What is the Monaco self-guided walking tour?
The Monaco self-guided walking tour is a self-paced walk with audio narration on your phone instead of a person leading the way. The whole thing takes around 3 hours, of which 22 minutes are on foot over 1.6 km, plus 10 stops where you stand and listen. You decide when to start, how long to stay and when to stop.
At the Prince's Palace the narration tells how François Grimaldi is said to have taken the fortress in 1297 disguised as a Franciscan monk, which is why two monks with swords appear on the family's coat of arms. At the cathedral you hear that Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace married there in 1956 and are buried inside. At the Oceanographic Museum the façade drops about 85 metres to the sea, and Jacques-Yves Cousteau ran the museum from 1957 to 1988.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 22 min · 1.6 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do on the walking tour
Hear the stories
The audio tells each stop's history, a legend or two and a few fun facts, and the full text is on screen for anyone who prefers to read.
Follow the map
Google Maps points the way from stop to stop: 22 minutes on foot over 1.6 km altogether.
Pause when you like
Coffee, lunch or a museum fit in whenever you want, and the walk picks up where you left it, today or another day.
Find food and shops
The app suggests places to eat and local shops close to the route, and lets you begin at any stop and change the order.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who the walking tour is for
First time here
One walk covers the old town on the Rock, from the palace to the cliff gardens and the views over the port, and explains what you see.
Independent travellers
Nobody sets the pace but you: linger at the stops you like and move quickly past the others.
A day trip to the Principality
With only 22 minutes of actual walking, the tour fits easily into a day trip and leaves time for Monte-Carlo afterwards.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
The walk stop by stop: the Prince's Palace, the cathedral, the Saint-Martin Gardens, the Oceanographic Museum
10 stops · about 22 min walking · start: Prince's Palace of Monaco · finish: Panoramic view of Monaco
The Prince's Palace and its Carabiniers open the walk. Through the lanes of Monaco-Ville you pass the Girl on a Chair sculpture and the Palace of Justice on the way to Saint Nicholas Cathedral, then the Chapel of Mercy and the little post office. The Saint-Martin Gardens lead along the cliffs to the Oceanographic Museum, and from there the route crosses the Rock to the Chapel of the Visitation and ends at a lookout over Port Hercule and Monte-Carlo. The app lets you begin elsewhere or change the order, and no stop needs a ticket.
Open the route map ↗
1Prince's Palace of MonacoStart
The official residence of the Prince of Monaco stands on the Rock, where the Genoese built a fortress in 1191. In 1297 François Grimaldi is said to have captured it disguised as a Franciscan monk, which is why two monks holding swords appear on the Grimaldi coat of arms. The Prince's Carabiniers guard the entrance.
2Girl on a Chair sculpture
In the lanes of the old town you meet a sculpture of a girl sitting on a chair. It is one of the many works of public art that Monaco has placed in its streets and gardens, and its everyday pose makes a playful contrast with the palaces and churches around it.
3Palace of Justice
Monaco's law courts sit in this stone building on Rue Colonel Bellando de Castro, in the old town on the Rock. It was built in the early 20th century, and its solemn façade of dressed stone suits its role as the seat of justice of the Principality.
4Saint Nicholas Cathedral
Monaco Cathedral, officially dedicated to Our Lady Immaculate, was begun in 1875 in white stone from La Turbie on the site of a 13th-century church of Saint Nicholas, which still gives it its popular name. Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace, who married here in 1956, are buried inside.
5Chapel of Mercy
The Chapelle de la Miséricorde was built in the 17th century for the Brotherhood of the Black Penitents, a lay confraternity devoted to charity. It keeps a wooden statue of the dead Christ attributed to the Monaco-born sculptor François-Joseph Bosio, which is carried through the old town in the Good Friday procession.
6Post Office
The small post office of the old town is a reminder that Monaco, one of the smallest countries in the world, issues its own postage stamps, as it has done since 1885. Monegasque stamps, often showing the princely family and events in the Principality, are prized by collectors.
7Saint-Martin Gardens
These shady gardens cling to the cliffs on the seaward side of the Rock, with paths winding between pines, agaves and other Mediterranean plants. A bronze statue shows Prince Albert I, the seafaring prince who founded the Oceanographic Museum, dressed as a sailor.
8Oceanographic Museum
Prince Albert I, a pioneer of ocean science, founded this museum, which opened in 1910 in a monumental building rising straight out of the cliff above the sea. Its façade drops about 85 metres to the water, and Jacques-Yves Cousteau was its director from 1957 to 1988.
9Chapel of the Visitation
This small chapel on Place de la Visitation, a quiet square on the Rock, dates from the 17th century. Its name refers to the Visitation, the visit of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, and its baroque façade shows the style that reached Monaco from nearby Italy.
10Panoramic view of MonacoFinish
From the edge of the Rock you look down over Port Hercule, lined with yachts, and across to the buildings of Monte-Carlo climbing the hillside. The view shows how densely this small state, squeezed between the mountains and the sea, has been built.
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