Why Visit Monaco?
Monico is the second smallest country in the world (the smallest is, of course, the Vatican) at just 1.95 sq km and a coastline of just 4km. It’s a principality located in the south of France. Unsurprisingly, its official language is French, but it has its own flag, national holidays, phone codes and dialect (Monégasque), which is featured on many street signs and is taught to all school children in the schools of Monaco. Monaco isn’t part of the EU, but it co-operates fully with its neighbour France so that border crossings don’t require passports to be produced.
Monaco is a truly beautiful country. Clean, well-maintained streets and roads wind through picturesque countryside. Oddly, statues of brightly decorated, life-sized cows adorn most corners and roundabouts, adding to the sense of fairytale or fantasy that starts with the sight of all the magical-looking castles perched on cliffs. It’s a very safe place to visit, with very little crime mainly thanks to the large number of plain-clothed police and actively-monitored CCTV in the city.
Monaco is a wonderful place just to wander around, to mix with the elite, to wander along the harbour filled with lavish yachts, or to visit the botanic gardens. Of course a main attraction of Monaco is the Monte Carlo casino, as is the Grand Prix season for Formula One fans each May, and the chance of spotting a Grimaldi (one of the very glam royal family). There’s also a beach that’s as clean as the rest of the country, and is also wheelchair and pushchair friendly; it also features a children’s play area. If you’re there as part of a romantic getaway, you must visit the amazing Les Thermes Marin.
If you happen to arrive in Monaco by train, you would be forgiven for thinking that you had arrived in an airport, since it takes some time to wind your way through marble corridors and up sparklingly-clean escalators to exit the hillside and find the country itself.
Well worth a day trip at the least from neighbouring France, but a long weekend in Monaco is one that you will not forget in a hurry.