Monaco - The Land Of The Rich & Famous

Yesterday I posted a story about what should be considered the Gem of the French Riviera – Menton. Another destination that was mentioned throughout that post was Monaco, which actually neighbours Menton, and is equally unique!

Just for a sense of scale and distance, here is a map highlighting Monaco, with Nice further west and Menton bordering on the East

Monaco is one of the destinations along the French coastline that many people have dreamt of visiting for one of many reasons, with good reason too may I add! It is definitely one of the quirkiest places I have ever been, but in the best way possible – and should definitely be a “must-visit” destination if you’re ever looking into the southern coast of France! Even if you aren’t intrigued by everything you’ll see below, I’ll start out by letting you know that you will likely have seen everything in mentioning if you have seen any of the movies “Golden Eye”, “Grace Kelly”, “Iron Man 2”, “Monte Carlo”.

The classic Monte Carlo Casino - which you would definitely have seen in countless movies!

So lets get something straight, YES Monaco is it’s own country – the 2nd smallest country in the world after the Vatican City. It is so small, that based on area land mass, it is only about 3/5 size of Central Park in Manhattan, and you can walk from one end of Monaco to the other in under an hour! Statistically its one of the safest countries in the world and when you are there that is also very clear. Some might think that with all the riches there it would be a kingpin location for theft, but it seems like an isolated little nation of no crime - and riches in every form.

The Blue outline is the shape of monaco, laid out to scale. It is overlayed on Central Park in New York. TINY COUNTRY!

For anyone looking for a comparison, albeit different, Monaco could in ways be compared to Las Vegas or Dubai, though still very different and in certain ways more civilized but still over the top. It is known by many visitors for its plethora of Hotels, Resorts and of course Casinos. Boats, Yachts and Supercars are other things that Monaco has in ridiculous amounts – its coastline stretch has some beach access, but is mostly covered by ports absolutely packed with massive private yachts. The super cars seems to be a status thing, but of course it comes as no surprise given the fact that there is a grand prix hosted annually – yet another thing to attend to in this tiny country!

one of Monaco's several ports seen from the exotic garden viewpoint - and yes, each one of those insane yachts is privately owned and not a ferry or cruise!

Monaco is a hard place to visualize, but it is just strangely perfect – everything from the sidewalks to the streets and buildings, all infrastructure and even the trees along the roads – it all just looks like a little Sims world. With this oddly perfect approach taken to the structuring and urban planning of the city/country, it of course becomes a heaven for photographers (especially at golden hour and blue hour before nightfall). We were only there for a single day so we decided to head to a view of The Rock of Monaco to catch golden hour which was absolutely stunning, and within manageable walking distance of the train station to catch the train back to Nice.

Some of the best Golden Hour views Monaco has to offer! Also taken from a bridge near the exotic garden viewpoint

Just a bit of logistical information to help you on your way! It is about 30minutes by train from Nice to Monaco, and the trains run frequently between 5:30am and 9:30pm. The nearest airport is Nice and this can be accessed for as little as €1.50 direct from Monaco and takes about an hour – make sure to plan ahead though and give yourself enough time for a bit of possible delay!

Living our best life - walking up one of the perfect streets of monaco - look at those trees they couldnt get any more perfect!