has been sourced against a defined route and operating condition, and an ordinary-day walking estimate is not valid once the circuit is live.

On the map

Where they actually are.

The circuit is drawn in too, because distance from it is the whole question. Zoom out and the Riviera zones appear — Nice is 30 km west, Menton 10 km east.

Drawing routeThe itinerary still works without the map.

Coordinates © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Public lifts © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Closure geography © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL; closures from Journal de Monaco n° 8743.

Monaco · district

Monte-Carlo

The casino quarter and the high point of the circuit. Everything is inside the closed roads, which is the advantage and the whole of the problem.

Useful for

  • Staying inside the event
  • Walking to everything
  • Visitors who value being in the middle of it

Compromises

  • The highest prices of any zone
  • Noise and crowding across the whole weekend
  • Least escapable if you want a quiet evening

The last mile

Walking, with the Principality’s public lifts and escalators doing the vertical work.

Race week

  • Movement is governed by the closed circuit, not by distance.
  • Crossing points are edition-specific and are not published here.

Access: Monaco publishes a network of public lifts, escalators and travelators specifically because of the gradients; sources differ on the exact count.

Monaco · district

La Condamine

The port district around Port Hercule, at the bottom of the hill and on the circuit’s harbour stretch.

Useful for

  • Harbour access on foot
  • A wider price range than Monte-Carlo
  • Being near the station

Compromises

  • Inside the closed roads, with the same movement constraints
  • Steep connections to the upper city

The last mile

Flat along the harbour; steep on any route inland or upward.

Race week

  • The harbour front is part of the circuit.
  • Movement between the port and the upper districts depends on lifts and stairs.

Access: Level along the quays, but the connection to Monte-Carlo above is a genuine climb without the public lifts.

Monaco · district

Fontvieille

The reclaimed district south-west of the Rock, off the circuit but inside the Principality.

Useful for

  • Staying in Monaco without being inside the circuit
  • Level walking
  • Getting away from the noise at night

Compromises

  • Further from the casino quarter
  • Less atmosphere than the older districts

The last mile

Flat within the district; the Rock sits between Fontvieille and the circuit.

Race week

  • Not on the closed roads, so ordinary movement within the district continues.
  • Reaching the circuit still means crossing or going around Monaco-Ville.

Access: Modern, largely level district — the most step-free of the Monaco zones.

Monaco · district

Larvotto

Monaco’s beach district at the eastern end, beyond the circuit but a short walk along the coast.

Useful for

  • Families
  • A beach as well as a race
  • Being in Monaco without being inside the circuit

Compromises

  • A real walk to the casino quarter
  • Seafront pricing in June

The last mile

Coastal walking along Avenue Princesse Grace.

Race week

  • Outside the closed roads, so the district itself keeps working.
  • The approach to Monte-Carlo is affected once the circuit is live.

Access: Comparatively level along the seafront.

France · commune

Beausoleil

A French commune directly above Monaco: the border runs along the street, so you can be metres outside the Principality and several hundred vertical metres above it.

Useful for

  • Being walking-distance from Monaco at a lower price
  • Aparthotels and self-catering
  • Longer stays

Compromises

  • The climb home
  • Fewer evening options than Monaco
  • A border between you and the circuit

The last mile

Downhill into Monaco, uphill back. The return is the part to plan.

France, not Monaco: French addresses, French postcodes, and a national border crossed on foot.

Race week

  • No closed roads on the French side.
  • The descent and climb are the constraint, not distance.

Access: Steep. Anyone with limited walking should verify the specific route and whether public lifts serve it.

France · commune

Cap-d’Ail

The French commune immediately west of Monaco, with its own railway station on the coastal line.

Useful for

  • A rail base close to Monaco
  • Avoiding Monaco pricing without going far

Compromises

  • Limited choice
  • Terrain between the station and the town

The last mile

Station-to-property and property-to-circuit both need checking individually; the coast here is steep.

France. A short rail hop, but a different country and fare system.

Race week

  • Rail approach is unaffected by road closures, but the walk at the Monaco end is not.

Access: Coastal terrain with significant level changes between the shore, the station and the town.

France · commune

Roquebrune-Cap-Martin

The French commune east of Monaco, running from the bay up to a clifftop village.

Useful for

  • Sea access away from the crowds
  • Groups wanting space

Compromises

  • Distance from the circuit
  • Steep, car-dependent upper village

The last mile

Varies enormously: the bay is close to sea level, the old village is high above it.

