Photo of the Week: Monte Carlo Harbour in Monaco

Monte Carlo is not exactly budget traveler territory. The city at the heart of the Principality of Monaco on the French Riviera is the territory of Bond girls, fast cars, and flashy yachts; and also an area that receives relatively little time on backpacker itineraries of Europe. It’s expensive, out of the way, and the best bits can feel a touch inaccessible to the average independent traveler.

It also happens to be a beautiful city, tucked into a notch at the foot of the Alps and built around a huge harbor full of larger-than-life yachts. Hotel costs in the city are budget-breakers, entrance to the famed Monte Carlo Casino calls for a higher dress code than some backpackers can match, and let’s not even talk about the logistics and prices of being in town for the Formula One race. But walking the streets of Monte Carlo, ogling the supercars calling dibs on yachts and maybe even taking in one of the numerous museums in the capital of the Principality? That’s accessible, at least. And all the while, setting the atmosphere for it all, are those mountains and that sea-view and the occasional purr of a Lamborghini driving by. It might be worth visiting just for those.

Most backpackers who visit Monaco do so as a day trip from Nice, Cannes, or one of the other cities of the French Riviera. If you’re planning to travel the area, be sure to read through our France and Europe archives for more tips on what to do and where to go in the region.

Have you visited Monaco before? Leave your own reflections on the area as well as any tips you have for our next trip in the comments below!