France. Note that Monaco’s tourist office lists Monte-Carlo Beach here, on the French side of the border.

Race week

  • Road-dependent for the upper village; rail for the coast.

Access: The clifftop properties are not a step-free proposition.

France · commune

Beaulieu, Villefranche & Cap-Ferrat

The sheltered bays between Nice and Monaco, on the coastal railway. One zone because they share an access pattern, not because they are the same place.

Useful for

  • A calm base with rail access
  • Longer stays that are not only about the race

Compromises

  • A real journey to the circuit each day
  • Cap-Ferrat needs a car or a taxi

The last mile

Rail to the coast, then a local leg that differs sharply between the seafront towns and the Cap-Ferrat peninsula.

France, and far enough from Monaco that the return journey is a decision rather than a walk.

Race week

  • Unaffected by Monaco road closures until the Monaco end of the journey.

Access: Level along the seafronts; the peninsula and the hillsides are not.

France · commune

Èze

A clifftop village on the corniche with a separate shoreline settlement below it — the vertical separation is the whole story.

Useful for

  • A memorable base for a longer trip
  • Anyone with a car

Compromises

  • The least practical zone for daily race attendance
  • Village and shore are not interchangeable

The last mile

Èze-sur-Mer is on the railway; Èze village is high above it and road-dependent.

France. The corniche roads are the connection, and they are slow.

Race week

  • The village is a car or bus journey from its own station before any Monaco journey begins.

Access: The medieval village is stepped and steep throughout.

France · commune

Menton

The last French town before Italy, at the far end of the rail corridor east of Monaco.

Useful for

  • Value on the eastern side
  • Visitors treating the race as part of a wider trip

Compromises

  • The longest daily journey of the eastern zones
  • Least race-week atmosphere

The last mile

Rail into Monaco, then the same Monaco-end walk as everyone else.

France. Furthest of the eastern zones, with correspondingly lower prices.

Race week

  • The daily return is the constraint, and it depends on the edition’s published services.

Access: A largely level seafront town.

France · commune

Nice

The region’s main city, its main railway station and its airport — the pragmatic base, at the cost of a daily journey each way.

Useful for

  • Value
  • Choice
  • Flying in and out
  • Anyone who wants a city as well as a race

Compromises

  • A commute each way, daily
  • The last train home is the plan’s weakest point
  • Least atmosphere on race morning

The last mile

A full journey rather than a last mile, in both directions, every day.

France. Airport, city and rail network all French; Monaco is a separate state at the other end.

Race week

  • The outward journey is the easy half.
  • The return after the final session of the day is the constraint, and depends on the edition’s published services.

Access: A large city with full transport infrastructure, but the Monaco end of the journey still governs.

France · commune

Antibes & Cap d’Antibes

The furthest base in this guide — west of Nice, on the same coastal railway, and a long way from the circuit.

Useful for

  • A Riviera holiday that happens to include the race
  • Groups wanting space rather than proximity

Compromises

  • The longest daily journey by a distance
  • Wrong choice if the racing is the point of the trip

The last mile

Beyond Nice, so the journey to Monaco is longer than from every other zone here, in both directions.

France. Far enough that the race is an excursion from the stay rather than the reason for it.

Race week

  • Not a practical base for attending multiple sessions on multiple days.
  • The return journey is the binding constraint and it is the longest of any zone.

Access: A large town with full infrastructure; the Cap itself is residential and car-dependent.

Road closures shown are the 2025 regime, from Monaco’s published municipal ordinance. They are a good guide to what to expect — the circuit and the barriers do not move — but the 2027 ordinance is not published until around five weeks before the race, and nothing here is a statement about it. Note how early it starts: in 2025 parking on Avenue de la Quarantaine was suspended from 12 May for a race on 22–25 May, ten days before first practice.

Where a property sits near one of Monaco’s free public lifts, the distance is shown. Nothing is shown otherwise, and that is not a statement that there is no lift: this only covers the OpenStreetMap contributors record of lifts inside Monaco. Beausoleil and Cap-d’Ail run their own public lifts that are not counted here, and no lift is guaranteed to be running.

Sources

43 places to stay across 12 zones. Last checked 2026-07-30.

Go deeper

Four questions this page raises.

An independent travel guide. Above Guide is not affiliated with Formula One, the FIA or the event organiser.

Race edition20273–6 June 2027Provisional — subject to FIA World Motor Sport Council approvalThe 2026 race, 5–7 June 2026, has taken place.